Luke 18:1-8
1.
And he spake a parable unto them to this end,
that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
2.
Saying, There was in a city a judge, which
feared not God, neither regarded man:
3.
And there was a widow in that city; and she came
unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
4.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he
said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
5.
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will
avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6.
And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge
saith.
7.
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which
cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8.
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Here is a woman that goes to a judge that she might have a
protection order against those that sought her hurt. This judge was not a compassionate person and
made no effort to make life easier for those in his jurisdiction that were
hurting or troubled. He was a selfish
and arrogant man and sought his own pleasure.
Now here comes a widow woman that has no one to be her advocate, no one
to help her in her crisis. She is
completely at his mercy as her husband was dead and there appears to be no other
family for her to turn. This singular
widow woman who was weak and without any other advocate, in the judge’s eyes she
was meaningless and could do nothing to benefit him so he could write her off
for sure. He didn’t have time to get
involved in the affairs of one so unimportant so he determined that he would
just ignore her pleas. But this widow was
persistent. Every day he went to the
gate to dispense judgment, she was there pleading her cause. No matter how much he ignored her, she
refused to be unheard. Finally, after
her continued coming pleading judgment, he made the statement “Though I fear
not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge
her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.” Due to this weak, unimportant
widow’s persistence, she was avenged by an unjust judge.
I know that I have petitioned God more times than I can
count for things that only he can do.
Salvation, revival, family restoration, healing, etc… I have prayed
these prayers so many times and there are times when I have wondered whether
God has heard me at all. I have reminded
God of the promises that he made to me, promises of transformation, promises of
a ministry, promises of comfort and care, yet these continue to seemingly go
unfulfilled. I don’t do well with being
ignored, especially when it feels like God is the one doing the ignoring, so my
frustration has grown to unmanageable proportions because of the apparent delay
in fulfilling those promises. I am not
saying that God hasn’t answered any prayers that I have prayed but those
promises and burdens that He
placed in my heart are still outstanding.
Though it seems that my prayers have gone unheard and unfulfilled, I
KNOW, based on the word of Jesus “Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry
day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will
avenge them speedily…” (Luke 18:7-8), that He will, in his faithfulness,
fulfill that which he promised and also avenge me of my adversary.
So as long as I persistently and faithfully seek him, he
WILL answer me. “The hand of our God is
upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and wrath is against all
them that forsake him.” (Ezra 8:22).
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