Luke 18:1-8 1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 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!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 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? 8 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?”
Have you ever been in a room full of people where you found yourself unsure of yourself? Did you feel intimidated or like you didn’t belong? Were you hesitant to ask a question about what was being discussed because you just weren’t sure you would even be asking the right question? Did you feel UNWORTHY in the moment to make your question or request known?
The woman in our story likely dealt with feelings of unworthiness. Being female, she didn’t have much standing before the law, and she found herself going repeatedly to try to talk to a judge. At the time during which Jesus told this story, women didn’t go to court. They didn’t plead their case. They didn’t have a hearing with a judge. The judge in the story refused to listen to the woman’s plea for help time after time. She wasn’t worthy of a judgment, worthy of an answer, worthy of his time, worthy to be in the presence of this unjust judge.
However, tucked inside this parable, a parable that is really about persisting in prayer, we see a beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus who is the Righteous Judge. He stands in contrast to the unjust judge in the story. Not only does Jesus stand in contrast to the unjust judge, but we stand in contrast to the widow woman. We are no longer unworthy to stand in God’s presence. Here is a truth I want God to deposit deep into your spirit: You have been made worthy by the blood of Christ to be in God’s presence.
Hebrews 4:16 tells us we can go to God’s throne in prayer boldly and with great confidence. The Blood of the Lamb has qualified us. You are worthy in the place of prayer to get close to your Heavenly father. Jesus has made you good enough. For when God sees you, He doesn’t see your inconsistencies and your imperfections, He only sees the perfection of Jesus Christ, His Son. Oh, the amazing grace of God that not only forgives us of our sin, but also welcomes us into His presence without restriction.
Have you ever walked a lonely road? Even if there was help from others, as I certainly had, but a road where you just felt alone in your personal experience? Have you been there when you felt as if the weight of the burden was on your shoulders? Maybe you have felt alone in the decision making. Alone in the work. Alone in the parenting. Alone in the relationship. Alone in the care taking. Alone in your grief. Alone in the project.
A second beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus the Righteous Judge is that we are never alone.
We get the sense from the story about the persistent widow that she was alone. No one went with her to the court to try to gain an audience with the judge. She went by herself. Being a widow-woman, she had no husband to speak on her behalf. She either hadn’t had children or wasn’t in a relationship with her children or they didn’t live close enough to help her. No one volunteered to help her by going with her. She was alone in her quest for justice.
Someone was messing with her. Someone was bothering her. Someone was making her life miserable, and she needed help to get away from the situation. There is an air of desperation to her efforts. She is threatened by what is happening to her, but she is alone. No one is corroborating her story. No one is standing as a witness to her suffering.
Listen, you may feel alone in your circumstance, but I have good news for you. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life, you are never alone. Hebrews 13:5 tells us we are never alone. Jesus will never leave us.
When we pray, we have an Advocate, Jesus our Savior (I John 2:1). He goes into the Courtroom of God with us. He understands what we are going through. He will vouch for us before the Heavenly Father. He constantly represents us before the throne of God as He is praying with us and for us! (Romans 8:34)
God will walk you through every tear and sorrow. You are not alone and if you walk with Him, you will never be alone.
Unworthy. Alone. How about this word? “INSUFFICIENT.” You can put it in front of a lot of other words. Insufficient knowledge. Insufficient training. Insufficient talent. Insufficient funds. Can you relate? You know you don’t have what it takes. You know your need is greater than your supply. I have known that feeling.
Back in the day, if you had the means, you could buy “justice.” A bribe would get you a long way in a court of law. But she didn’t have money. Widows didn’t have money. She had insufficient funds to make her trouble disappear. In our own strength we are insufficient. In our own power, we are insufficient. Left to our own intellect, we have limited and insufficient wisdom. Our insufficiencies become a reminder of why we need the Lord! A third beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus the Righteous Judge is that in Him we are completely sufficient.
Your lack of education, your lack of skill, your perceived limitation, your bad past, none of it matters to God. God is our sufficiency in every circumstance. He is always up to the task. You just have to stand on His Word and trust Him.
When we take our insufficiency to God and allow Him to infuse His Word and His power into our circumstance, we have everything we need to endure a circumstance or to experience a change in that circumstance. That is when you get to experience Christ IN YOU in a real and powerful way. When we take our weakness to Him, He gives us strength. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, (Philippians 4:13) and the infusion of strength comes as we trust God in prayer. II Corinthians 12:9 tells us God’s grace is sufficient when we are insufficient. Those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10). Christ is your sufficiency.
Unworthy. Alone. Insufficient. We have probably all had times in our lives when we have experienced each one of those feelings. The woman in our Scripture passage, however, likely dealt with all three as she sought justice and freedom from her adversary.
In this story we can be reminded that:
We are made worthy by the Blood of the Lamb.
We never walk through this life alone.
Christ in us makes us more than sufficient.
Persevering in prayer has more benefits than just receiving justice like the widow woman did. When we do, we exercise our awareness of:
Who we are in Christ-WE ARE WORTHY.
Who we are with Christ-WE ARE NEVER ALONE.
Who Christ is in us-ALL-HE IS OUR SUFFICIENCY.
