Great Faith In The Midst Of Great Trouble

Great Faith in the Midst of Great Trouble

Study Text: Matthew 15:21 - 28

Introduction:

- The story of this woman reminds us of what faith and prayer looks like when we are faced with real, personal trouble and adversity. It is a story that brings us back to the basics, of what it means to trust in Jesus.

- The Canaanite woman was described by Jesus as having a great faith. So what is it about her faith that makes it great? And how can we have faith that is great like hers?

- When this woman was caught in a very difficult storm, she stayed focused on Jesus, and fell to her knees before him.

- Some people are passing through devastating family problems. Some are going through financial difficulty. Some are looking at a problem with a child. Some are looking at their own souls and realizing that they are lost. Some looking at disease and wondering what lies ahead. Some are looking at their parents and realizing they won’t be here forever.

- In the midst of your problems, you need someone to help you. You need someone you can turn to for your solution. You need God to work in your life.

- That is the situation we are looking at in this passage today. Jesus is approached by a mother who is in a desperate situation. She needs something in her life. She comes to the Lord and as she does, she is not asking for the whole loaf, she is just asking for a crumb. She knows that a little crumb is better than nothing.

- There is hope for your situation today. No matter what it is you think you need today, God holds the key to it.

- We shall be discussing the topic under three subheadings:

1. The Situation that is Requiring Great Faith

2. The Submission that is Revealing Great Faith

3. The Solution that is Resulting from Great Faith

1. The Situation that is Requiring Great Faith:

- This woman came to Jesus because she was concerned about her daughter. The child was demon possessed and was probably acting out in violence and anger. She needed help in a desperate way.

- The woman was following after Jesus and His disciples, and was shouting to Him for the help she needed. She was heartbroken over the condition of her child and she was determined to get her child the help she needed.

- Perhaps she had heard about how Jesus had healed all manner of diseases; about how He had opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf; about how He had driven the demons from other people.

- This woman came to Jesus because faith and hope had been sparked in her heart. She needed something that society had not been able to provide. She was looking for something that her dead religion had been powerless to give her. She needed a solution that she had not been able to provide by her own self-efforts. She was desperate and she saw Jesus as her only hope.

- Perhaps you are at a dead end over some situation in your life and you need help. Perhaps you have exhausted every means at your disposal and do not know where to turn for help.

- Whatever the need in your life may be today; you should take a lesson from this woman: Get that need to Jesus. Regardless of what you face in your life today, the answer will be found in Him. He can move your mountain; meet your need; save your soul; forgive your sins; touch your loved ones; you name it, He can do it.

- But, you have to get it to Him with an unwavering faith that He will visit you. Don’t be afraid to call on Him; He invites you to come, Matthew 11:28; Isaiah 55:1-3.

- Whenever there is a difficult situation that seems hopeless and impossible, then great faith in God and His Word is required.

- Throughout the New Testament, the people who show the greatest faith in Jesus are the ones who need him the most.

- The ones who are helpless and hopeless and who came to seek Jesus as the only solution to their difficult situations.

- Great faith requires us recognizing that we need Jesus. Realizing that we are helpless and hopeless without Him, we can’t get it right on our own unless He shows up for us.

- We can’t fix ourselves, our families, or our world, on our own. We need Jesus to do all that in us and for us.

- The woman was prepared to humble herself and embarrass herself. She was ready to do whatever it takes, because her need is that great and no one else apart from Jesus could help her out.