Rev. Johnson V.
26th June 2011

Is it possible to make God change His mind? He does not waver, He is never indecisive, His will is clear and infinitely more superior to ours… and yet, is it possible that one of His creations can turn His ‘no’ into a ‘yes’?

The woman in Mathew 15:21-28 shows us that it is possible.

Our Lord Jesus was in region of Tyre and Sidon. This is now in modern day Lebanon, but in those times, were part of a larger region known as Phoenicia. Jewish people rarely went there because the practices of the natives of this land were detestable to them. Historians report that our Lord Jesus was taking a break in this region and resting with His disciples. There were two main groups of people in Phoenicia and those descended from the Greeks and Romans were called Syro-Phoenicians. The pagan practices of this area, involved temple prostitutes who were devoted to the greek and roman gods. It is likely that the woman spoken about in Mathew 15, was one of them. She was most probably a prostitute to the temple of Mercury. The Jewish people desisted the Phoenicians so much, that they resorted to calling them names like ‘vultures’ and ‘dogs’.

Her daughter was demon possessed. Some people experience demon possession in their bodies, others in their minds, and others in the life situations. We know that the girl suffered terribly, prompting the mother to approach the only person who could help. She sought Jesus because she knew that He was the Son of God. Wherever God’s presence is, the devil finds out.

The woman makes an impassioned plea for God to help her. The Bible records that our Lord says nothing. When God is silent, is it not out of His inability to do something. It is during those times that He watches to see what our reaction is. Will we respond in arrogance or in humility? The woman continues to be fervent in her appeals to Lord Jesus, to the extent that the disciples urged Him to respond as she was making a scene. When our Lord does respond to her, it was only to let her know of the predicament that He was in – He could not take the blessings intended for the Israelites and give them away to others, or in the words of our Lord recorded in the Bible, ‘take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs’. To which the woman responds that even dogs eat from their master’s table. She called Him ‘Master’. She acknowledged His Lordship over her life and situation. It takes faith to call God “Master”, in every situation, irrespective of whether it is good or bad. People of great faith, will have great will. It takes controlled desire to build great faith.

In 1 Samuel 2:30, God tells us that those that honour Him, He will honour. Let us seek to honour Him in everything, in every situation. He is able. He is worthy of our love and worship. If you sense that He is silent, remember that it is not because He is absent. He is present and watchful.

In our own lives, the devil may gain a foothold through ‘fear’ such as the fear of death, old age, poverty (whether social or financial) and the fear of not being accepted. We need to be aware of these things but we must not be controlled by it in any way. When we come to Christ, we will gain deliverance over these areas of our lives. But the memory of it will continue to keep us in bondage. We must learn to forget the things that bound us in the past, and remember that our God gives us victory in every area of our lives. The devil also tries to inhabit us through false beliefs, superstitions, condemnation, legalism, thanklessness and faithlessness.

To break free and maintain a bondage free life, we must

• Break every soul tie that connects us with evil and renounce it.
• Spend everyday in prayer and reading the Bible
• Respect God’s work, the Church. Be a gatherer and not a scatterer.
• Be faithful to God and the responsibilities He has given us. Do it faithfully for God who has planted us there.