God's timing is different than ours. "This point must not be overlooked, dear friends. In the Lord's eyes, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are as a day" (2 Pt 3:8). This means that God is both very slow and very fast by our standards. We often emphasize God's supposed slowness. Yet we should also focus on His speed. God sometimes works "in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor 15:52). God promises to give us "swift justice" (Lk 18:8).
However, the Lord will not force His justice or His swiftness on us. We must pray always and not lose heart (Lk 18:1; 1 Thes 5:17). Otherwise, we may cause the Lord to delay (Lk 18:7) in stopping the gross injustices of abortion, racism, "ethnic cleansings," starvation, and other catastrophic evils.
To pray always and receive God's swift justice, we must have faith. "Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see" (Heb 11:1). Faith is a gift which the Lord freely gives. Once again, we must pray to receive faith (Lk 17:5), exercise the faith we have, and nourish our faith through hearing God's Word, for faith comes through hearing, and hearing by God's Word (Rm 10:17).
Grow in faith; pray always; receive swift justice in a severely unjust world. "Then the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet" (Rm 16:20). Come Jesus – swiftly! (Rv 22:20)
| PRAYER: | Father, I will work to hasten Your Son's final coming (2 Pt 3:12) by my holiness and obedience. |
| PROMISE: | "Will not God then do justice to His chosen who call out to Him day and night?" –Lk 18:7 |
| PRAISE: | St. Elizabeth dedicated herself to prayer and the poor. She gave up luxury and leisure to live a life of penance and caring for the sick. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College