A Persistent Wait

Some days ago, my children stood before me and begged me for some things they each wanted. As I sat there in silence and observed their unruly behavior, within seconds, they became more and more calm until – I was ready to respond to their requests.

This moment reminded me of the Persistent Widow found in Luke 18:1-5,

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

We all may have had moments where disappointments, denials, and detours of life caused us to stop praying and pleading God to answer our requests and to move on our behalf.

One important thing to keep in mind is that God sees and hears what His children ask of Him. Though He may be silent for a moment, His silence isn’t equivalent to denial, but it does cause us to calm down, realize who our Father is, and have the faith to believe that He will give us what we need – when the time was right.

This isn’t torture or avoidance from God. However, it is His discipline that is purposed to change our behavior and responses so that our hearts can be right and settled when He finally answers.

“Then the Master said, “Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won’t step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won’t he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?”

Luke 18:6-8 MSG