Among the vices mentioned in Galatians 5:19 are anger and stubbornness but these can be used in a holy way. Hatred of evil is considered a holy hatred, so is holy stubbornness that serves the purpose of carrying out an effort in a determined, persistent way until one prevails. Holy stubbornness is to be persistent with God like the annoying little old lady in the parable of the poor widow and the wicked judge.
The text tells of a parable that comes as a challenge to followers of Christ, encouraging us to pester Him and continually look to, rely on and ask of Him. It is a reminder for us not to get discouraged when it seems answers to prayer are not forthcoming. Jesus is making a promise to His people through this parable that He hears us and will bring about good for us if only we will be persistent in prayer and not fainting. He that must receive answer to his prayer must not lose heart.
The parable is about a widow who was suffering an injustice. A widow, in those days and in that part of the world, did not have a lot of security. She was at the mercy of people, and had to rely on others to get things done, sometimes at the convenience of benefactors. This widow suffered an injustice and the only recourse she had was the town’s judge who appeared not to be paying attention. She was dealing with a corrupt judge who was Godless, lacked compassion, and no regard for the highest possible standard of justice. This judge was the one with all the power and on whom the poor widow had no choice but to rely on. He was the one who was able to grant or deny her justice. Luke tells us right away that the judge didn’t fear God or respect people. Can you think of anyone you know who does not fear God and only thinks of himself? These are two powerful human vices packed into just a few words for anyone to carry around.
Anyone who has suffered injustice knows how it feels. Injustice can so easily put even the best of a human soul in a state of insanity, bitterness, depression, worthlessness, anger, fear, and a sense of utter helplessness and hopelessness. In fact, when we suffer injustice, we may even begin to think that God doesn’t care just like the judge in the parable didn’t care. We tend to think that life is not worth living.
Our disposition is supposed to be towards God, and towards our neighbor. These words are all the more troubling because of the judge’s position. With the power available to him, he was supposed to do what was just and what was right. We find out from the text that such was not to be expected from him.
Widows could be particularly vulnerable. Widows are among those with a strong claim on God’s justice. In Psalms 68:5 we can see that God was always on the side of the widow.
This widow was desperate. And what was it that the widow wanted? Justice! “Grant me justice against my opponent,” she said. Let’s note here that the woman didn’t say, “I want my money,” or “I want my house”, or, “that material thing belongs to me.” No! She said, “Give me justice.” The cry for justice carried her to the wicked judge. What did this widow do to obtain justice? She was persistent. She refused to give up. She was engaged in holy stubbornness while dealing with a judge who was concerned most of the time with only what affected him directly; making decisions more out of expediency than out of selfless motives?
The judge responded predictably at first. Since he carried the qualifications of not fearing God, and didn’t respect anyone, it is no surprise to us that he initially ignored the woman’s pleas. But eventually, he reasoned with himself, ‘though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ (Luke 8:4-5). The unjust judge acted against his own character… he granted justice… because he wanted to be rid of a nuisance. He feared that the woman would use her persistence and resoluteness to snuff life out of him, and so he granted her what she wanted.
Jesus is addressing the issue of prayer in this parable. Persistent prayer involves being stubborn about a situation. It is an encouragement to “praying always" in the face of injustice. When we start to stubbornly live out our prayers, that’s when our prayers become effective. When we spend more time praying about something rather than complaining about it; when our concerns are made known through supplication rather than through murmuring; when we derive satisfaction from the ability to knock the doors of Heaven rather than seeking the pity of people around us; when we refuse to take no for an answer; when we will not allow Satan to use the weapon of delay to steal our testimony from us; that is when testimony is bound to come.
Success, health, love, marriage, peace, abundance, freedom, testimony, fruitfulness, accomplishment, blessings, deliverance, promotion, recovery and satisfaction are just a few of the widows in Jesus’ parable. They represent the widow in each and every one of us as we pray for and demand a new life. They are not asking for much, they just want to be to us what God created them to be. The Scripture says all that God has created is good. The success that you do not have is that poor widow in your life crying for justice so it take its place in your life, the marriage that is not going well for you is asking for justice so that it can make you happy. The deliverance is complaining to the unjust judge to do the right thing so you can live a bondage-free life. The good things you have not been able to attain in life are the widows in your life crying for justice so they take their proper position in line with the plan of God for your life. We hope things will change. We seek something different for our lives; something other than what we have right now. Day after day it is the same, nothing changes. It appears the heaven has become brass and God has abandoned His people.
The unjust judge wears many disguises: prejudice, failure, instability, oppression, bondage, hatred, fear, diseases that won’t be healed, economic systems, death, grief, poverty, household wickedness, witchcraft, addiction. Regardless of the disguise the unjust judge neither fears God nor respects people.
Standing before the unjust judge, life seems big, powerful, and overwhelming. You feel small, powerless, abandoned and alone. No matter what you do or say, nothing changes, nothing works. You don’t know what else to do so, like the widow in Jesus’ parable. Day after day, you cry out. That is the widow’s story in today’s parable; in today’s world; sometimes even in our own life.
We stand daily before the unjust judge. If this terrible judge, who is so corrupt, will grant justice to this poor widow, how much more will God, who is perfectly just, listen to the pleas of his children who cry out?
What do we do when we stand before the unjust judge? We can choose to get angry and fight back by becoming as hardened and unjust as the judge himself, or we can rely solely on God by standing on His word. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. (Ps. 27:10)
Some will give up and believe what the unjust judge says; believing that is the final reality of life and it will never get better. Others will blame and accuse God of being the unjust judge. There are a few, however, who will discover and trust the widow’s faith.
Prayer does not mean giving God a to do list and then sitting back expecting God to magically fix everything like most of us like to believe. To pray means that we offering our cry to God and then we doing whatever we can to bring about the change we seek, trusting that God is already doing what He needs to do.
We make our case not just before God but with God as Dr. Kevin Belsby of The King’s Seminary always says “what are you doing to cooperate with God in what He is doing in your life.” The widow does not wait on God. She waits with God.
What if the widow just could not stand another day of crying out; pointing to the injustice of her life; holding her pain for the world to see? She didn’t, and that was the day the judge ruled; that was the day life the widow’s life changed? I wonder how much of God’s life, love, compassion, forgiveness, healing we have missed because we gave up!
God is nothing like the unjust judge. God sees our suffering. God hears our cries. God quickly grants justice.
God knows us to be widows and fights for the widows
Pray the following prayers:
I refuse to listen to the lies of the Devil concerning my situation in the name of Jesus.
Father Lord, give me the grace to wait patiently for my testimony to be full in the name of Jesus.
Father Lord, bring me into remembrance before the devil begins to laugh at me in Jesus name
O Lord, overrule every unjust God in every dept of my life in Jesus name.
I refuse to die standing before an unjust judge in the name of Jesus
