Something seemed different about her the past few weeks. She was usually upbeat and funny, but she had changed. I picked up on it a time or two, but dismissed it as the usual teenage drama. I remember when I was a teen–way back in the stone age. One day I would be cool with you and the next I didn’t know you. Looking back now, I owe several really nice adults an apology–starting with my parents.

An adult friend of Mary, the teenager mentioned above, pulled me aside and told me what was going on with her. She was having problems at home–big problems. Mary’s mother didn’t approve of her coming to our church and getting involved in the services and teen activities. As Mary would later tell me, “My Mom always tells me to do positive stuff, to do something positive with my life. But now that I am, she hates me!” To be quite honest, her raw emotion caught me a little off guard. She really wanted to talk, so I just listened.

“There have always been problems in my family,” she continued softly with her face draped in sadness, “because me and my oldest sister have a different father from my younger brothers and sisters. My mom has a problem with us because she hates our father and she kinda takes it out on us. I can’t do nothing right for her. When she and her current husband go out, they take the others and leave us.” Mary’s hurt was palpable. You could feel it just sitting close to her. She wasn’t done, either. She started to break down the issue that’s really gotten her in deep drama with her Mama.

“I like coming to this church. My family goes to another church, but I don’t feel welcome there. When I come here, I feel welcome. People here don’t look at you funny, if they haven’t seen you for awhile, or if you’re struggling with something. The people here are not all decked out in jewelry and stuff. Everything’s just on point here, and I like that. It’s different here.”

I’ve been in youth ministry for a minute now, and I’ve never heard a teen make a statement like that about church–especially the church I attend. While some people have all kinds of problems with our church–all churches have problems–Mary had found something good, and she was willing to do whatever it took keep on coming. Her mother told her that if she kept coming to our church, she would kicked her out of the house. Yet, the next week, there was Mary–albeit, a bit sad. At 17, she had decided to take a stand. Nothing was going to stop her from getting to the place where she could meet God.

Mary is a lot like another woman in the Bible. You’ll find her in St. Matthew’s gospel, chapter 15, verses 21-28. She had a real serious problem. She was a Gentile (a non-Jew) and her daughter was demon-possessed. Can you say, uh, problems? “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!” she cried to Jesus. But the very next verse says, “He answered her not a word” (verse 23). Now that’s a “diss.”

Hadn’t Jesus come to help messed up people? Yep, but wait. The story gets weirder. When Jesus did speak to her, He told her that he had been sent to find and save the lost sheep from the house of Israel. Translation? His mission was first to get the Jewish nation back on track (Matt.10:5,6). It wasn’t that Jesus hated other people. God had made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants who were called Jews, and Jesus was sent to re-establish that covenant first. In the process of doing so–through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven–he would save all people. But, Jesus first appeal was to the lost Jews.

Turning to the woman, Jesus leveled another harsh saying. “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” (verse 26). OUCH! The woman was unfased by Jesus’ words, though. “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table!” (Verse 27). Her daughter was sick, and she wasn’t about to let Jesus off the hook that easy. Jesus then said, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire” (verse 28). She was willing to take whatever help Jesus could give, the crumbs of blessing that feel from the Master’s table. She had to help her!

Sometimes it’s tough to get to God, and even when we get there we don’t always like the answers or non-answers we get. Like my friend Mary, and the widow in Matthew, don’t let that throw you off the trail. Keep on pressing until God hears your prayers and answers them. What might seem to you at the time like a God diss may only be a test of your faith.

My friend Mary is caught in a difficult situation, but she believes that if she keeps pouring out her heart to God, that if she keeps pressing her way into His presence, her situation will change. She’s refuses to give up her faith in God. Don’t you give yours up either.