Simple, Steady Faith

Mark 7:24-30
(24) And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.
(25) But immediately a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.
(26) Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
(27) And he said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
(28) But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
(29) And he said to her, "For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter."
(30) And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

As I read this today I was struck by this woman's faith. I think that's the point of including this in the story after all. She had a deep faith in Jesus that led to her daughter's healing. What really hit me today was that she had no reason to have this faith in Him except by His reputation. She knew about Him and knew that to heal her daughter would be something He could and possibly would do.

There was a huge problem though. She was a Gentile and Jesus made it clear that His first priority was His people the Jews. She was happy with just a "crumb" from Jesus as she knew that would bring healing to her daughter.

Unlike this woman we who call ourselves Christ-followers have been grafted in to the olive tree. Though we were like her and would have had to settle for mere crumbs, now we are children of God and we can enjoy the benefits of eating at the table. So, given that, how strong is our faith in Jesus? She had every reason to believe that He wouldn't heal her daughter, but she was bold and asked Him. We have every reason to believe that He will work in our lives, but are we even as confident as her to ask? I know that I'm not.