Faith Delayed Should Not Be Faith Lost

“And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Lu 18:7-8 AV)

 

This faith of which Christ speaks is in the context of the saints of God asking for deliverance.  Therefore, the faith spoken of here is the faith of the saints.  It is not the faith of the lost who need to be saved.  This faith is not in the context of salvation decisions.  ‘Faith’ spoken of here is not even faithfulness.  Although lack of faith would naturally infer lack of faithfulness.  The word here for faith means the conviction of a thing.  A belief in something that would compel action or decisions.  Again, the immediate context is the promise of deliverance for God’s people.  The parable which precedes this passage regards a woman who implores an unjust judge to avenge her.  He relents because of her persistence.  The point is, if the people of God are constantly asking for deliverance, how much more will a compassionate and just God act on their behalf?  Then comes the question above.  When Jesus Christ comes with deliverance, will He find a people who are still strong in their convictions, or will He find people who have given up hope and abandon their beliefs.

We are too impatient.  We want our situation to change immediately.  If it is not, we lose all that which caused us to hope, to begin with.  I know I have used this event several times, but it is an experience that keeps giving.  Several years back, I had shoulder surgery.  The surgeon removed a bone spur that was three inches long by one inch high.  Very painful.  After surgery, I was signed up for therapy.  At the very beginning, the therapist warned me it was slow going.  She warned me that in the beginning, it may not look as though there is any improvement.  She went over several charts.  She went over illustrations of anatomy.  She showed me proof that if I stuck with the program, I could regain 100% mobility and use of my shoulder.  When I arrived, I got to know some of the patients.  Some had been going to the service for years.  All they had was knee or hip surgery.  Off I went to do my exercises and TENS treatment. (TENS is awesome.  Put that sucker on extra high!) My insurance paid for about three months of sessions.  After that, I had to pay a small co-pay.  However, after about three months, I was ready to live with the results.  My therapist encouraged me rather passionately that if I committed for a bit more, I would get full use out of my shoulder.  I saw the bills starting to mount up and had my doubts.  No matter how much testimony, data, and information she gave me, I began to waver.  Perhaps 75% was good enough.  Then something happened.  Soon after I was ready to quit, something broke loose.  Something gave way and within two weeks, my shoulder was 100%.   The key was having faith that as it worked for others, it would work for me.  Not giving up faith was the key.

We live in challenging times.  The LORD could come back at any time.  If the United States goes the way of the world, there would be no reason for the church to remain any longer.  All I can say to my brothers and sisters in Christ is to be rapture ready.  Just because we see things that cast doubt on the veracity of what we believe, it doesn’t change a thing.  Either God exists or He does not.  Our experiences are not going to change that fact.  Either the word of God is indeed what it claims to be, or it is not.  Our observations or reasoning isn’t going to change that.  Either Jesus will rescue His bride or He is not.  What appears to us as His delay is not going to change what He has already decided to do.  The question above is a convicting one.  How fickle we are when things get difficult.  How soon we change our thinking or faith when things do not go the way we thought they would.  How soon we abandon our Bibles, our churches, and our devotions because we thought life was going to be easier.  The question above is for all the children of God.  Will we continue to have faith that God answers prayers of deliverance?  Or, because God does not answer as soon as we think He should, do we give up on the belief of God altogether?