We are a large family of 7 members. Dad, Mom and 5 kids. All the 5 of us are working and studying in various places and Christmas is the time when all of us get together. The once in a year celebration becomes grand just seeing one another and being together. Each year we are together for about 10 days. And every year Dad takes us to a place called Varanasi (Benaras), which is the nearest city to the place where we live.
This year as well we had been to Varanasi and we went out shopping for some time. In one of the shops I found a big soft toy of a pug. This was something I had been looking for for quite sometime and I hadn't found it anywhere. I asked for the price and found it to be 625 bucks. I knew my Dad would say that it was a perfect waste of money to spend so much on something which was so completely useless. But I really wanted this pug.
The first thing my sister told me when she saw me carrying the pug towards the counter was - ' Don't even think about it. Dad is just not going to get that for you.' I told her very confidently that I would get it. When Dad saw that I liked the pug so much, he immediately said that he would get it for me. Oh! I was so glad and was just jumping around in the shop till my brother came and said something. He said - ' Now don't get so excited. Dad hasn't seen the price of that pug as yet. Once he sees it, he's just going to put it back to where it was.'
Just as my brother had said, once Dad saw the price of the pug, he put the poor puggy back in its shelf. I knew once Dad had decided something, its very hard to make him change his mind and about something like this, there was absolutely no chance. My brothers seeing me upset tried comforting telling me that they would try convincing Dad into buying me that pug. And both failed.
So that was left to me now. I know it sounds crazy but I really liked this pug and I wanted it and I wanted Dad to buy it for me. I knew he would if I was going to be persistent and because he loves me. And persistent I was..... to the extent that everyone were now getting irritated and were upset that I was creating an unnecessary fuss over something so unnecessary ( to them puggy was and is such a waste).
Well, I just kept persisting. We left the shop and went to buy some saris for my sister and mom. My brothers were glad we left the shop, hoping that would put an end to this puggy drama. But Oh No! they were wrong. I still wanted the pug. All the way through the shopping, to the restaurant I still wanted the pug.
Finally our small outing and the day was over and we were getting ready to head back home. By then, I had almost lost all hope. My brothers and sister were beginning to enjoy themselves as now they had another point to pull me about. We travelled for about 15 minutes and then Dad asked the driver to stop and went somewhere and guess what? When he got back, he had the pug with him. He had actually phoned the shop and asked them to get the pug to a convenient location so that we could pick it up on the way home :)
Persistance does bring results. Jesus, when He was on earth taught us to be persistent in our prayers. He asked us to keep asking. His word says - Ask and keep on asking.
Sometimes we have great faith about something and we pray about it for a couple of days and then we forget about it. But God wants us to be persistent till our prayers are answered. If we really have faith that God would do something for us, we would not stop asking Him till we got it. It was faith in my dad that kept me going till I got the pug. When Persistence and Faith go hand in hand, nothing can stop a miracle.
There maybe something you are asking God for and you haven't seen anything happening, don't lose faith. Keep Asking. It could be prayer for an unsaved friend, prayer for a financial breakthrough, prayer for a job promotion, prayer for someone sick, prayer for deliverance. Be Persistent. It may take 100 blows to crack a stone but every single blow matters. Every prayer we make does achieve its purpose. Don't stop praying. It could be that you stopped at the 99th blow.
Just as Jesus said - Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given unto you.
Luke 18: 1-8
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "
6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
No comments:
Post a Comment