OUR HELP COMES FROM GOD,
WHO GUARDS OUR LIVES
WHO GUARDS OUR LIVES
The woman comes back again and
again. She knows that he is the one who can make a difference in her life.
Is there anyone here who
likes being put on hold while on the phone in the middle of a conversation
because someone is on the other line? A retreatant was telling me about her
latest experience. It seems that she was talking on the phone to a good friend,
and suddenly there was this little beeping noise and her friend said,
"Hang on just a minute!" With that, her friend put her on hold to
take another call. Our fellow retreatant thought that this request was a
terrible insult! She waited five minutes and then hung up, vowing never to talk
to this person on the phone again.
The next day that same friend
called to say that she was going to have to leave town for a while because her
mother had been taken to the hospital. "My father was the one who beeped
in last night," she said. "He needed to talk to someone. I knew that
you would understand if I didn't get back to you right away. You're such a good
friend!" You can imagine how our retreatant felt when she thought about
how she had really responded. "I was selfish and not loving at all. I
should have known that there was a good reason for her to take that other call.
I know she cares about me." This call waiting experience taught her a
lesson and it should teach us a lesson, too.
Today's Gospel is about a
woman on hold. The crooked judge won't give the woman satisfaction. He keeps
putting her off. But does she say, "Well, I won't talk to that judge any
more because he keeps putting my case on hold?" No. The woman comes back
again and again. She knows that he is the one who can make a difference in her
life.
We need to learn to follow
this woman's example, but the truth is that we're much more like our fellow
retreatant at times. Sometimes we pray for something to feel better, to have a
renewed relationship with family and friends, or to figure out what we should
do with our lives. When we don't get a fast answer from God there is a
temptation to hang up! Cut God out of our lives! In our impatience, we think
that if we meant anything to God He wouldn't put us on hold. Or would He?
The truth is we don't know
why some prayers seem to never get answered by God. We don't know why we're put
on hold by our heavenly Operator! We can be sure that God loves us and has not
forgotten about us. God bids us to have faith and confidence, and a love for
Him that doesn't need to be responded to every single moment. God wants us to
"pray always" (1 Thess 5:17).
Our challenge is to continue
to pray even when the answers don't come and there seems to only be silence at
the other end of the line. It is a big challenge because it is easy to begin to
doubt God's love for us when we are on hold. But Jesus encourages us to pray
unceasingly, never losing heart. We cry to the Lord asking for justice and
peace but it doesn't happen. What do we do?
When we see what is unjust
and absurd in life, we view God as a judge who does not care about His people.
But if we pray, much of what seems to be absurd will disappear. We will come to
recognize the face of God who loves us in daily life and we will trust that
justice will be done even if He seems to delay. Through the parable of the
unjust judge and the nagging widow, Jesus wishes to encourage us to pray
continuously, without losing heart, even when we do not get immediate results.
God will certainly come to our aid in His own time and way because He is a God
who loves us.
John Henry Newman wrote,
"Going often to prayer is an act of faith...Trying to be attentive in your
prayers is an act of faith...These are acts of faith, because they are acts
that you would accomplish if you saw and understood that God is present, though
your eyes and ears neither see nor hear Him." So when the phone rings and
you say, "Hello," and all you hear is, "This is the Heavenly
Hotline. Please hold for assistance!" How will you respond?