The passage in Luke 18 is about prayer. Jesus advises believers to pray without becoming weary. Prayer is not merely folding hands, bending knees, and asking for things, but a relationship with God. Therefore, Luke 18 also asks, “Will God delay in vindicating his elect?” No. He will quickly vindicate them. But Jesus continues with a very serious question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” That is, will some people dare to remain steadfast in a dark world—one that lacks the standards of God’s children, a world growing more wicked—yet maintain integrity, obedience, faithfulness, and true faith as God requires?
In the passage, we see the courage and persistence of a widow confronting a judge who neither feared God nor cared for anyone. The widow can prevail over that judge. The question is: can we conquer ourselves under God’s holiness amid this wicked world? How persistent, obedient, and faithful are we? For God desires to find such faith. Fundamentally, those who are not willing to live holy lives and to renounce love of the world show they do not trust God. We must be radical: our one hobby is God; our one treasure is God; our one pleasure is God; our only joy is God.
God allows various experiences in our lives so we may truly know He is real and alive, and so we learn to trust Him without deceit. God longs to befriend us. He desires an exclusive relationship with us. But to have that, we must trust Him with no suspicion at all, so our faith becomes the kind that produces an exclusive relationship. Such a relationship only happens through a process. The problem is that not everyone undergoes this process because it depends on how much a person truly wants to be trusted by God.
Remember Romans 8:28, “God works all things together for good for those who love Him.” There are two issues. First, is love constant, or does it stop at some point? Second, how great is a person’s love for God?
Loving God is very personal and lies within each person’s sovereignty. God gives us that sovereignty. How far we are willing to live holy lives, and how close we want to live to God, are our own choices. God is not discriminatory. He opens the door wide; everyone can take as much as God provides. Scripture says, “If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven?” Remember, we only have one life. Why not take the best from God so we gain what is of eternal value? That is why Jesus said, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, not on earth.”
So, faith turns out not to be simple. Salvation brings a person into an intimate, exclusive relationship with God, as Jesus expresses in John 17:20–21, “That they may be one in us, as you are in me and I am in You.” Why does God bring us into difficult circumstances? It is not only Abraham, Joseph, Jesus, and Paul who experienced them, but we do as well. The honest question is: what have we done for God?
Many who profess faith in Jesus limit their relationship with God. Jesus said, “You are the ones who have remained with me in my trials; and I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me.” The Father in heaven longs to see people who dare to share life’s burdens with Jesus—people who are faithful and obedient.