by Ron Smith
And the Lord said, “…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.” Luke 18:6-8 (KJV)
My granddaughter toddled into the kitchen. She stood on her tiptoes straining to see the formula bottles lined up in a neat row on the back of the counter. She said, “Bot.” Then, in a few seconds, she said it again. “Bot.” She kept saying, “Bot……bot……bot……bot……” every few seconds. I knew what she wanted: a bottle of formula. At eighteen months old, she couldn’t articulate the whole phrase, but she knew what she wanted. And she wasn’t going to move on with her life until her request was granted.
Her grandma was in the utility putting in another load of clothes in her “endless” cycle. She hollered back with just a slight edge of annoyance, “I HEAR YOU, TIANNAH. I’ll get your bottle in just a minute!”
I started counting the “bots.” “Bot……bot……bot……bot……” Tiannah kept the litany up with only an occasional pause. Twelve…thirteen…fourteen, …. I noticed that not only did she continue the repetition, but it began to get louder and more demanding: “BOT……BAAT…BAAAT,….” I chuckled as I considered how it would end. She always got the bottle.
Jesus told a story of a widow who kept knocking on the door of the local judge, trying to get him to help her settle a case. Jesus described the woman as persistent to the point of becoming a nuisance. And just like my granddaughter, the widow finally got what she wanted.
According to Jesus, when we pray for justice in a matter, we should keep up the effort-whether it’s knocking or hollering-until we get a satisfactory response.
What do you need from God today?
