Based on Luke 18:1-8
I nearly laughed out loud when reading the Gospel this morning about the persistent widow and the judge. It was the verse that reads,
“Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.”
Seriously, speedily? In my experience with prayer and the life of faith, God is anything but speedy. I’ve prayed for things for years before anything happened. I’m still praying for things that I’ve been praying about for years and I’m guessing I’ll be praying for those intentions for years to come.
I’m not alone in my struggle with this idea of “speedily“. St. Monica prayed for years for St. Augustine to convert, as did my mom for me. St. Teresa of Calcutta prayed for 50 years with no consolation from the Lord. Simeon was an old man at the Presentation in the Temple after receiving word that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. When did he receive this word? A week previous? As a young man? As a child?
So what are we to make of this idea of God acting “speedily“? As we well know, God’s ways are not our ways and God’s timing is not our timing. The Gospel passage and parable are quick; a snip-it of time. But how long did the widow persist? A year, ten, 50 years or more? We aren’t told the answer so it would be good for those of us who live in an “instant world” to contemplate both the persistence and patience of the widow. If God wills our petition, He will grant it, if He does not, He will change our hearts…and that is what takes so much time!
We should also consider that our idea of “justice” and God’s idea of justice are often vastly different. What we may term justice, may in reality be vengeance, selfishness, pride, greed, etc. Here again our persistent, patient prayer will result in true justice or true conversion of our hearts to God’s ways.
The years St. Monica spent in prayer for St. Augustine seemed like a second in time when compared with her joy at his conversion. Simeon, regardless of how long he waited, counted it as nothing when he laid eyes on the Child. The Israelites sang and danced for generation upon generation unto this day at the marvels the Lord has done.
I recently experienced a profound spiritual healing at a retreat. It was an answer to a deep prayer and longing to be set free from anger, pain, and past sins that I had been carrying during my life. How long did I pray and yearn for freedom? 40 years! For 40 years I cried out to God for His grace to act powerfully in my life. For 40 years I longed to have not justice, but simply mercy. He answered in such a way that those 40 years now seem as but a tiny blip in time. That baggage that I had been carrying for 40 years vanished in an instant. I now clearly see that His answer was in fact speedy, it was always yes, but it took all of that time to change my heart – not His!
What about you? What do you have to be thankful for today? What marvels has the Lord worked in your life that you need to “remember”? A conversion? A healthy diagnosis? A safe trip? A kind word from a stranger? A confirmation you sought? Today, let us all Remember the marvels the Lord has done and continues to do, even if it take longer than we’d like.
James M. Hahn, Author 