59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
Matthew 27: 59-61
Have you ever been able to stick with something even beyond all hope? Like, for instance, stick with a prayer that has gone decades unanswered? It's not easy to drop something from our prayer list ... but often, we seem to be praying for something that just does not seem to be the will of God... so... what do we do? I mean, we know our prayer is in accordance to Scripture. It's not like we are praying to win the lottery or wishing ill on someone. What if what we are praying is for a friend, a co-worker, a nephew or a niece, a husband, a son or a daughter, a brother to have a revelation from Christ so they can join the family of believers... but the years pass and the revelation never comes?
It is very easy to get discouraged and to abandon hope that it will ever happen. However, we are supposed to stay in hope because hope is not a feeling that emerges out of favorable circumstances. Hope is the person of Jesus the Christ! and He never disappoints. We are to run the race set before us and stick with it, if that is the race we know we are supposed to run. As we run it, we are to pray without ceasing:
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6: 18
As we see the first tinge of discouragement surge in our horizon, we must be alert! We must be alert so we don't fall into the temptation of giving up. Instead, we should look at the great cloud of witnesses that surround us in or lives and in Scripture...remember the women at the tomb, the many Marys who, as they saw, with their own eyes, their Lord die the most awful death ... and witnessed the big stone being rolled to close the grave, they stuck with it...sitting there...even after all hope had seemingly faded away...and OH the reward they were about to get!
It's been almost a decade I've been lifting to the heavens one particular prayer...and the answer I keep getting is "wait, not yet." But remembering these women at the tomb makes me realize that there isn't a tomb in my life yet as far as this prayer is concerned, so I should not be so upset...but even in the desolate despair of a future grave comes in, Hope must remain!
May the strength of Our Lord keep us from giving up in our righteous prayers! Amen!
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