Don’t Give Up

Pastor Jeffrey Smith

Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 

In Luke 18:1-8, we read about an unjust judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. A widow in the town kept coming to him with a plea for justice against her adversary. This judge refused for some time, but the widow kept coming back with the same plea over and over. Finally he said that because she kept bothering him, he would see that she finally gets her justice so that she won’t come back and attack him. 

In that passage Jesus asked, “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.”

How much more will God grant the request of someone who does not give up? It’s a lesson about patience. In other words, impatience can keep us from receiving answers to our prayers. 

We have to also realize that sometimes unanswered prayers are an answer, just not the answer we want. What if the answer is a “no?” That’s an answer. 

How many people have told your kids “no” because you knew it was the most beneficial answer for them at the time? On occasion, we get frustrated and mad at God because he gives us a “no.”

Yet, those who have served the Lord for many years can remember asking God for something in our youth, only to get a “no” at the time. As we matured and grew in the things of the Lord, we looked back and realized that if God would have actually said “yes” to that prayer in our youth, our life would have been shipwrecked. The “no” was protecting us and preparing us for something that God had for us in the future. 

One more thing, let’s certainly not confuse “no” with “not yet” because that's also an answer. That’s where our patience kicks in.  If we get a “no” or a “not yet,” let’s keep moving forward. Don’t get discouraged and don’t give up on God. He’s not finished with us yet.