In the gospel of Luke Chapter 18 verses 1 to 8, Jesus teaches using the Parable of the Persistent Widow. In this particular illustration He speaks of a widow who is determined to exact justice from a judge who neither fears man nor God. She eventually wears him down.
"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' " (vs 4-5)
Jesus begins the parable with the intention of showing His disciples that, "..they should always pray and not give up," (Luke 18 vs 1) and concludes it with a description of the character of the One in whom we put our faith, God our Father.
"And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. " (vs 7-8)
Chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews is dedicated to a discourse on faith. Faith defies logic as it comes from the belief in a God whom the eye cannot see, yet the heart can perceive. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as '..being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.' Later on in that same chapter it details the faith of the patriarchs, some of who died 'in faith',without receiving their promise in this life.
The Bible warns us that we are to be, "..self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith..."
We live in a world which the Bible describes as being under the control of the Evil One (1 John 5:19). We are instructed that while we are in the world, we are not to be of the world. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2
There are storms that come to destroy your faith, some seen and some unseen. They come in the form of trials and persecution, some subtle and outright. Often the subtle storms attempt to change your reality and thwart your knowledge of God's truth. One of the most common, enduring storms for Christians is waiting in faith-waiting for your promise. How can we endure these storms and even thrive through them?
Habakkuk 2:4 & Romans 1:17 state that, 'The just shall live by faith.'
What does this mean? What is this thing called faith and why is it so precious?
What causes the widow in the parable to be persistent? Is it her belief in the justice of her cause? Is it her faith in the legal system or is it her tenacity? What propels her unwavering determination? What are the things that come to destroy our faith? Why does Jesus end the parable with these words?
"However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)
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6 comments:
Well,well great topic.You said it so clean some storms are "Seen and Unseen"
Faith comes from what we have seen on the Cross.It was left there to remind us we must believe because he has gone to prepare a place for the unseen storm.
Faith is believing what God can do.
Is believing what God has in His plans for us.plans/to prosper us.
He has the Power to change all things for His glory.
I believe the "HEART OF FAITH COMES FROM THE WORD"
God Bless...Un.J
Well said! I think that was very profound, "the heart of faith comes from the word of God." Thank you for sharing that with us Un.J
Recently, as difficult experiences unfolded in my life, I began to seek answers by trying to intellectualize God. It was at this point that I became acutely aware of man's insignificance and arrogance in thinking that our puny intellects could fathom the magnificence, power and might of our triune God.
When I think about the pit from which God has lifted me and how HE has shown himself to be so very real in my life time after time, how can I not have faith?
'For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son for me, yes for me! (and you).
When the trials come, seen and unseen, I am like that persistent widow, I go before HIM in prayer and supplication, for I know (from experience), even when the darkness seem to want to rise up and engulf me, HE hears and answers my cries.
Making the decision to become a Christian was a leap of faith for me. Yes, I was led by the Holy Spirit, but I believe it took some measure of faith on my part to decide that this new life is what I wanted. I have stumbled along the Christian path when I lack faith to believe that I can say no to the weaknesses of the old life. Or what I should say, is that I sometimes lack the faith to believe that God can deliver me from the temptations that I face. On reflection therefore,I sometimes wonder, how can I tell a single, low-income female parent to have faith and her needs will be fulfilled? How can I judge someone who is reluctant to leave an improper relationship because of a lack of faith that God can help them to become self-sufficient? We as christians need to testify continuously of the ways in which faith has worked for us. We must also be careful not to judge/ condemn others for what may seem to be their lack of faith.
PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER AND WEATHERING THE STORM
The parable introduces to us a Judge in a city and a persistent widow. It opens by laying down as a general principal the necessity and duty of the disciples always to pray, “not to faint,” that is, “not to become weary.” The parable begins in a certain town where there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. There was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with a plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” The widow went repeatedly to request that the Judge would right a wrong that had been done to her. The judge refused. But the woman kept coming to him. He finally said, “Because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!” (Luke 18:5). The Lord applied this principle to the disciples. How interesting that Jesus uses the image of a widow, a person with few rights or status in Jewish society to illustrate the person who is asking the judge for justice. Perhaps this woman didn’t feel important enough in one sense to bother the judge, but she did. If such an unjust, unresponsive one could be moved by the persistence of the widow, certainly God who is just and responsive will respond to the persistent cry of His children.
The parable must be understood in the light of our Lord’s previous teaching about the postponement of the kingdom. The disciples had been taught to pray, “Your kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10). Yet in spite of their prayer, the kingdom had not come; and Christ had revealed that it would not come in their day. But they were to persist in prayer, for God would hear their prayer and grant them their request. One day the kingdom would come. This persistence is to be exercised throughout the present age until that for which prayer has been offered to God concerning the institution of the kingdom has been realized. Christ anticipated that when the Son of Man comes in answer to the pray of the persistent, He will not find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8). The whole world will not be converted through the prayers of the believers, but a remnant on earth will await His coming in the midst of the widespread rejection of the world. Thus, Christ taught that people should keep on praying for the establishment of the kingdom despite its postponement. We must first remember that Jesus Christ was introduced by John the Baptist as Israel’s Messiah with the promise that the kingdom of heaven was near. (Matt. 3:2). Christ had made the same affirmation. However, the leaders had rejected the person of Christ and counted Him to be a blasphemous impostor of the true Messiah. Because of the leaders’ rejection, it became necessary to postpone the kingdom until some future time when Messiah would return to sit on David’s throne. Christ did state that the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). The Pharisees’ question implied that the kingdom was impossible because the leaders did not accept Christ. But Christ affirmed that the kingdom was possible and was being offered because the King was present. When the time arrived for the institution of the future Davidic millennial kingdom, people will know it. Jesus said, “The Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning” (v.24). Lightening cannot be hidden. It shows itself across the span of the sky. The time to institute the postponed kingdom will be evident because many signs will herald its coming (Matt. 24:4-14). But before the institution of the kingdom, it was necessary that Christ “suffer many things and be rejected by the generation” (Luke 17:25).
Persistence in Prayer and Weathering storms (continued)
This lesson teaches us Christians how to pray when life is unjust and unfair. The judge exemplifies that character of society when people do not fear God. Jesus often used examples of pleadings between people to portray the pleadings and requests involved in prayer. (A son who asks his father for a piece of bread (Matt. 7:9-10); a neighbor who comes to his friend at midnight with an urgent request (Luke 11:5).) God desires that we rely upon Him constantly. To do this, we need to understand the nature of God. He is not reluctant to help us. And when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, “The kingdom does not come with signs to be observed, nor will people say, “Here it is, or ‘there it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst (Luke 17:20-21).
Let us break our thoughts for a second on weathering storms in our lives: Jesus admonished us not to allow the storms of life to destroy our faith in God, whether seen or unseen. 2 Cor. 2:4:18 declares “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind…perfect love cast out fear” (2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:18). There are times when our problems seems so big and our faith seems so small; there are times when our lives are taken over by those storms, it makes us feel so insecure, so afraid and so uncertain. We all have gone though such storms in our lives one way or the other, and some people are going through them right now. It may be your marriage, relationship, job, school, health, finances, school work, bad times or whatever. Jesus and his disciples are no different. The disciples went through their own storms. My bothers and sisters, look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Jesus uses a different metaphor to describe the experience of weathering the storms of life. Instead of floating above the chaos in an ark, Jesus describes a house built on solid rock. In the Gospel of Matthew 5 through 7 and Luke 6:20-49, Jesus is cautioning all who have been listening to the Sermon on the Mount; it is not enough to just hear the words of salvation, you have to be a hearer of the word as well as a doer…to act and meditation on them as well. If you act on Jesus’ teaching, if you have built your house on solid rock; if you love your neighbor as you love yourself, if you care for the sick, share your food with the poor, hungry, needy, visit those in prison, and clothe the naked, then your house will be built on that God’s solid rock. Then there is no storm, no wind, and no darkness that God would not conquer for you. Nothing can touch or destroy you because God will come to you in the midst of the storm even in the darkest hour because you belong to God.
Luke is careful to indicate the point Jesus intended to make to his disciples. He says, “He told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart,” or, as the King James (Version) has it, “not faint.” Here Jesus boldly confronts us with an inescapable choice: We must either pray or faint, one or the other. Either we learn to cry out to an unseen Father, who is ever present with us, or else we must loose heart, to faint. It is one or the other. We must also be persistent in prayer. He says that if an unjust judge is willing to grant the request of a widow simply because she nags him into submission; how much more can we expect our Father in heaven to answer our pray. He may delay in answering, but don’t be discouraged; always pray and don’t give up. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews. 11:6). It is one or the other; there are no other alternatives.
Amen
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