A Dog That Only Jesus Could Love Series

I have been told that being a mom really changes things. And the more children you have the greater the changes. In fact I have heard that there is an evolution involved.

For example, you begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your doctor confirms you are pregnant. You pore over baby- name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favorites. You practice your breathing religiously in anticipation of delivery. You pre-wash your newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau. At the first sign of distress-- a whimper, a frown -- you pick up the baby. You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour. The first time you leave the baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times. You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.

When the 2nd pregnancy occurs, you wear your regular clothes as long as possible. As for names, just pick some relative and go with it. You don’t practice breathing because it didn’t do much for you last time. When the newborn gets home you just keep check that the clothes are clean and throw out the one with the darkest stains. You don’t pick up the newborn until the cries threaten to wake up your first born. When you have time you take your newborn to Baby Gymnastics and that’s about it. When it’s time to go out, you leave a number on the refrigerator where you can be reached. At home, you spend a lot of time making sure that the older sibling isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

Now you’re pregnant with the third child and you think: How did this happen?” Your maternity clothes are your regular clothes. You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger points. You demand an epidural in your 8th month. As far as clothes, boys can wear pink, can’t they? If the newborn cries you have taught your 3 year old to rewind the mechanical swing. You take your newborn to the supermarket and dry cleaners. You tell your sitter to call you only if blood is involved. You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Seriously, being a mom is a great responsibility. The role seems to change each decade. Women have been forced into the work place in higher numbers causing them to try to balance their role as income earner and mom. Your children face greater challenges now than those of past decades. The world of technology has opened forbidden doors for many of our children. And with that come greater temptations and opportunities to act on those temptations. At times it may seem that the enemy is slowly taking away your child and you feel powerless. In fact sometimes it is as if our children have become little devils. But I assure you that’s not the case.

There is a story of a woman who is battling against satan for the very life of her daughter. We find this story in Matt. 15. Let’s begin reading with vs. 21

"Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”

It’s important that we know about this woman. Jesus is in an area populated by Canaanites. These people were considered cursed of God

Genesis 9:22-25 "Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked.

When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: “May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”

Not only was this woman a Canaanite she was from a region that had been cursed by God.

Isaiah 23:8-9 "Who has brought this disaster on Tyre,

that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes,

her merchants were nobles. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has done it to destroy your pride and bring low all earth’s nobility."

As you can see in the eyes of the Jewish people she would have been considered quite the outcast. But she had heard about Jesus. She knew He was the Jewish Messiah. She knew He was a miracle worker. She knew He had control over demons. She knew He was her only hope. She knew He would answer her request. So what did Jesus do?