The Persistent Duck
“And shall God not avenge His
own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though
He bears long with them? I tell you that He will
avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
(Luke 18:7-8)
Dick Innes of ACTS International (www.actsweb.org -
used with permission) reported an incident in
Vancouver, British Columbia, about a “persistent
duck” who refused to take “no” for an answer
from a police officer. Here’s what ACTS
International shared (11/17/05):
“Her family of ducklings fell
down a Vancouver sewer grate and their mother did
what any parent would do. She got help from a
passing police officer. Vancouver police officer Ray
Peterson admitted he was not sure what to make of
the duck that grabbed him by the pant leg while he
was on foot patrol on Wednesday evening in a
neighborhood near the city's downtown. ‘I though it
was a bit goofy, so I shoved it away,’ Peterson told
the Vancouver Sun newspaper. The mother duck
persisted, grabbing Peterson's leg again when he
tried to leave, and then waddling to a nearby sewer
grate where she sat down and waited for him to
follow and investigate. ‘I went up to where the duck
was lying and saw eight little babies in the water
below,’ he said. Police said they removed the heavy
metal grate with the help of a tow truck and used a
vegetable strainer to lift the ducklings to safety.
Mother and offspring then departed for a nearby
pond.”
Actsweb.org illustrated the “persistent duck” with
an incident recorded in Matthew 15:22-28, where “a
woman of Canaan” suddenly appeared in front
of Jesus and His disciples, asking fervently that
her daughter might be delivered from
demon-possession. Jesus initially seemed resistant,
even indifferent to her request, and His disciples
interrupted the woman, urging Him to “Send
her away, for she cries out after us”
(Matthew 15:23).
The response of Jesus’ disciples is interesting
because they are like some in Christian circles.
It’s a danger to us all. We might be adept at
creating and delivering sermons, Bible studies,
Sunday school lessons, or whatever, and yet: how
effective are we in meeting the individual needs of
those who come to us in pain and sorrow? You might
build church buildings, websites and devise programs
that are both beautiful and intelligent, and yet,
what happens when someone in pain is suddenly in
front of you, interrupting and continually crying “Help
me?” You and I might not be able to complete
our program for the week if we do indeed help that
person!
There was a verbal exchange between them, in which
Jesus surprisingly said to this non-Jewish woman, “I
was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), and she answered,
“Lord, help me!”
(Matthew 15:25). More amazing were His next words: “It
is not good to take the children’s bread and throw
it to the little dogs” (Matthew 15:26). She
didn’t give up and neither should we. She said, “True,
Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from their master’s table” (Matthew
15:27).
You may feel that God doesn’t hear you, but just as
surely as Jesus heard that woman, He hears you right
now. And understanding that God hears; His next
words are important. Jesus said, “O
woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you
desire.” Matthew, who was an eyewitness to
everything, reports: “her
daughter was healed from that very hour”
(Matthew 15:28). Jesus initially seemed to ignore,
even scorn her request. Her faith was tested, as
ours is being tested, and her trust in the Lord came
forth as gold in that time of testing. He RESPONDED
to her faith and MET her need.
Jesus told His disciples, over-and-over: have faith
in God! Trust in the Lord! And they didn’t get it!
He constantly reminded them, using a variety of
creative methods, that if you have just a LITTLE bit
of true faith in God, you can say to the mountainous
problems in your life, “Go!”
and they often WILL go, in the power and love of
God. “Faith” in the context of all this is not
precisely something you do, but instead it is
trusting that GOD will respond to your prayer, your
need. Your job is to be like that persistent duck,
who kept on asking for help!
Our Scripture for today is a word “picture” that has
been described as the “parable
of the unjust judge” (Luke 18:1-8). Now we
learn about another situation. The first was about a
real person, a parent who loved her daughter and the
Lord - fervently. The POINT of the parable in Luke
is right up front in Chapter 18, verse 1, where we
are told: “He spoke a parable
to them, that (all of us)
ALWAYS ought to PRAY and NOT
lose heart.”
It’s amazing that Jesus compared the Lord God, Maker
of heaven and earth, to “a
judge who did not fear God nor regard man”
(Luke 18:4). Even more amazing is the fact that most
people do not believe in prayer. Many DO believe
that God wants us to “pray” in a certain manner and
at specific times, like before we eat or in a
religious setting, but most do not believe that God
will intervene and heal the great problems of our
lives.
In the parable, the woman demanded: “Avenge
me of my adversary” (Luke 18:3). The judge “would
not for awhile; but afterward he said within
himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge
her, lest by her continual coming she weary me’”
(Luke 18:4-5). Jesus ended with these words: “And
shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day
and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I
tell you that He WILL avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He
really find faith on the earth?” (Luke
18:7-8).
There are times when God’s answer to our need is,
“No,” much like the Father’s response was “No” to
the Son when He asked: “if it
is Your will, remove this cup from Me” in
Luke 22:42. Every “No” from God will have a positive
outcome and someday we will see it. However, when
you are drawn to pray and His answer seems long in
coming, God is teaching you to persist, even when
others give up and things are bad. God is giving all
of us the courage, the hope and the faith of that
persistent duck!
Prayer is faith in action. If you believe in God,
you will pray to Him. Will you persist in prayer
like that duck persisted for her little ones? Do you
have enough trust to keep on praying, even when the
answer is delayed? Let’s pray right now:
Lord, I often give up or try to do it myself, when I
should look to You for faith and keep on praying -
even when others don’t. Lord, I do look to You. Even
when the answer is not what I want or it is slow in
coming, You are the Lord and You love me. Thank You.
I praise Your Holy Name and trust in You now. In
Jesus Name. Amen.
