Luke 18:1-8 The Parable of the Persistent Widow
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” (verse 1)
Always pray and not give up.
A bit better than before, I must admit that I still struggle with getting discouraged and giving up when the going gets tough and it looks like God is taking a little longer than expected. But God doesn’t “delay” in answering our prayer because He gets some sick pleasure in torturing us, no, the Bible tells us that He doesn’t delay, He’s the one on time…He just doesn’t work according to our time table.
- “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9)
It requires patience on our parts and patience is translated as perseverance, endurance, stability, fortitude etc.
Always pray and not give up.
Persevere, keep it up; that’s what the widow did, she persevered and was granted her request, not because the judge pitied her but because he didn’t want to be bothered with her. The convo went a little like this:
Judge “Look lady, I don’t care about you or your God but I’m going to grant you your request because I’m getting sick and tired of you nagging me!”
Trials and difficulties have ways of working on us more so than an easy going life does, because after a while we will get bored on easy street…
The integrity of steel can only be tested by pressure in the same manner, gold is not fit to wear until it has gone through the refining fire. I believe that sometimes God “delays” in answering us because He wants to build our endurance, strengthen our faith muscles so that we can realize that we should be looking to Him. But we don’t like that. So though our trials are purposed to draw us closer to God, we choose our own paths and run from Him.
- However we choose to respond to our trial is what determines our coming out of them or going around the same mountain for another 40 years.
We live in the days where everything is instant, we can’t be bothered with waiting, and the virtues of self-control and self-disciplined are only admired from afar.
We want to lose 20 lbs minus the pain and in the quickest way possible, make money without working for it, and raise good kids without disciplining them because after all we are “cool parent” not like our mom and dads
Easy going, short cuts, microwaves, drive-troughs…it looks like we don’t really even have time for life
Trials and persevering through them have a way of slowing things down, and when we choose to yield ourselves to the developmental parts of it, we begin to see things in the right perspective. Hhhm perspective
For example for a period of time I could not get a job. I finished school, had gotten a great job, worked there for a couple of years until some circumstances arose that led me to go back home to my family. That’s when the walls of my life started falling apart beginning with not being able to find work. No matter where I sent applications, the answer always returned back negative. It wasn’t like my resume sucked or I didn’t have the references, not to boast of myself but only of God, but I had great qualifications. So what is it? Those doors for some reason were closed. Oh did it suck major, especially having to answer the “So what do you do for a living” question. And mind you this was just a small slice of the pie of trials that I was up against
I literally felt like everything I touched crumbled, the despair was overwhelming and I had no clue what God was doing but nevertheless, I had made a decision to stick with Him. And it has not been easy street; friendships have broken apart, relationship issues, family drama, this on top of dealing with my own personal stuff…going through the developmental parts I guess lol
We run and find ourselves right back where we started. You put on a happy face only to cry yourself to sleep and it looks like God is blessing everyone else but you. “Is there a ‘KICK ME” sign on my back?”
No there’s no sign on your back but can I encourage you to also stick with Him? I’ve been through the desert and into the wilderness, around the same mountain over and over again…but what I have seen that makes the difference is God, you inviting God into that pit you are in. That doesn’t mean He is going magically cause all your problems to vanish, if He does that for you, point Him in my direction too, but He will grant you that strength, the comfort, the peace that you need to get through what you are going through. Hhhmm perspective!
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)
Honestly I read this sometimes and I’m like “Really, James? Pure joy is NOT what I’m feeling!” But I believe that what this means is that we can rejoice and even find comfort in the truth that whatever we are facing, there’s a purpose behind it, even though it may be beyond our comprehension. And if we choose to let God in on it, in all that mess, the stress, anger, even the parts within us where we are still struggling to believe if God is real or not…if we choose to let Him in, He can turn it around to be something for your good, then you will see the glorious unfolding (Thank you Steven Curtis Chapman!)
Now try and crack a smile, it won’t hurt 😉
