As persistence is though a vital and relevant key to unlock some of God's mysteries, Time has got quite a great influence in its strength.
In this brief study, I'll share two case studies on how they utilized time even in their persistence...
Luke 18:2-5, Here we have the story of a persistent widow who went to seek justice from a judge "who neither feared God nor cared what people thought".
v4. "For some TIME he refused.... v5. yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice,......
The starting point was the encounter with the judge, the endpoint was that she got the justice she requested.. But in the midst of these points, there were certain activities that wasn't recorded, which the judge termed as "bothering"...
Our next case study has her own bothering technic expatiated.
Matthew 15:21-28, Here we have a Canaanite woman who wanted Jesus to heal her daughter.
Some things captured my attention in that passage.
She spoke in v22. "...'Lord, Son of David, have mercy upon me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly'..."
The next verse will thrill you, v23. "Jesus did not answer a word...".
It was then I asked myself, what would I have done in such situation if not to turn back and go, knowing that hitherto, this man had always done miracles just right at the encounter of him.
Now hearing a third party say, "...'send her away, for she keeps crying out after us'..." (v23), that's so embarrassing you know. Aside the fact that she didn't make that request once and for all, she consistently cried out to Jesus, who didn't respond and have a third party utter such statement? Really, I'm so done with the request.
Then, Finally, Jesus spoke, not even to her, but the third party, saying, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel"... What a statement! Highly discouraging!....
But she requested again... It was at this point He spoke to her, saying, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs" (v26).
I asked myself, putting myself in the woman's shoes, "Me??? Dog???, that's it for that day, He can keep the miracle"
But she agreed with the statement and requested for crumbs... Oh! My!!!!
The situation and conditions of your nearest environ will definitely negate some past revelations you've had. But what happens when the going gets tough?
Circumstances will arise that will strongly stand as a cause for you to turn back, but how do you face them?
Surely there is an end, but the timing between the revelation and its manifestation matters a lot. What do you do IN TIME?
Habakkuk 2:3, "For the revelation await an appointed time...."
God has set the timing, but your level of persistence CONSIDERS the time(manifestation). That's why the rest of the passage says, "...though it lingers, wait for it, and it will certainly come and will not delay"
It will not delay if only you WAIT for it.. The process of waiting is always contained with some preparatory activities. Waiting time is preparation time.
It is what you do in this waiting time that bothers God to implement your fore-told revelation.
The waiting time is the time of persistence.... Persistence deals with the hope of your expectation, a deep focus.
"The Lord is good to those who WAIT for him" -(Lamentations 3:25)
