Will He Find Faith on the Earth?

There's a question echoing through the corridors of time, one that becomes more relevant with each passing day: "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" This provocative inquiry from Jesus in Luke 18:8 isn't just a rhetorical musing—it's a penetrating challenge to every generation, but perhaps most especially to ours.

The Parable That Changes Everything

The context of this question matters deeply. Jesus had just told a parable about a persistent widow and an unjust judge. The story goes like this: a widow keeps coming to a judge who neither fears God nor cares about people, demanding justice from her adversary. At first, the judge refuses. But eventually, worn down by her continual coming, he grants her request simply to get her off his back.

Here's where most people get this parable wrong. We instinctively think Jesus is comparing God to that unjust judge—suggesting that if we just nag God enough, He'll eventually give in and answer our prayers. But that interpretation turns God into a reluctant deity who needs to be badgered into blessing us. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jesus is actually drawing a **contrast**, not a comparison. If even an unjust judge will eventually grant justice, how much more will a good and loving God answer the cries of His own people? The point isn't that God is reluctant; it's that God is eager. He will "avenge them speedily," Jesus says. Prayer isn't about overcoming God's reluctance—it's about laying hold of God's willingness.

Four Dimensions of Faith for the Last Days

So what kind of faith is Jesus looking for when He returns? The answer unfolds in four powerful dimensions.

1. Praying Faith

First and foremost, Jesus is looking for people who pray. Not people who occasionally send up desperate pleas when life falls apart, but people who maintain a consistent, dependent relationship with their Heavenly Father. Praying faith recognizes that God is good, that He loves to answer prayer, and that He invites us to bring everything to Him.

The challenge is clear: in these darkening days, will the church be found on its knees? Or will we be so consumed with anxiety, distraction, and busyness that prayer becomes an afterthought?

2. Occupying Faith

The second dimension comes from an unexpected source: the prophet Jeremiah. When the Jewish people were carried off to Babylon as punishment for their idolatry, false prophets assured them they'd be home within a year or two. But Jeremiah sent them a letter with a very different message: "Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit... seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace" (Jeremiah 29:5-7).

You're going to be there for seventy years, Jeremiah told them. So settle in. Live your lives. Raise your families. Be a blessing to the place where you find yourselves.

We too are living in "Babylon"—the world system that opposes God. And yes, we're waiting for our final restoration when Christ returns. But until that day comes, we have a life to live for Him. We're not supposed to withdraw from society or spend all our time trying to calculate the exact date of Jesus' return. We're called to occupy—to be salt and light, to be His ambassadors, to commit ourselves fully to His purposes right where we are.

Things may seem out of control when you watch the news, but everything is moving steadily toward God's appointed end. And every day that the Lord delays His coming is an expression of His mercy, giving more people the opportunity to come to repentance.

3. Going Faith

The third dimension is perhaps the most uncomfortable: going faith. Jesus' final command to His followers was clear: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19). This isn't a suggestion for the super-spiritual or a calling reserved for professional missionaries. It's a mandate for every person who bears the name of Christ.

For most of us, "going" means sharing the gospel right where we are—with neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family. We can't be everywhere at once, but we can be faithful witnesses wherever God has placed us. Sometimes we'll have opportunities to go further—on a work trip, a vacation, a missions journey. And some may receive the call to relocate their entire lives to a foreign field.

The question is: Do you have this kind of faith? Are you engaged in God's mission? Because it's not optional for those who follow the King.

4. Giving Faith

The final dimension is giving faith—investment in God's future. God's glorious future isn't primarily about streets of gold and mansions. It's about people. People from every tribe, nation, and tongue who come to know the saving love of Jesus, who are washed in His atoning blood, who are brought home to the Father's house.

We have a part in that future. And the Bible is clear: we're not supposed to store everything up in this temporary world. Everything around us is going to rust, fade, and disappear. Only what we've done with eternity in mind will last.

There's a story about a wealthy man who showed a pastor all his possessions—oil wells, fields of grain, herds of cattle, beautiful forests. "It's all mine," he kept saying. The pastor listened quietly, then placed a hand on the man's shoulder, pointed upward toward heaven, and asked: "How much do you have in that direction?"

The man hung his head. "I never thought of that," he admitted.

The Question Remains

So here we are, likely living in the generation that will witness Christ's return. The signs are all around us in ways no previous generation has seen. And Jesus' question hangs in the air: "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find this faith on the earth?"

Will He find praying faith—people depending on His goodness and calling on Him continually?

Will He find occupying faith—people who recognize they're on a mission, living as travelers and strangers through this world?

Will He find going faith—people looking for every opportunity to share the good news of Jesus?

Will He find giving faith—people investing their resources in eternity rather than storing up treasures in a world that's passing away?

The answer to Jesus' question depends on you and me. May we be found faithful when He comes, living not by sight but by faith, committed fully to His purposes until that glorious day when the trumpet sounds and we're finally home.