Title: “The Cry of the Widow”
Introduction: Life is unfair.
Why is the widow crying out to the unjust judge? Life has not been fair to her.
This life is an obstacle course. Think of all of the things that might beset us. The world is under a curse. Human nature is has an antichrist mentality. The Devil is out there seeking whom he might devour. Every day, every one of us will encounter difficulty. Hurricane Charlie is stirring up trouble. Storms are on every side.
Pray or Faint?
According to verse one of our text, you have only one of two options when it comes to responding to the trials in your life, You will either pray or faint. It is my hopes that the death of Teresa Tyler will be a wake up call for all of us to pray and to get on our knees. God wants us to put our trust in him!
But you might ask, how can I trust in a God that I am angry at?
Today’s message: Three things that help me to trust in God.
1. Knowing that God loves me.
I want you to reread verse seven:
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Note that God calls us "His Own" and "Elect." God loves us. He hurts when we hurt. It is the Devil that injects pain into our lives. God is there to bring us resurrection and life! God loves us and God loves Teresa. Note that I said loves Teresa. He is still loving her. Do not think of her as being in a desolate graveyard, Teresa is in Heaven, being loved in the precious arms of Christ.
We are "His own." We are "His Elect!"
2. Knowing that God knows about my need.
The purpose of this parable is to teach us about prayer. God hears our prayer. God knows about my need.
The one statement that I have made continually throughout my life to get me through the hard times is this powerful truth, "GOD KNOWS."
3. Knowing that God will avenge me.
Reread again verse eight:
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Note the word "speedily." Isn’t that a comforting word! God is already at work making all things to work together for the good. God’s plan is eternal. Someday, in eternity we will have an understanding. Today we must trust him. It is the only way to have a "Peace that passes understanding!" (Phil. 4:7)
I do not know why my Son, Joshua, died of crib death so many years ago. I do not know why Teresa departed from us with a tragic death. There are a lot of things that I do not know in life. But I have learned and I am still learning that I have to pray and that I must not faint.
God created life with this verse as a theme for us to follow, "The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:17.
Will you pray or faint? Let me encourage you to pray.
