F is for Faith the Canaanite Woman

Faith by Margot Cioccio 

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

There are no F names for women in the Bible. There are only a couple of  mens names Felix and Festus. So for letter F,  I tried to dig for a bit. I looked for names that meant faith or faithful and came up with an interesting person who's name ment faithful, who traveled with the apostle Paul. You probably missed him, I did. His name is Tychicus. I had hoped he was a woman listed with her husband Trophimus from the province of Asia. Turned out as I kept digging that she was clearly a man. Oh well, let me briefly introduce you to him anyway.

Acts 20:4 (GNT)
4 Sopater son of Pyrrhus, from Berea, went with him; so did Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; Tychicus and Trophimus, from the province of Asia; and Timothy.They traveled with Paul from Macedonia to Jerusalem and may have been with him in Rome.

Hippolytus of Rome say that Tychicus was one of the 70 who followed Jesus and was also later the bishop of Colophonia. Paul calls him a faithful brother in Ephesians 6:21 " Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing." So I guess that settles that - he's a guy. You may not have know that he is one of the men who penned and delivered letters for Paul from Rome.

Here's what All The Men in the Bible has to say about him. Tychicus [Tĭch'ĭcŭs]—fortunateor fortuitous. A Christian in Asia Minor, who traveled in advance of Paul as well as with him at times (Acts 20:4). Paul sent him to Ephesus where he delivered, and likely read, the circular letter, the Epistle to the Ephesians, to the Church there (Eph. 6:21). Then he went to Colosse and did the same with Colossians (Col. 4:7). He also had a mission to fulfill in Crete (2 Tim. 4:12; Titus 3:12). Paul speaks of him in affectionate terms—“A brother beloved and faithful minister in the Lord,” and able to “comfort your hearts.”

Here's a guy who gets mentioned 7 time and you probably have never even noticed him in your Bible. Here's where you can find him, Acts 20:4, Eph 6:21, Col 4:7 and 18, 2 Tim 4:12 and Titus 3:12 His name means faithful and it is pretty evident that he lived up to his name.

So its back to the drawing board. Next stop was to look for someone that Jesus called faithful. Ta da! We don't know this Canaanite woman's name from Matthew 15, but Jesus says “Woman, you have great faith! so we are going to call her Faith for today's post.

Here's her story from Matthew 15:21-28

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman or Faith the Canaanite Woman

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Emma the Miracle Child

I have a few friends who are mothers of very high needs children. My friend Leah has a beautiful daughter Emma who is quite a miracle. Leah called me during her pregnancy when doctors had told her that the baby had something called Turners Syndrom and would not likely even live at birth. If the baby did live they would probably have to heart surgery and the baby could have any number of things wrong because the x chromosome would be missing. To make a long story short we began to pray. I had friends from my church and the Spokane Healing rooms praying with us. Leah had everyone she knew praying. When baby Emma was born she was healthy and strong and the doctors said she had something called Mosaic Turner's syndrom. I think God has a sense of humor me being a mosaic artist and having stood in prayer for them.

Emma helping decorate the tree

"A woman with Turner syndrome will have one of three possible X chromosome problems, one of which is called mosaic Turner syndrome, or the absence of the X chromosome in some cells. This type of Turner syndrome may result milder symptoms than other types of the disorder" according to emedtv. 
Yes she still had Turners syndrom but the mildest kind, and even with that who knows what x's are missing. 

Emma has turned out to be pretty normal she has some Turner symptoms, the most noticeable is her ears are curled in a cute way. She is closely monitored by the doctors and has had to have painful growth hormone shots, Turners kids can be midgets with out them. She has had some issues with her immune system and has had to have some extensive treatments to build it up, for the most part she is a beautiful healthy child.

 

Leah with my Tree of Life mosaic

My friend Leah is like this Canannite woman, who would not take "No" for an answer in regards to her sick child.  Everytime the doctors presented her with horrible news regarding this child she has taken it to the Lord and believed that God would heal, protect and deliver them. Even now my friend Leah is facing some pretty frightening health concerns of her own that could potentially lead to blindness. Still she is choosing to stand on the word of God and is praying for God's healing power in her life. 

I'd love it if you would be lifting them both up in prayer as you remember this post. With Emma its hard to know when those missing x's will show up as she develops, so far we have seen them to be in relatively minor things. Leah is a single mom, facing lots of tests, and possible surgery. She trying to figure out how she will manage and take care of her kids should surgery be necessary. 

Prayer: Lord I lift up Leah and Emma before you and ask that you would continue to heal and restore them both. Thank you for the the people we each know who do not give up trusting you in-spite of sometimes terrifying obstacles and reports. Thank you for the people who model for us what it is to be an overcomer.