“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: ‘In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.”
‘For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!”’
And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I 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?’” (Luke 18:1-8 NIV)
It happened on Saturday. A cable crew was burying a line across the road from our house. A couple hours later, I went to use the Internet and had no connection. I checked the TV—no signal there as well. The crew had accidentally cut our line while burying the other. Thus began a series of conversations with the cable company’s customer reps. I called immediately and was told the earliest appointment was late on Sunday. I complained but got nowhere. So Sunday afternoon comes and goes with no technician in sight and no courtesy call to say he will be late. I call the company again. The technician, they say, is running way behind. I said a courtesy call would have been nice. They say, “We understand Mr. Musser.” The technician finally arrives and tells me what I already know, “Your line has been cut.” He says he cannot repair it, but will call it in for a crew to come out in the morning.
Monday morning comes and goes with no crew showing up. I contact the company again. No appointment was ever scheduled. The earliest appointment is now on Tuesday morning. I express my frustration. “We understand, Mr. Musser.” I call my wife Tuesday mid-morning to see if the crew had arrived. I’ll give you one guess. So I contact the cable company once again. My appointment is now scheduled for a week later. I express my utter frustration at the lack of communication and the inability to get a crew to my house to fix a problem originated by the company. “We understand your frustration, Mr. Musser.” The agent then transfers me to her supervisor, who then puts me on hold to talk to the local office, which puts her on hold. After 15-20 minutes, she finally comes back to me and explains the delay. I told her the way this whole thing was handled is unacceptable for a company saying customer service is important to them. “We understand your frustration, Mr. Musser.” She says she will note it in her report.
The next morning, three days after the line was cut, I hear the rumbling of a big truck coming up our road. It is the cable crew! A guy gets out and says, “They e-mailed me last night and told me to come out here and fix your problem.” Within two hours, a new line was laid and our service restored.
Reading this story probably gives you the sense of the persistence I had in getting this problem resolved. If I had just made that one call and left it at that, we would still be without cable and Internet service. But because of my persistence, I am convinced the cable company acted sooner than they had planned. I refused to give up.
My story is similar to the one Jesus told about the persistent widow. And the point Jesus was making is we should be just as persistent in prayer. Sometimes we really want something, so we pray—once. Or we throw up a 30-second prayer a few times. But He is calling us to emulate in prayer the example of someone in life who needs help with a problem and does not give up until they get it resolved. Over a period of three days, I spent close to two hours communicating with the cable company. I also know a woman who literally spent hours and hours over several weeks trying to resolve an issue with her insurance company. That is the kind of persistence I think Jesus has in mind.
Today, if there are things in your life that need resolved or there are things you desire, then be persistent in asking for help from the Lord. I guarantee He is much more open to helping than the cable company!
© Jim Musser 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment