June 20
From the desk of Pastor Ben

Great Faith Is Rightly Directed

“Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” (Matthew 15:22b)

When poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “The steps of faith fall on the seeming void and find the rock beneath,” he proved himself to be a better poet than theologian. Whittier’s kind of faith shows it does not understand that great faith — the genuine variety — must focus on the right object. Whittier’s faith is basically faith in faith — in other words, no faith at all.

For faith to have real power, and thus be great faith, it must be like the Canaanite woman’s and rest on a trustworthy object, namely the Lord, the Son of David. Even though she was a Gentile, she reverently addressed Jesus as her sovereign and all-powerful Lord. Her approach to Christ followed the same worshipful and trusting attitude of the leper who met Jesus after the Sermon on the Mount “and bowed down before Him, and said, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean’” (Matthew 8:2).

Compared to the irreverent treatment the Jewish leaders gave Jesus, He must have been encouraged by this Gentile woman’s respect and submission. And she came with that attitude in spite of not fully grasping the significance of Jesus’ lordship and messiah-ship.

The woman loved her daughter more than herself, and when the girl became demon-possessed, the woman came to the only source of help she believed to be adequate. By appealing to our Lord, she renounced her pagan religion, culture, and family and affirmed His superiority over those things. As the believers at Thessalonica did, she “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God”
(1 Thessalonians 1:9).

Ask Yourself:
Do you know someone closely who makes his spiritual appeals in heaven’s general direction, but not to the One who made heaven and earth? Make their condition a matter of specific prayer, and ask God for opportunities to encourage them in setting their faith on the right course.