I'm Determined!!

I'm determined I'm going to see things through! How about you? Are you determined to get your prayer through? Are you really? Often times, I pray and tell God my needs, my wants, my desires, but in the back of my mind I'm already defeated. I tell myself that it really isn't going to matter, God's not going to answer my prayer. Have you ever felt that way? Come on now, am I the only one? My desire to have the prayer answered is there, but how determined am I to see it through? We've all heard that saying, 'when the going gets tough, the tough gets going!' That's being determined, my friend.

Matthew 15:21-28 tells of a Canaanite woman's faith, and determination. She came to Jesus there in the region of Tyre and Sidon. His Word says she came out and cried unto Him. Hey, she was determined for Him to hear her! But wait now.........keep the right attitude with your determination! Be determined to get an answer from Christ.....whether you like the answer or not, let Him have His will in the matter. One of my favorite phrases is, 'your attitude determines your altitude with Christ'. So be determined to see it through, but keep your humility! As she cried to Jesus, the first words out of her mouth were..."Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David..." Her daughter was possessed with a devil. She wasn't a Jew, but she had heard of the miracles of Jesus. She knew He could help her!

But, in verse 23, Jesus didn't answer her. But she must of kept on crying out.......she was determined! Because the disciples then urged Jesus to send her away. Her cries were getting on their nerves! Now if you stop there, it sounds like Jesus is uncaring. The disciples certainly dismissed her.

Jesus began to speak, and you think, okay, now here's where Jesus is going to do this big miracle, and they all 'live happily ever after.' But, He turns to her and told her that He was sent only to help the Jews! Wow, that doesn't sound like our Lord does it? She could've hung her head and turned back. But, she kept her humble spirit and her determination, look in verse 25. Instead of walking away in defeat, or getting a 'chip' on her shoulder and marching away in disgust, she worshiped him, and pleaded for him to help her! What a blessed picture!!

But hold on.........after all this, now we're really expecting Jesus to perform the miracle and see the happy ending, right? But he looks at her and tells her that it's not good to take bread from the children and give it to the dogs. What? He isn't going to share the miracles with Gentiles.....only the Jews? Keep reading! IN verse 27, what does she do? Now, most of us now would have just said FINE, and walked away........right? Oh, but she kept her attitude in check and stayed determined!!! She said, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table." She wasn't being rude or critical. She spoke truth from her heart.....and in verse 28, Jesus gave her her miracle! Because of her great faith, He gave her the desires of her heart and immediately her daughter was made whole!!!

Keep your attitude in check, and stay determined in your faith! Sometimes God tests us to see if we really mean what we say! I am determined to stay focused on Christ, to keep Him first in my life, to stay kneeling at the foot of the cross! I am nothing, I don't deserve even the crumbs from His table, but through the His precious blood, I am now His child!