Jesus’ response to the Canaanite woman might, at least initially seem very cold and callous: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” How could He say something like that to this poor woman who is pleading for mercy for her daughter? What is she supposed to do after hearing those words? What are we supposed to do when it seems like we are not getting the response that we think we should get from Jesus? The woman does give us a couple lessons. First we should never give up. If our plea is pure, if it is not selfish, than there is no reason to stop trying. We should never forget what Jesus has done for us and that He is absolutely about our greater good. We also should understand that we need to be willing to make our case, and that Jesus has the right to expect us to do so. We also need to be able to see that Jesus will always provide an opening for us and give us the opportunity to take it. The woman recognized her opening in the word that Jesus used for “dog.” He used the word that referred to a dog that was a household pet, not a stray that roamed the streets. She knew then that she could say: “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters,” and perhaps get a favorable response. The Lord always has a gift for us, but He wants us to fight for it, He wants us to have a sense that we earned it. The Canaanite woman left Jesus, not only knowing that her daughter was healed, but also knowing that she had something to do with it. She did not give up on her plea to the Lord, she made her case to Him, and walked away stronger because of it. Jesus uses every opportunity He can to teach us and to empower us, and to enable us to grow. We come to Him with our narrow pleas, but there is so much more that He wants to give us. Only thing is; to get it we must be willing to fight for it. If not, it’s not happening.