What She said . . .

Margaret Frye
Jun 29, 2022
3 min read

Advocacy for others is often a risky venture. Will your voice make a difference or change an outcome for someone in need? As a LeadHER, there may be times when you must stand up and speak out for those who can’t do so for themselves. In the case of the Gentile Woman, her daughter’s needs came before her own, and she was willing to take a risk to secure the deliverance her daughter desperately needed.

“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” (Matthew 15:22).

Jesus had taken a small detour in his travels and entered a house, hoping to remain in obscurity. But for the Gentile Woman, even Jesus’s obscure location didn’t obstruct her focus on the needs of her daughter.

“And from thence He arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but He could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet (Mark 7:24-25).

When it’s a miracle that you need, when it’s your breakthrough on the line, for advocates, for leadHERs, maintaining your focus on the outcome you seek will help you surmount the obstacles that clutter your path.

“But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.” (Matthew 15:23).

While barrier number one was Jesus’s location, the Gentile Woman also encountered Jesus’s initial silence, His disciples’ disgust, and finally His assertion that His ministry was only for the house of Israel. At each of these junctures, the Gentile Woman could have given up and returned home. She could have succumbed to the doors seemingly slammed in her face. But the tenacious faith she demonstrated is what advocacy requires – belief that persists for the sake of someone else.

“But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But He answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs” (Matthew 15:24, 26).

Believing that Jesus not only had the miracle she needed but that He was also the true Messiah, the Gentile Woman pressed the issue and spoke back to Jesus when His words echoed the sentiments of the social barriers of her time.

“And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table” (Matthew 15:27).

Jesus used WHAT SHE SAID in that moment, her counter argument to illustrate an important revelation about His mission and ministry. Faith in Him removes every barrier to His miraculous power! Just because she was a Gentile, just because she was a woman, just because she wasn’t from the house of Israel didn’t mean she was excluded from God’s mercy, compassion, and healing power. The key to what she needed, the ingredient that turned her advocacy into victory was her faith in God.

“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” (Matthew 15:28).

The Gentile woman’s story challenges us to examine our own beliefs and courageously act on behalf of others. Do we truly believe that God is who He says He is and has the power to do the miraculous in our lives?

Her story encourages us to develop a FAITH that can . . .

- ADVANCE against opposition and obstacles

- ADJUST our focus to what God can do and what He has said

- ARGUE when it is necessary for the sake of someone else

- ACCESS the miraculous power of God through unwavering belief

LeadHERs, my prayer for you today is that you will experience God’s power to move in your circumstances as you put your total faith in Him. Remember that His ability always surpasses the challenges that we encounter. Approach Him with confidence for the impossible situations you’re facing, especially when it comes to the needs of others. Your faith = His victory!