I Don't Deserve a Miracle // I Need a Miracle Please, Part 3

Sometimes, we think that, well, we have to be perfect to receive a miracle.  Never mind that we desperately need God's supernatural helping hand, never mind that He's a God of grace and mercy – we kind of figure that we have to get our act together first. There's something about God that I sometimes find difficult to come to grips with. It almost seems as though there's a contradiction.On the one hand, when you read Gods Word, the Bible, it's pretty clear that God honours those who honour Him. In fact there's a specific verse in the Old Testament that says that. 1 Samuel 2:30, God says: I will honour those who honour me but those who despise me will be treated with contempt. That kind of makes sense doesn't it? But then, then you see God do things, good things, miraculous things for people who never asked and who never particularly seem to deserve a miracle. And you think to yourself, well this honouring God and Him honouring us is one thing. But sometimes He kind of just zaps people from on high and does amazing things in their lives. Me on the other hand, I just plod along, day after day, put up with all the stuff I have to put up with.Clearly, I'm not one of those special people. And clearly I don't deserve a miracle – so I'll just keep on plodding along. Well, maybe today, maybe today we're going to discover something that will just blow us apart. I want to make something clear before we start talking about miracles today. I'm definitely, absolutely definitely NOT one of those people that we all look at and go – well he deserves a miracle. He's one of those Christians that God would definitely bless. ABSOLUTELY NOT. In fact, if I could only show you the total disastrous mess that my life was in when I finally turned it over to God, you'd pick me as one of those people where you'd think "Well, God would never want that guy in His kingdom!" It's really important for you to understand that. When Berni Dymet came to Christ he was just your average punter with his life in a mess. And yet, I've seen miracle after miracle in my life since I gave it to Jesus. To be sure – not every miracle that I've asked for I've received. Sometimes, God had different plans. But so often, God's stepped in with miracles that I didn't even ask for. For example I was called to go to Bible College. Now I went part time because I was a business man and I was jetting all over the world all the time. I was always on a plane to somewhere. I said, "God, how am I going to make lectures? I mean I'm never there. This is never going to work." But I just had a deep sense of God's calling and I took that step to go and I just felt God saying, "you go and I'll figure the rest out." So I embarked on a 6 year part time degree, a Bachelor of Ministry. Now I was running an international IT consulting firm. Figure that out. So I took the step, I signed up. Not only did I finish the degree in just 4 years – but I only ever missed one lecture. That was the week that I was in New Zealand on my honeymoon with my now wife. Amazing. Somehow, I always made it there. Once I was sitting on a tarmac in a plane that couldn't take off. I was overseas, they needed to fly in a spare part from another city and the Captain came on and suggested that we may not be able to take off today. I just smiled to myself and thought, "you just don't understand. I have a lecture at Bible College at 2pm this afternoon." And sure enough, I walked into the lecture room with just a minute to spare. Or the time that an atheist program director on a huge radio station in Africa agreed to take our programs and air them to a weekly audience of millions of people. Or the time that … well I could go on. And you know, the problem with hearing some bloke talking about all the miracles God's done in his life is that, to anyone listening, it can be just so disheartening. Well, well - I haven't seen those sorts of miracles. Isn't it funny how other people's testimonies can do that to us? To tell you the truth – I've been there too. So I want to share a story with you today, a story of a woman who asked Jesus for a miracle and didn't get quite the response that she was looking for. Have a listen. This story comes from Matthews's gospel, chapter 15, starts at verse 21: Jesus left that place and went on to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was instantly healed. See she was a Canaanite, not one an Israelite, not one of God's chosen people. But a Gentile and the Jews hated the Gentiles. They often called them dogs in those days. But she needed a miracle. And she'd heard about the miraculous things that Jesus has been doing. Maybe she'd even seen one or two. So she comes and kneels before Him. Get it, she's lowering herself to a Jew. She is a gentile. This is a bit like an Irishman bowing down to an Englishman, or an Australian bowing down to a New Zealander, or a Tutsi bowing down to a Hutu. It's an unbelievably amazing thing that she did in public. And Jesus gives her a response that fitted in completely with the animosity between Jew and Gentile. He answered: It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs. (Matthew 15:26) That is really rude, she could have been very offended. She could have spat something back in His face. She could have just left. See, she didn't fit the mould for someone who deserved a miracle. But instead, she said: Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table. (Matthew 15:27) She crashed through this test that Jesus was laying out before her because He, He wasn't being deliberately rude, He loves her, He's the Son of God. He was wanting to see how she would respond and she responded rightly. And so Jesus answered her, verse 28 of Matthew chapter 15. And so Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was immediately healed. We can tell ourselves we don't fit the mould for a miracle. We can compare ourselves to other people and think – nope, definitely not me. Or we can just say to ourselves – you know something, I've been asking Jesus for this miracle for years and nothing's happened. And so, we can end up just giving up. Or…or we can listen to this story of the Canaanite woman who just believed in Jesus despite anything and decide that it tells us something about Jesus. With just the smallest mustard seed of faith, we can believe that if she can have a miracle in her desperation, well, I'm just going to believe in Jesus for my miracle too. That's it. No ifs. No buts. Not going to let anyone talk me out of it. Not going to let my circumstances talk me out of it. I'm just going to believe in this Jesus with all that I am. Sometimes, He's delayed. The other day He gave me something I've been waiting for, for three years. Sometimes, He says 'no' to something that I've wanted desperately. Like I said, He hasn't given me every miracle I've ever asked for. But on the other hand, I've discovered that when I believe doggedly and tenaciously for a miracle, I end up seeing more miracles than my fair share.