9-8-24 “A Challenge Might be a Pathway to Blessings.”
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“A Challenge Might be a Pathway to Blessings.”
I want to start with something funny that I found on an internet site: A guy is out hunting. He sees a bear and shoots at it, but he misses. Suddenly, he slips and falls down the mountainside. His leg gets caught in a bear trap, and the bear is coming right toward him. He cries out, “Lord, I know I’ve done some bad things in my life, but I promise to repent now if you make this bear a Christian!” The bear skids to a halt, drops to his knees, clasps his paws together, and says, “O Lord, I thank you for the food I am about to receive!”
There is a famous Korean blessing, “May you walk only on flower paths!” which expresses a wish for someone to have an easy, pleasant, and trouble-free life. However, is it really possible to live a life without any troubles? We all face challenges in our daily lives, and Christians are no exception. God promises His people, “I will be with you—Immanuel, God.” However, we do not find any promise from God saying, “Your life will be full of sunshine and roses.”
One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 23. I believe many of you love this scripture as well. Let’s reflect on Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
At first glance, it sounds like God led the author to a life full of sunshine and roses. He has no worries because God provides him with everything he needs, both physically and spiritually. Do you know who this author is? It’s King David. Some of you might think, “Hmm, it’s because he was a king. If I were a king, yes, I would always walk on flower paths.”
However, many of you know that even though David was the King of Israel, he faced numerous challenges in his life. After young David won his battle with Goliath, King Saul became jealous of him and tried to kill him. As a result, David became a refugee in the wilderness for about ten years until King Saul died. Can you imagine running away from King Saul for ten years and living in the wilderness? Yet, David still confessed, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Did he lie? No, I believe that he trusted in God wholeheartedly, without any doubt, even while living the life of a refugee.
Recalling the time I ran a preschool; my niece attended the preschool I managed. She was the shortest and youngest in the school, but she was a leader in her group because she had a strong sense of security—her aunt was the principal. After I stopped running the preschool to attend seminary, my niece had to go to another preschool. However, she cried every morning, saying, “I don’t want to go to that school because my aunt isn’t there.” Even at four years old, my niece knew that her aunt would protect her. She trusted that her aunt would be her strong supporter and rock. Reflecting on my niece, I believe that David deeply trusted in God in the same way.
Everyone faces challenges—some may overcome them easily, while others may struggle and suffer through them. As Christians, we also encounter many challenges in our everyday lives. Today, I want to talk about “how challenges lead us to a pathway of blessings,” reflecting on today’s scripture. In this scripture, we see that both Jesus and a woman faced challenges. Through this story, we can learn how to find a pathway to blessings through our challenges.
The scripture begins with, “From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.” Jesus was tired from his ministry—teaching and healing people—especially after performing the miracle of feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. It was unusual for Jews to stay in Gentile territory. Verse 24 suggests that Jesus went there to rest, avoiding the crowds. However, he could not rest because a Gentile, non-Jewish woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, immediately heard about Jesus. She came and bowed down at his feet, begging him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
When I first read this, I was shocked because Jesus had never rejected a request for healing, except in this instance. He was extremely tired and had gone to a Gentile land to rest, away from the Jews. Even though it was unusual, he really needed that rest. However, a non-Jewish woman interrupted his rest, crying and begging for him to heal her daughter. At that time, Jewish custom treated women and Gentiles as less than human, like dogs. I know that nowadays dogs are our beloved companions, but in Jewish custom, dogs and pigs were considered unclean animals. People avoided touching them because they believed that doing so would make them unclean as well. Therefore, Jesus’ statement, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs,” reflects the Jewish customs of that time.
However, the woman, who was treated like an unclean dog, responded, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” What’s interesting here is that Jesus often said, “Your faith has made you well,” but he didn’t mention faith in this instance. I saw her strong faith in Jesus—believing that even a crumb of his grace and mercy would heal her daughter. But Jesus said, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”
Jesus challenged the woman by treating her like a dog, but she boldly replied, “Yes, I may be a dog. But even a dog can get crumbs under the children’s table.” The woman faced her challenges head-on with hope for her daughter’s healing. In the end, she experienced the blessing of her daughter’s healing after overcoming a significant challenge. What about Jesus? The woman challenged him by saying, “I know you are naturally Jewish. However, we, the dogs, are also creatures of God. Dogs have the right to receive God’s grace.” After this encounter, Jesus went to other Gentile lands to heal them, and the good news of Jesus spread across the region. Her challenge opened the door for the good news to reach the Gentiles.
When we face challenges, it’s natural to feel fear. However, challenges can sometimes lead us to the pathway of blessings. There’s a saying, “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” We may grow in faith through challenges. President George Washington said, “The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.”
Are you struggling with any challenges now? If so, trust in God because His grace is greater than any challenge. No challenge can separate us from the love of God. The Apostle Paul, who faced many challenges in his life, said, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39). Thanks be to God, Amen!