[FONT=Arial Narrow, serif]Seeking God in Desperate Times[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Mothers would do anything for her children. She would walk the extra mile for them. If allowed, she would take the pricking of the needles and swallow their pills; she would even take the place of her children in the operating table rather than seeing them in tubes and attached to machineries. If she could remove the pains in their tiny hearts, when they are bullied and taken advantage of; she would. How many tears has she shed when her child is sick? We know she’d also be worried sick. That and more, a mother would do. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]What if her child was sick and there was no cure available? Would she allow her child deteriorate slowly and die? And what if this sickness was caused by the cruelty of an evil spirit? Would she stop looking for, even, an elusive cure? She will try every means possible. All sorts. When a member of a family is affected in some way, every member of the family is affected. Every member hurts in some way. How much more is the one who carried them for nine months and gave birth to one afflicted. Of Sleeplessness and worry. Pained by her child’s pain. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]A mother with the same circumstances was told in the book of Matthew chapter 15:[/FONT]
Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]From this woman, we can learn important lessons in approaching God in our desperate times. She showed us that we can come close and even reason with God.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]1. We must seek God out. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Though Jesus wanted not to be known as He entered the house in the borders of Tyre and Sidon, the woman heard, sought Him out and found Him. She had made an effort looking for Jesus. She knew that only the Son of David can cure her young daughter. Her faith preceded her. Before she found Him she knew Him for she had the eyes of faith. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]For the one in need, and for the most of us in desperate times, it is in own our free will to seek after God. Our faith knows that answers can only be found in Him. Health, guidance, and assurance flow from His throne of grace. God beckons us to seek Him and He shall be found. Only the heart that hungers and thirsts after Him can be satisfied. We can never find satisfaction from what we seek apart from God. Many tried pursuing separate from the Living Water and died thirsty.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]2. We must cry out before Him. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]When thrown in the waters of adversity and realize we don’t know how to swim, our sure aid is to cry out for help. We must rely on someone who knew how to swim, someone stronger, someone bigger and someone with the initiative in helping us. The despairing mother cried out. She was not embarrassed, for one who was desperate despised shame, or being ostracized and snubbed. But instead she all the more cried aloud. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The more we are in the depths of trouble, the more we are to cry the more for help to God. We must stop relying on our own strength, our own limited initiatives, in our own puny hands and trembling legs. [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]His hands are not too short that it cannot save, neither is His ear too dull that it cannot hear[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]. Our God is the God of deliverance. He had shown it again and again in the past. Will He not save us in our troubles today? Will not the God of all comforts comfort us in these trying times? [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]3. We must bow and worship Him. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Upon knowing that the Person in front of him was his healer, the man born blind bowed and worshiped Him. So was the leper cleansed, similarly worshiped. In her distressed state, the mother of the sick girl bowed down and worshiped Jesus. Worship is reverence towards Who is Divine. She knew Who was in front of her. Her deliverance. Her salvation and comfort. The healing and deliverance of her daughter. Her God. Worship is the acknowledgment of the divine, a complete dependence of the Power beyond us and above us. It is the language of the spirit, understood by the unseen, and heard by our deepest being. Worship is our thanksgiving to God. To the healed, the response of a grateful heart who cannot give more than what he had received. To the delivered, the surrender of his whole being to One had given more than he asked for. To us, the very act of giving ourselves to One Who had given His life for us. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Mothers would do anything for her children. She would walk the extra mile for them. If allowed, she would take the pricking of the needles and swallow their pills; she would even take the place of her children in the operating table rather than seeing them in tubes and attached to machineries. If she could remove the pains in their tiny hearts, when they are bullied and taken advantage of; she would. How many tears has she shed when her child is sick? We know she’d also be worried sick. That and more, a mother would do. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]What if her child was sick and there was no cure available? Would she allow her child deteriorate slowly and die? And what if this sickness was caused by the cruelty of an evil spirit? Would she stop looking for, even, an elusive cure? She will try every means possible. All sorts. When a member of a family is affected in some way, every member of the family is affected. Every member hurts in some way. How much more is the one who carried them for nine months and gave birth to one afflicted. Of Sleeplessness and worry. Pained by her child’s pain. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]A mother with the same circumstances was told in the book of Matthew chapter 15:[/FONT]
Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]From this woman, we can learn important lessons in approaching God in our desperate times. She showed us that we can come close and even reason with God.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]1. We must seek God out. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Though Jesus wanted not to be known as He entered the house in the borders of Tyre and Sidon, the woman heard, sought Him out and found Him. She had made an effort looking for Jesus. She knew that only the Son of David can cure her young daughter. Her faith preceded her. Before she found Him she knew Him for she had the eyes of faith. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]For the one in need, and for the most of us in desperate times, it is in own our free will to seek after God. Our faith knows that answers can only be found in Him. Health, guidance, and assurance flow from His throne of grace. God beckons us to seek Him and He shall be found. Only the heart that hungers and thirsts after Him can be satisfied. We can never find satisfaction from what we seek apart from God. Many tried pursuing separate from the Living Water and died thirsty.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]2. We must cry out before Him. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]When thrown in the waters of adversity and realize we don’t know how to swim, our sure aid is to cry out for help. We must rely on someone who knew how to swim, someone stronger, someone bigger and someone with the initiative in helping us. The despairing mother cried out. She was not embarrassed, for one who was desperate despised shame, or being ostracized and snubbed. But instead she all the more cried aloud. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The more we are in the depths of trouble, the more we are to cry the more for help to God. We must stop relying on our own strength, our own limited initiatives, in our own puny hands and trembling legs. [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]His hands are not too short that it cannot save, neither is His ear too dull that it cannot hear[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]. Our God is the God of deliverance. He had shown it again and again in the past. Will He not save us in our troubles today? Will not the God of all comforts comfort us in these trying times? [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]3. We must bow and worship Him. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Upon knowing that the Person in front of him was his healer, the man born blind bowed and worshiped Him. So was the leper cleansed, similarly worshiped. In her distressed state, the mother of the sick girl bowed down and worshiped Jesus. Worship is reverence towards Who is Divine. She knew Who was in front of her. Her deliverance. Her salvation and comfort. The healing and deliverance of her daughter. Her God. Worship is the acknowledgment of the divine, a complete dependence of the Power beyond us and above us. It is the language of the spirit, understood by the unseen, and heard by our deepest being. Worship is our thanksgiving to God. To the healed, the response of a grateful heart who cannot give more than what he had received. To the delivered, the surrender of his whole being to One had given more than he asked for. To us, the very act of giving ourselves to One Who had given His life for us. [/FONT]