Worship While You Wait

But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 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)

This is one of the more startling exchanges in the Gospels. A desperate mother worshipped Jesus and pleaded for her daughter, and His response, at least on the surface, sounded like a refusal. Most people, hearing words like that, would have walked away offended and given up entirely.

But notice that her posture was already set before this response even came. She worshipped Him first. Her worship was not a reaction to getting the answer she wanted. It came before she had any indication of how He would respond. Even after hearing a hard word, her posture toward Him did not change. She did not argue that He was being unfair. She did not storm off. She stayed low, stayed in worship, and stayed in the conversation.

There is something here about the timing of God's answers that we do not always control or understand. Jesus was working within a specific redemptive plan, and that plan was not a personal rejection of this woman. It was simply not yet her moment in the sequence Jesus was following. Her worship did not depend on the sequence working out the way she wanted right away. It depended on who she believed Jesus to be.

Practical Application

Worship while you wait. If the answer seems to be taking longer than expected, decide to continue worshiping as you believe, trusting God to do what He said He will do. Worship is an act of surrender and trust, choosing to praise Him before you see the answer.

Psalm 34:18; Jeremiah 29:13