"Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me."
Luke 18:2-5
This is Christ's parable of the unjust judge. There are probably several lessons in this parable, but what it made me think of today is persistence and hope. If even an unjust judge will help a persistent person, then how much more will God help us, if we ask (verse 7)? The parable was originally about prayer, and that is definitely the main message, but God also specifically uses this same parable in D&C 101 (see verse 81) to illustrate persistence in seeking justice from the government, so I am guessing that it can apply to many things.
I think it goes along with the way that God teaches us in general. He wants us to try things... to go out and make things happen and figure out ourselves and the world (obviously within the guidelines of the gospel). But when we run into roadblocks, then he is willing to step in. However, let's also remember the story of Nephi and Laban, or the story of the Brother of Jared needing light in the barges. In both stories, our heroes were trying to do as God asked, but it required effort and creative thinking. In both stories, God helped solve their problems, but he didn't step in and do it for them. They still had to persist, make the effort--learn the lesson and the principle. And so it is with us, right?
Like Nephi and the Brother of Jared and the woman in this parable, we are all going to encounter problems in our lives that are going to be challenging. As we approach these problems, often our first try isn't going to work. We might, in fact, fail several times--just as Nephi did, or encounter a problem that defies any normal solution, as the Brother of Jared did. But even in those cases we can remember the woman in this parable, and keep trying. We can have hope that God will help us as we keep doing the right thing, and continue to try.
We could think of this cynically as God's version of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," and perhaps it is, in a way, if squeaking means actually communicating. Life takes effort and communication, not only with unjust judges and governments, but also with people we love and with God, who is perfect. For instance, I had a friend who I hung out with for probably six months to a year before I found out that he didn't like pepperoni. We had eaten many pizzas in that time with our group of friends, but that fact never came out. We both probably needed to be better at communicating... me in ferreting out individual pizza preferences, and him in expressing his opinions and not just suffering unnecessarily with something he didn't like. On the other hand, I crossed the street at a broken crosswalk for about six months myself wondering when the city was ever going to fix it, and then finally contacted them. It was fixed the next weekend. We like to think that things will magically fix themselves, but most often it actually takes communication.
Now, of course God isn't an unjust judge, and he already knows what kind of pizza we like, and all the things that are broken in the world, but we *still* have to ask him to help us. It has to be our choice to invite him in, and talking to him about it will help us think of better ideas to try as well. :) Today, let's pray, let's communicate, let's try some creative thinking. Let's jump in and figure it out. There are going to be problems, no matter how well we live. With some hope, effort, and communication, we can get through them all, with God's help and through his infinite grace.
And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me."
Luke 18:2-5
This is Christ's parable of the unjust judge. There are probably several lessons in this parable, but what it made me think of today is persistence and hope. If even an unjust judge will help a persistent person, then how much more will God help us, if we ask (verse 7)? The parable was originally about prayer, and that is definitely the main message, but God also specifically uses this same parable in D&C 101 (see verse 81) to illustrate persistence in seeking justice from the government, so I am guessing that it can apply to many things.
I think it goes along with the way that God teaches us in general. He wants us to try things... to go out and make things happen and figure out ourselves and the world (obviously within the guidelines of the gospel). But when we run into roadblocks, then he is willing to step in. However, let's also remember the story of Nephi and Laban, or the story of the Brother of Jared needing light in the barges. In both stories, our heroes were trying to do as God asked, but it required effort and creative thinking. In both stories, God helped solve their problems, but he didn't step in and do it for them. They still had to persist, make the effort--learn the lesson and the principle. And so it is with us, right?
Like Nephi and the Brother of Jared and the woman in this parable, we are all going to encounter problems in our lives that are going to be challenging. As we approach these problems, often our first try isn't going to work. We might, in fact, fail several times--just as Nephi did, or encounter a problem that defies any normal solution, as the Brother of Jared did. But even in those cases we can remember the woman in this parable, and keep trying. We can have hope that God will help us as we keep doing the right thing, and continue to try.
We could think of this cynically as God's version of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," and perhaps it is, in a way, if squeaking means actually communicating. Life takes effort and communication, not only with unjust judges and governments, but also with people we love and with God, who is perfect. For instance, I had a friend who I hung out with for probably six months to a year before I found out that he didn't like pepperoni. We had eaten many pizzas in that time with our group of friends, but that fact never came out. We both probably needed to be better at communicating... me in ferreting out individual pizza preferences, and him in expressing his opinions and not just suffering unnecessarily with something he didn't like. On the other hand, I crossed the street at a broken crosswalk for about six months myself wondering when the city was ever going to fix it, and then finally contacted them. It was fixed the next weekend. We like to think that things will magically fix themselves, but most often it actually takes communication.
Now, of course God isn't an unjust judge, and he already knows what kind of pizza we like, and all the things that are broken in the world, but we *still* have to ask him to help us. It has to be our choice to invite him in, and talking to him about it will help us think of better ideas to try as well. :) Today, let's pray, let's communicate, let's try some creative thinking. Let's jump in and figure it out. There are going to be problems, no matter how well we live. With some hope, effort, and communication, we can get through them all, with God's help and through his infinite grace.
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