The Lord Jesus Christ was known for his gracious speech. “And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.” (Luke 4:22) But there were a few times that Jesus’ words appear to be harsh and unkind. Such is the case with Jesus’ conversation with a Gentile woman, recorded in Mark 7. This woman had a problem she couldn’t solve. Her daughter was possessed by a devil. She heard that Jesus had come to town, so she went to Him because she knew that Jesus could heal her. When she found Jesus, she fell at His feet and begged him to cast the devil out of her daughter. 

Jesus’ answer seems cold and callous.
“Let the children first be filled: for it
is not meet to take the children’s
bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.”
Did Jesus call her a dog? Was He
refusing to answer her prayer? 

Many people would have been so
offended by that kind of an answer
they would have turned around
and left, but not this woman. She
knew who she was and that she
did not deserve anything help
from Jesus. But she also knew who
Jesus was. Just a crumb of his
power was enough to deliver her
daughter, and that’s all she asked
for. In response to her humble faith,
Jesus healed her little girl.

True faith is always humble. It does
not demand of God what it wants,
nor does it think it deserves to get
what it wants. Humble faith admits
that for God to help us, He must
stoop to where we are. It realizes
that whatever good thing God gives
us is better than we deserve. The kind
of faith that honors God is humble faith.