Are you exhausted yet? Are you ready to give up?
Think about a time when you have been totally exhausted. Maybe you had to drive all night long to make sure you got somewhere on time. Maybe you stayed up and studied for a major exam the next day. Maybe you worked one month straight of very long shifts at work. You walk in the door, collapse on the bed, and you are just drained. Or maybe in your total exhaustion, you actually can’t sleep. Your body is screaming for rest, but you’ve crossed some crazy line and your total fatigue has somehow left you with the inability to find rest.
I know that working long hours leads to exhaustion. But I have found that hanging uncertainty drains me. These COVID-19 days, with the bad and confusing news that keeps coming at me about our world and its insecurity, I find incredibly exhausting. I am not exhausted from running a marathon, but somehow I’m exhausted with the looming clouds of uncertainty.
This Sunday morning, August 2, I am teaching Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8. She was exhausted because she was seeking justice and couldn’t seem to find it. But the judge that she went to also became exhausted because she was so persistent. Why Jesus told the parable is laid out plainly in 18:1: Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
This is our study for this weekend. As you prepare yourselves for Sunday, I ask you to do two things:
- Read the story and contemplate it, highlighting the parts that stand out to you.
- Ask yourself what areas in your life are a true burden for you right now. What are you waking up and facing every day, with no real resolution?
This is a parable that says (in my own paraphrase):
Jesus told his disciples [that’s you and me] this story in order to show us how WE should PRAY and NEVER give up.
See you Sunday morning. Come ready for worship and the study of God’s Word.
