Always Pray and Don’t Give Up

I wrote the following blog post on November 3, 2013, and after reading it again a few moments ago, I decided now was a good time to reblog it as I’ve just passed the 6th Anniversary date (two days ago) of when I lost my job in Houston that has left me unemployed for all this time. Yesterday was the first day of my 7th year of unemployment, and now I have a significant housing issue to add to it that started in late September 2014 and is still ongoing. I’m reblogging this particular blog post written a year and a half ago in case you are in the midst of a major trial that never seems to end (and I totally sympathize with you), I think you will find the information to be a great encouragement as I did when I just reread it. The words are straight from Jesus in a parable that he told in Luke 18:1-8. So without further ado, here it is:

The Woman, the Judge, Justice, and God

Jesus Christ often taught in parables (short stories that illustrate truth) and there is an interesting parable found in Luke 18:1-8 that Jesus told His disciples regarding a woman (in this case a widow), and a judge who–after much time and persistence on the woman’s part–finally gave her the justice she needed from her adversary. Let’s read this short parable:

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 about men. 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 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!’”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 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. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

A study note in the MacArthur Study Bible regarding the judge’s response to the woman’s plea and then Jesus’ response (vv.5-8) states the following:

“What the judge would not do out of compassion for the widow or reverence for God, he would [and did] do out of sheer frustration with her incessant pleading.” [And Jesus responds by telling us to listen to what the unjust judge said] “(e.g., listen to the point of the story), namely, that God, who always does right and is filled with compassion for believers who suffer, will certainly respond to His beloved ones who cry for His help. He [God] may delay long, but He does so for good reasons (2 Peter 3:8-9) and when He acts, His vengeance is swift.”

The lesson this parable illustrates is found in the very first sentence—Always pray and don’t give up!!! We are not told how long the woman kept coming to the judge with her request for justice from her adversary nor what her adversary was doing to her that was causing her so much pain and injustice; however, she persisted and persisted and persisted—she never gave up. And while it appears to have taken a fair amount of time for the judge to finally grant her request for justice from her adversary (and the judge was not a God-fearing man nor did he care about what other people think), it was because of her continual persistence that he finally gave her the justice she so desperately needed from her adversary.

Are you going through a hard time that you don’t think will ever end? If so, remember this parable when you feel like giving up, and remember, too, that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). God’s ever present help (coming to us in ways we cannot imagine if we will yield to him and not try to depend on ourselves for the answer) and bringing to mind the lesson in this parable when times have been really tough have kept me going through over four and a half years of still ongoing unemployment, [UPDATE April 23, 2015: I have now entered my 7th year of unemployment and a significant housing issue has now been added to the mix that has been and still is ongoing for the past seven months] and I’m not giving up! Don’t you give up, either . . .

Seek God’s face and always pray . . .

And never give up . . . .

YouTube Video: “My Help” sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir:

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