After a long and uncomfortable flight to the UK and standing hours in two hot airports, I was ready to take a nice, relaxing shower. It was a well-deserved reward at the end of my journey. I didn’t even mind it when my sister declared that she was showering first. I was in London—nothing was a problem. Imagine my surprise as I stepped into the hotel’s shower and the water flowing from the spout was ice cold. I don’t mean lukewarm...I mean FREEZING cold.
My options were limited, so I endured it. After my shower, I called downstairs to the concierge. Within minutes, a maintenance man arrived to investigate the problem. I appreciated the quick service as he walked into my apartment’s little boiler room and moved a few dials and twisted a few buttons. I waited patiently and five minutes later he emerged from the room and declared, “It’s not the time!”
I didn’t know what he meant. So, I pressed for a little more detail. His thick, Russian accent made it difficult for me to completely understand him. But I did manage to understand the words, 12-4 and try in 30 minutes. It was a Saturday and I was in London. I wasn’t about to spend my day waiting for a water heater to warm up. So, I headed out to enjoy the city. After several hours wandering the city, I headed back to my temporary home. I jumped in the shower and this time the water was warm, but mid-shower it was freezing again.
I didn’t get angry or frustrated…I accepted it. I thought to myself that perhaps things were simply done differently because I was dealing with a different culture. Maybe it was an energy conservation initiative? Whatever it was….I could live with it for a week. So, I did for the weekend.
On Monday, during a business meeting, my trip’s hosts asked me how I was enjoying my stay. My hesitation said it all and they pressed for more details. As I relayed my story, I didn’t want to sound like the complaining American but I expressed my concerns. To my surprise, my host responded, “You shouldn’t have to live that way. You should be able to enjoy a hot shower. I’ll get my assistant right on it.” Later in the evening when I returned to my hotel the water was nice and hot. Not only that…someone from the concierge desk came upstairs to check on things. So much for my theory of cultural differences!
We must be careful of what we allow ourselves to live with. Sometimes when we push to make changes, we don’t understand why things don’t change immediately. Or, we think that maybe it didn’t happen our way because it isn’t our time. So, we step back and wait for a better one. We get comfortable and sit it out. But the biggest problem is we don’t exactly know what we’re waiting on.
In Luke 18:3, Jesus shares the story of a persistent widow. A woman seeking justice who would not give up…because she knows that what she is asking for is justice…it is right. It is just. It is her due. In the end, her persistence is rewarded.
I’ll be the first to admit that it can be hard to know and understand what the Lord is doing in our lives. Often, things don’t go the way we plan and we face unexpected disappointments. Repeated setbacks knock the wind out of our sails and, in order to cope, we engage in revisionism. What is revisionism? It is scaling back on God’s promises. It is revising what He said to us based on our circumstances.
Today, I want to encourage you to persist in fighting the good fight of faith. Be like the widow woman and keep knocking on the doors that seem shut to you—especially when you know that God has promised something behind them. It doesn’t matter if you’ve knocked 1,000 times. It doesn’t matter if you failed 10, 000 times. It only takes God one time to reposition you for your blessings.
How do you know when to keep knocking?
1. You have a right: When God’s law is clearly on your side, there’s no time to quit and give way to the enemy. Over time, our spiritual muscles can become weakened for lack of use. We don’t push back against the situations and circumstances that attempt to strip us of our purpose. Know the Word and know your rights—so you can stand. My hosts wanted the service they’d paid for when they booked my room. The hotel wanted their future business and as a result, what they said wasn’t my time became my time.
2. It is justice: Injustice has an expiration date. We are not meant to continually be victims of life. I do admit that hard times have their purpose and season—but resurrection is the end game of every death we experience in life. If you don’t know your rights and His promises you are bound to settle for less. You are bound to question if the dreams in your heart are meant to be. Don’t allow yourself to be tricked into believing that your life will never change.
God is serious about his plans for you. Don’t let anyone or anything talk you out of your blessings. Keep pushing beyond the push backs and move forward to the destiny that is meant to be yours.
Live it! Examine the areas in your life where you have allowed setbacks to convince you that your promised destiny is not meant to be. Go back to where you started and refocus on your dreams. Using where you are as the starting point—what’s next?