I must accept the fact that there will be times when Jesus Christ will act “strangely” toward me. When the Syrophoenician woman came asking Jesus to cure her daughter, Jesus put a distance between Himself and the woman. He did three things: He refused to answer her; He said He came to help others; and He said (of all things!) that children’s food should not be given to dogs (Matthew 15:21–28). After those “strange” responses, I should think the woman would have left in a huff. But she did not and Jesus knew she would not, since He was only testing her faith. Once that faith had been tested, it was given full permission: “You have great faith! Your request is granted” (v. 28, NIV).
When Jesus acts strangely toward me, it is for my education. He wants my faith to be purified by obstacles until it reaches the point where it can ask the limit. I can always tell when I have passed the test, for then Jesus says, “Let it be done as you desire.”
Sometimes when I pray, things grow worse instead of better because Jesus is beginning His “obstacle” ministry in order to strain selfishness out of my prayer. He wants my faith battle-ready, and the only way He can accomplish that is to put Himself where He seems to be out of my reach momentarily. That is why troubles pile up when I feel most godly, not when I have sinned. The combination of piled-up troubles and an “absent” Savior tends to discourage me, but it is exactly there that I must be doggedly persistent, like the Syrophoenician woman, until Jesus finally turns and says, “Your faith is great!” The brief moment of His forsaking will pass, and with great mercies He will return and gather me and vindicate me (Isaiah 54:7, 17)
“I will say to God my rock, ‘Why hast Thou forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?’”(Psalm 42:9).
Daily with the King 