Growing up, my parents let me play video games – Atari, Intellivision, Sega, etc. Some days we played for hours on end – Space Invaders, Pitfall, Donkey Kong, etc. But, I actually wasn’t all that dedicated. I had friends who knew every secret move and could beat Mike Tyson every time at Punch Out. It took serious commitment.
I don’t know that any of that translated into life skills. But, as it turns out, sometimes we are rewarded for persistency. At least one teenager in Valley Stream, NY sees it that way. He spent weeks going to Best Buy every day to play the Wii U, so much so, that the employees decided to do something nice for him. They all chipped in and bought him a new Wii U game system!
Now, I know. The skeptic in us says, “what a waste of time” or “they just gave it to him to get rid of him!” But whatever the reason, the fact remains; he has a game system today because he showed up every day.
In the Bible, Jesus tells of a widow who wanted to get justice so she went to court. Unfortunately, the judge was unrighteous, and he didn’t care anything about giving her justice. Day after day, night after night, she kept after him.
Eventually, she got justice. He didn’t fear God or keep his commandments. But he said, “I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out” (Luke 18:5). Persistency, as we say, paid off.
Jesus reminds us that, if an unrighteous judge will give a widow what she wants to keep her quiet, how much more will the true and righteous God give “justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night” (7). Yet, when hard times come, when things seem difficult, how long are we willing to pray and seek God? One prayer? One day?
God desires that we seek Him. In fact, we should “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). And we continually receive His blessings, as we show up…persistently.
