WEBVTT 00:00:04.380 --> 00:00:08.039 We'll be in Habakkuk. I know that's your favorite 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:10.460 book. And that's where we're going to be today. 00:00:10.580 --> 00:00:13.019 If you're not familiar with Habakkuk, it's okay. 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:15.140 It's one of those that's kind of easy to overlook. 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:18.539 It's right toward the end of the Old Testament. 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:21.320 And it's probably only two or three pages in 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:23.179 your Bible. It's not going to be very long at 00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:25.780 all. It might be one of those the pages still 00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:27.660 are stuck together a little bit. We probably 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:32.020 don't read through Habakkuk very much. But it's 00:00:32.020 --> 00:00:34.840 a good short little book with a good message. 00:00:36.179 --> 00:00:43.700 Habakkuk chapter 3. We're going to look at verses 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:48.820 17, 18, and 19 to start. But we'll talk a little 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:51.140 bit about what's going on after we read those 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:55.460 verses. Habakkuk is right there toward the end 00:00:55.460 --> 00:00:57.340 of the Old Testament. If you get to Matthew, 00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:59.320 just flip back a few pages. You're not going 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:05.079 to be far. Far from it. Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:11.459 17. We'll read through these three verses, then 00:01:11.459 --> 00:01:20.480 I'll pray, and then we'll get started. Though 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:24.260 the fig tree does not bud, and there is no fruit 00:01:24.260 --> 00:01:27.959 on the vines, though the olive crop fails and 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:31.200 the fields produce no food, Though there are 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:34.120 no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 00:01:34.579 --> 00:01:39.180 yet I will triumph in Yahweh. I will rejoice 00:01:39.180 --> 00:01:43.640 in the God of my salvation. Yahweh, my Lord, 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:47.379 is my strength. He makes my feet like those of 00:01:47.379 --> 00:01:51.299 a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights. 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:54.640 Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.939 for this good word. And I pray, dear Lord, that 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:01.159 you would help us to seek you and rejoice in 00:02:01.159 --> 00:02:04.219 you and trust in you just as Habakkuk did, even 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:07.760 when things in life aren't going good, aren't 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.819 going the way that we want or that we expect. 00:02:10.539 --> 00:02:13.080 I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among us 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:15.620 today, that you would help me to preach and teach 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:17.860 in a way that brings glory to you, that you take 00:02:17.860 --> 00:02:20.520 away any pride or fear that's within me, that 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:24.080 you just would help us to hear from you today 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:28.180 and from your words. And I ask these things in 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:34.400 Jesus' name. Amen. Now, these verses out of context 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:36.800 are kind of hard for us to understand exactly 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:40.800 what's taking place here in Habakkuk. Now, just 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:43.080 reading these verses, you'd say, well, golly, 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:45.139 this guy's a farmer and things aren't going good. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.340 He ain't got any food. His cattle's not doing 00:02:47.340 --> 00:02:50.240 well. Things are bad. But that's not exactly 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.539 what he's talking about. He's not necessarily 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:55.340 just talking about his crops aren't coming in 00:02:55.340 --> 00:02:58.139 and his... His animals aren't doing well. There's 00:02:58.139 --> 00:03:02.319 a bigger picture that we need to look at in Habakkuk. 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:05.740 And the bigger picture is explained when we look 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:09.259 at Habakkuk chapter 1. If you want to flip back 00:03:09.259 --> 00:03:13.139 a page or two in your Bible to Habakkuk chapter 00:03:13.139 --> 00:03:18.759 1, verse 1, we see that the book of Habakkuk 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:21.860 starts out with a question, a question to God 00:03:21.860 --> 00:03:25.639 about... Habakkuk situation, about God's people's 00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:29.479 situation. In Habakkuk chapter 1, verse 2, he 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:33.780 says, How long, Lord, must I call for help, and 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:37.620 you do not listen? Or cry out to you about violence, 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:42.419 and you do not say? Why do you force me to look 00:03:42.419 --> 00:03:45.080 at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing, 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:48.219 oppression, and violence? Or right in front of 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:52.719 me, strife is ongoing in conflict. escalates 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:56.599 this is why the law is ineffective and justice 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:00.439 never emerges for the wicked restrict the righteous 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:05.840 therefore justice comes out perverted all right 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.979 so we start to kind of look at Habakkuk and see 00:04:08.979 --> 00:04:12.199 what's going on now things aren't going good 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:14.800 for God's people and and that's a common thing 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:17.259 throughout the old testament and the reason why 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:20.500 things don't go good for God's people is because 00:04:20.500 --> 00:04:22.990 they don't walk in obedience to him. They don't 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:25.269 listen to him. They don't do what he says. When 00:04:25.269 --> 00:04:28.490 they do that, then praise the Lord. Things go 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:32.009 good for them. When they stop following God, 00:04:32.189 --> 00:04:34.870 when they start worshiping idols, when they start 00:04:34.870 --> 00:04:38.910 living in sin, that's when things get bad. And 00:04:38.910 --> 00:04:42.209 we see this whole like back and forth and up 00:04:42.209 --> 00:04:44.410 and down. You want to see some good examples 00:04:44.410 --> 00:04:46.149 of that, we're supposed to start looking at the 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:49.670 book of Judges in Sunday school, 945 on Sunday 00:04:49.670 --> 00:04:52.069 mornings. We do that. You'll see lots of examples 00:04:52.069 --> 00:04:55.769 of that up and down, of God's people being disobedient, 00:04:55.810 --> 00:04:58.230 and God will send a good leader, and he'll lead 00:04:58.230 --> 00:05:00.290 them back where they need to be, and then they'll 00:05:00.290 --> 00:05:03.930 be disobedient. And so this is one of those phases 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:06.430 for God's people where they're living in disobedience, 00:05:06.449 --> 00:05:11.050 and things are really hard for them. And in the 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:15.910 context of what's going on in this passage, God's 00:05:15.910 --> 00:05:18.870 people are being overtaken, about to be overtaken 00:05:18.870 --> 00:05:21.170 by the Babylonians. That's what's taking place. 00:05:21.629 --> 00:05:24.250 We see that the Assyrians had come in before 00:05:24.250 --> 00:05:26.910 that, and they had overtaken some of the northern 00:05:26.910 --> 00:05:30.509 tribes of Israel, and now the Babylonians had 00:05:30.509 --> 00:05:33.569 took over the Assyrians, and now the Babylonians 00:05:33.569 --> 00:05:36.189 are also about to take over the rest of God's 00:05:36.189 --> 00:05:40.529 people, and things are really bad. Things are 00:05:40.529 --> 00:05:44.569 bad, and Habakkuk wants to know God. Why are 00:05:44.569 --> 00:05:47.750 you allowing this to happen? Now, obviously, 00:05:47.870 --> 00:05:50.790 Israel was not doing good. Judah was not doing 00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:54.110 good. But nonetheless, they were doing better 00:05:54.110 --> 00:05:56.430 than Babylon, at least. I mean, yeah, maybe they 00:05:56.430 --> 00:05:58.050 were evil. Maybe they were wicked. But look at 00:05:58.050 --> 00:05:59.949 these Babylonians. I think that's kind of the 00:05:59.949 --> 00:06:03.310 point that Habakkuk was trying to make. And so 00:06:03.310 --> 00:06:06.410 he's trying to make sense of what's taking place. 00:06:06.829 --> 00:06:08.970 That here are God's people, and yeah, there's 00:06:08.970 --> 00:06:11.129 some sin in their life, but why in the world 00:06:11.129 --> 00:06:14.990 is God allowing all these bad things to take 00:06:14.990 --> 00:06:18.110 place. And he asked God a question, and I don't 00:06:18.110 --> 00:06:20.490 know how to back his heart. It doesn't seem as 00:06:20.490 --> 00:06:23.689 though it's like a heart of anger and being mad 00:06:23.689 --> 00:06:26.430 at God. Sometimes maybe that's where our questions 00:06:26.430 --> 00:06:29.089 come from. I don't know that that's a good place 00:06:29.089 --> 00:06:31.750 for our questions to come from, to question God 00:06:31.750 --> 00:06:35.250 as though we doubt him. But I think to have questions 00:06:35.250 --> 00:06:38.290 in and of itself is not a bad thing. To say, 00:06:38.310 --> 00:06:41.870 God, why do these things happen this way, dear 00:06:41.870 --> 00:06:46.259 Lord? I'm not questioning you. I just don't understand, 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:50.500 Lord. Why is this happening? And perhaps you've 00:06:50.500 --> 00:06:53.519 asked those questions in your life. Maybe there's 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:55.500 something going on in your life right now, and 00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:58.600 maybe that's your prayer. How long must I call 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:01.819 out for help, and you do not listen? Why are 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:04.399 these things happening, Lord? I'm calling out 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:07.160 to you. Things are really bad. Why don't you 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:09.519 intervene? Why don't you do something, Lord? 00:07:10.569 --> 00:07:13.149 And maybe that's our prayer sometimes. I would 00:07:13.149 --> 00:07:16.149 venture to say that every one of us in this room 00:07:16.149 --> 00:07:19.769 have felt that way. Regardless of what the situation 00:07:19.769 --> 00:07:24.930 is, we felt like, man, I don't understand why 00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:27.850 these things are happening in the way that they're 00:07:27.850 --> 00:07:32.389 happening. And so Habakkuk, he asked the Lord, 00:07:32.709 --> 00:07:37.620 okay, Lord, why are these things happening? It 00:07:37.620 --> 00:07:40.600 appears as though these bad people are getting 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:43.480 away with bad things and no justice is being 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:47.779 served. Isn't God a just God? Why would he allow 00:07:47.779 --> 00:07:51.600 these evil Babylonians to overtake God's people? 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:54.480 Why would he allow evil people to get away with 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:58.100 evil things? Maybe we ask that same question 00:07:58.100 --> 00:08:01.180 today. After all, the Bible says there's nothing 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:04.800 new under the sun. Habakkuk wrote these words. 00:08:05.370 --> 00:08:08.990 Over 2 ,000 years ago. But they would apply to 00:08:08.990 --> 00:08:14.290 every people at every time. We see evil people 00:08:14.290 --> 00:08:17.069 all throughout history. We see evil people now 00:08:17.069 --> 00:08:20.769 that do evil things. We see evil leaders and 00:08:20.769 --> 00:08:24.949 evil empires, evil countries of people that do 00:08:24.949 --> 00:08:29.410 horrible things to other people. And it appears 00:08:29.410 --> 00:08:32.909 that nothing bad ever happens to them. And we 00:08:32.909 --> 00:08:36.059 say, well, God, why do you do that? Why do you 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:38.899 allow all this evil to happen all the time and 00:08:38.899 --> 00:08:42.360 you never address it? And that was Habakkuk's 00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:45.980 question to God. Now, I won't read the whole 00:08:45.980 --> 00:08:47.899 book today, but that's good homework for you. 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:49.440 It's really short. You can read through it in 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.159 just a few minutes this week. But you see this 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.820 interaction between Habakkuk and God. You see 00:08:55.820 --> 00:08:58.600 kind of a communication going on. Maybe in some 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:02.259 ways, similar to what we see in Job, we see that 00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:06.529 same thing here in Habakkuk. And Habakkuk asked 00:09:06.529 --> 00:09:10.870 a question to God, and I'll summarize God's answer 00:09:10.870 --> 00:09:14.730 as best I can in a short period, but go back 00:09:14.730 --> 00:09:16.990 and read it and make sure that I'm not getting 00:09:16.990 --> 00:09:20.269 it wrong. But when Habakkuk asked this question, 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:25.169 what God essentially tells him is, is Habakkuk, 00:09:25.210 --> 00:09:28.809 sometimes I use people to accomplish my will. 00:09:28.929 --> 00:09:33.230 I use empires, even evil empires like the Babylonians, 00:09:33.230 --> 00:09:36.769 to accomplish. my will. Now, there are certainly 00:09:36.769 --> 00:09:40.470 Christians throughout the years who have held 00:09:40.470 --> 00:09:42.690 the view of deism. Maybe you've heard of that 00:09:42.690 --> 00:09:44.690 word before. You don't have to remember the word, 00:09:44.769 --> 00:09:48.190 but the view essentially means this, that God 00:09:48.190 --> 00:09:50.129 created everything and then just stepped back, 00:09:50.250 --> 00:09:52.710 that God made the world, he spun the globe, gave 00:09:52.710 --> 00:09:54.750 it a good spin, and now he's just sitting back 00:09:54.750 --> 00:09:58.269 and watching everything take place, and wherever 00:09:58.269 --> 00:10:01.370 the chips may fall, they may fall. But I don't 00:10:01.370 --> 00:10:03.149 believe that that's what the Bible teaches. I 00:10:03.149 --> 00:10:05.610 think this passage and plenty of others would 00:10:05.610 --> 00:10:08.250 teach other than that. I think this story shows 00:10:08.250 --> 00:10:10.889 us that God is involved, and that's what God 00:10:10.889 --> 00:10:14.789 tells Habakkuk. He says, look, Habakkuk, I'm 00:10:14.789 --> 00:10:19.049 the one in control, and sometimes I use one nation 00:10:19.049 --> 00:10:22.370 to bring justice or to bring punishment on another 00:10:22.370 --> 00:10:25.509 nation. We see that all throughout the Scripture. 00:10:26.129 --> 00:10:29.200 What God is not doing, he's not... condoning 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.799 the evil actions of the Babylonians. He's certainly 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.860 not condoning that. No more than he condones 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:38.299 the evil actions of any empire that overtakes 00:10:38.299 --> 00:10:41.279 another empire or another group of people and 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:46.460 does other things. But God does use nations sometimes 00:10:46.460 --> 00:10:50.600 in the context of this story to bring about his 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:54.799 judgment, to get people's attention. Sometimes, 00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:57.539 plenty of times in the Old Testament, God did 00:10:57.539 --> 00:11:00.539 things to get His people's attention. And they 00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:03.539 were often really tough things. Things that may 00:11:03.539 --> 00:11:05.860 have ended in a plague or the death of a lot 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:08.539 of God's people are being overtaken by their 00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:12.039 enemies. Now, I don't suspect that God would 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:17.000 desire for His people to be under those evils. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:21.620 But sometimes God has to do things to get His 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:25.299 people's attention. And so when God is there 00:11:25.299 --> 00:11:27.679 and He intervenes and He's protecting His people, 00:11:27.740 --> 00:11:29.919 then then there's no harm that can come from 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:33.340 the enemy. But it's when God's people begin to 00:11:33.340 --> 00:11:36.240 reject him and deny him and turn their back on 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:39.139 him, it's when God removes that protection that 00:11:39.139 --> 00:11:44.159 there is no hope for us against the enemy. Now 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:46.240 these are questions and these are ideas that 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:49.559 are hard for us oftentimes to wrap our heads 00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:53.019 around as human beings. I like to think of it 00:11:53.019 --> 00:11:55.039 like this. Like we're playing checkers and God's 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:57.620 playing chess. Like we just got two different 00:11:57.620 --> 00:12:00.259 color pieces, and you can go this way or you 00:12:00.259 --> 00:12:03.220 can go that way. And you got two options. And 00:12:03.220 --> 00:12:05.259 we look at the world and the conflicts and the 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:08.799 evil and the problems, and we say, well, here 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:10.620 it is right here. This black one jumped out and 00:12:10.620 --> 00:12:13.559 read one. That's the move. Why wouldn't you take 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:17.340 the other opponent's checker? But God doesn't 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:20.379 work that way. The moves that we think are obvious 00:12:20.379 --> 00:12:23.480 that this is the way God should handle evil in 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:25.710 the world. There's evil nations in the world. 00:12:25.789 --> 00:12:27.490 There's evil people in the world. I'll tell you 00:12:27.490 --> 00:12:29.190 what I'd do if I was God. I'd just strike them 00:12:29.190 --> 00:12:31.149 all down with lightning right now, and that would 00:12:31.149 --> 00:12:35.090 solve the problem. But yet, that's not how God 00:12:35.090 --> 00:12:40.389 works. We see evil empires still today. We see 00:12:40.389 --> 00:12:43.570 evil people still today. We see conflict among 00:12:43.570 --> 00:12:47.629 nations still today. Why are there wars? Why 00:12:47.629 --> 00:12:51.299 do bad people get away with these things? That's 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:53.419 the question that Habakkuk was saying. God, hey, 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:56.460 look, we're not that great. But the Babylonians, 00:12:56.500 --> 00:12:58.700 why are you allowing them to do all these things? 00:12:59.059 --> 00:13:01.059 Why are you allowing them to get away with it? 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:05.799 And God says, hold up, Habakkuk. This is the 00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:08.919 way it needs to be done. I'll deal with them 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:13.700 when the time has come. But right now, the Babylonians 00:13:13.700 --> 00:13:17.100 are an instrument of judgment against you guys. 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:21.789 But hang back, hang tight. Everything's going 00:13:21.789 --> 00:13:23.470 to work out. They're going to get what's coming 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:25.509 to them. There's no sin. There's no evil that's 00:13:25.509 --> 00:13:30.230 going to go unpunished. And so maybe in our life, 00:13:30.289 --> 00:13:33.029 kind of shrinking this down to a more personal 00:13:33.029 --> 00:13:36.509 level, it certainly applies even today among 00:13:36.509 --> 00:13:38.970 the nations, among empires, among people at war, 00:13:39.149 --> 00:13:42.090 that I believe God still works in the same way. 00:13:42.129 --> 00:13:45.850 He still allows one nation to come to power for 00:13:45.850 --> 00:13:48.639 whatever reason, to bring about judgment. On 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.659 another nation, for whatever reason, and even 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:53.500 if these things don't make sense to us, God knows 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:59.600 what he's doing. But on a personal level, how 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.860 many conflicts are there in our life? Things 00:14:02.860 --> 00:14:06.179 that we go through in our life that the obvious 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:08.620 move would be for God just to grant my request. 00:14:09.529 --> 00:14:11.490 I'm really struggling right now. It's hard for 00:14:11.490 --> 00:14:13.889 us to make ends meet. I really want a job. I've 00:14:13.889 --> 00:14:16.250 applied for a hundred jobs. Here's a job that's 00:14:16.250 --> 00:14:19.250 available right here near me. God, why won't 00:14:19.250 --> 00:14:21.509 you give me this job? And we think, this is the 00:14:21.509 --> 00:14:24.710 job that God should give me, and He doesn't give 00:14:24.710 --> 00:14:28.669 us the job. We keep searching, and we keep seeking, 00:14:28.750 --> 00:14:32.649 and we keep applying. It's because God knows 00:14:32.649 --> 00:14:36.370 what's best for us, even if we don't know what's 00:14:36.370 --> 00:14:39.519 best for us. We're playing checkers. We're looking 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:41.820 one move ahead. God, he's seeing a million moves 00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:45.879 ahead. He's seeing moves in everybody's life. 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:48.399 He's seeing moves in the whole world. And he 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.779 knows how every decision that is made and everything 00:14:51.779 --> 00:14:54.559 that he allows to take place is going to work 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:57.220 for the good of his kingdom. And we don't understand 00:14:57.220 --> 00:15:02.759 that because we don't see that. But the realization 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:08.129 that Habakkuk comes to is... I have to just trust 00:15:08.129 --> 00:15:13.570 God. And that's a hard thing to do. Because maybe 00:15:13.570 --> 00:15:15.950 sometimes we have questions in our life. Maybe 00:15:15.950 --> 00:15:18.350 they're about things in the world. Maybe they're 00:15:18.350 --> 00:15:20.730 about wars and fighting and conflicts that we've 00:15:20.730 --> 00:15:23.230 seen in our life or that we see right now. And 00:15:23.230 --> 00:15:25.309 we don't understand why that they're going on 00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:28.210 the way that they are. Maybe we have those kind 00:15:28.210 --> 00:15:31.070 of questions. Maybe we have other questions and 00:15:31.070 --> 00:15:36.360 say, why God? Why do you allow good... Christian 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:39.019 men and women to suffer with great sickness and 00:15:39.019 --> 00:15:41.940 you allow evil people to live a healthy life. 00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:43.639 Like these are the kind of questions that we 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:46.299 have. I think it's normal. It's just natural 00:15:46.299 --> 00:15:48.139 for us to have these questions. We just don't 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:50.720 understand because in our mind we think that 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:53.600 all the most godly people should be taken care 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:55.559 of the most with the least amount of problems 00:15:55.559 --> 00:15:58.139 and all the evil people should have all the worst 00:15:58.139 --> 00:16:00.700 things in the world happen to them and that's 00:16:00.700 --> 00:16:04.190 just not the reality. You say, well, if I was 00:16:04.190 --> 00:16:06.710 God, that's how I'd do it. Well, maybe you would. 00:16:08.190 --> 00:16:09.909 But then again, maybe you wouldn't be a very 00:16:09.909 --> 00:16:13.149 good God. Because here's the thing about God 00:16:13.149 --> 00:16:16.370 is He's perfect in everything He does. And that's 00:16:16.370 --> 00:16:19.250 the way that He choose to do it. I can't explain 00:16:19.250 --> 00:16:22.509 it to you. I'm not God. If He explained it to 00:16:22.509 --> 00:16:29.000 us today, we probably couldn't understand. And 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:30.980 maybe there are things in our world or things 00:16:30.980 --> 00:16:35.480 in your life that you say, God, how long will 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.460 I cry out and you not listen? God, are you going 00:16:39.460 --> 00:16:41.940 to do anything? Do you care? Do you realize that 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:48.840 there's injustice going on? God realizes. God 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:52.799 realizes everything. He realizes every question 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:55.259 that we have, every fear that we have, every 00:16:55.259 --> 00:16:59.639 concern that we have. God, realizes and recognizes 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:03.840 everything that's going on. And that's what he 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.519 tells Habakkuk. He says, I got this under control. 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:11.140 This is the way it needs to be. I'm going to 00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:13.400 take care of the situation. I'm going to take 00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:17.579 care of the Babylonians. You just got to sit 00:17:17.579 --> 00:17:21.740 back and wait and let me do what I need to do. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.950 And that's a good message for us today. And that's 00:17:25.950 --> 00:17:28.309 a hard thing to do. We are not waiters. We are 00:17:28.309 --> 00:17:31.410 impatient, probably more so now than ever than 00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:35.490 any other time in history. We do not like to 00:17:35.490 --> 00:17:39.609 wait on the Lord. But I got news for you. The 00:17:39.609 --> 00:17:44.609 Lord, He is patient, and He takes a long time 00:17:44.609 --> 00:17:47.829 to work. You read through stories in the Bible, 00:17:47.950 --> 00:17:50.630 and very seldom do any of them unfold quickly. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:53.420 A lot of times they are years, they are decades, 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.539 they may be hundreds of years of something going 00:17:56.539 --> 00:18:00.259 on. God doesn't move as quick as we would like. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:05.839 To God, time is not as we view time. And it's 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:08.980 hard for us to wait on the Lord because we don't 00:18:08.980 --> 00:18:11.799 understand why he allows things to happen, when 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:17.140 he allows them to happen. So what do we do? We 00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:19.720 wait on the Lord. And that's not an answer we 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:23.420 like. But sometimes that's the only answer. Well, 00:18:23.420 --> 00:18:25.480 this situation I'm in is so bad, what do I do? 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:30.319 Well, you have to wait on the Lord. And Habakkuk 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:33.940 realizes that. And that's what leads us to those 00:18:33.940 --> 00:18:37.039 verses we started at, at the end of the book 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:40.279 of Habakkuk. Habakkuk comes to the realization, 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:45.759 God, I know of you. I know who you are. I know 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:48.859 what you do. I've asked you this question. You've 00:18:48.859 --> 00:18:52.539 answered my question. And so God, even though 00:18:52.539 --> 00:18:56.339 things are as bad as they can be, even though 00:18:56.339 --> 00:18:58.799 the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:02.140 on the vines, though the olive crop fails and 00:19:02.140 --> 00:19:04.519 the field produces no fruit, though there are 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:06.940 no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 00:19:07.420 --> 00:19:11.980 what he's saying is things are really bad. Things 00:19:11.980 --> 00:19:14.460 are really bad, even though things are really, 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:17.960 really bad. And that might be true for you today. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:21.579 There may be things in our world, that are really, 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:24.980 really bad. There may be things in your life 00:19:24.980 --> 00:19:29.680 that are really, really bad. And Habakkuk says, 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:34.299 God, even though things are really, really bad, 00:19:34.500 --> 00:19:42.680 in verse 18, yet I will triumph in Yahweh. I 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:47.220 will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Even 00:19:47.220 --> 00:19:49.160 though things are really, really bad, Habakkuk 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.529 says, God, I'm going to trust in you. I know 00:19:51.529 --> 00:19:54.170 that you're going to lead me to victory. God, 00:19:54.250 --> 00:19:56.210 I know that you are my deliverance, that you 00:19:56.210 --> 00:19:59.289 are my salvation. So God, even though I don't 00:19:59.289 --> 00:20:02.170 understand why you're doing things, I know you're 00:20:02.170 --> 00:20:05.210 good even though things are so bad right now. 00:20:05.890 --> 00:20:10.950 God, I'm just going to trust in you. And listen 00:20:10.950 --> 00:20:14.990 to what he says in verse 19. Yahweh, my Lord, 00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:19.079 is my strength. So how's he going to get through 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:21.460 all this? I mean, things were really bad. Things 00:20:21.460 --> 00:20:23.779 were really bad for God's people when the Babylonians 00:20:23.779 --> 00:20:25.559 were coming in and overtaking them. How's he 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:28.000 going to get through all these hard times and 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:31.099 get through all this stuff with these evil Babylonians? 00:20:31.140 --> 00:20:33.880 Well, he's going to do it with the strength of 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:36.839 the Lord, the same way that you're going to do 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:39.410 it. And that may mean us going to the Lord a 00:20:39.410 --> 00:20:41.650 hundred times a day and seeking his word and 00:20:41.650 --> 00:20:43.589 just praying to him and saying, God, I'm weak. 00:20:43.690 --> 00:20:46.109 I don't know that I can do it. God, I don't understand. 00:20:46.210 --> 00:20:47.990 Would you just help me? Would you give me patience? 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:51.109 Would you give me strength? He said, God, I'm 00:20:51.109 --> 00:20:52.710 just going to trust in you and I know you're 00:20:52.710 --> 00:20:56.670 going to be my strength. And he says, he makes 00:20:56.670 --> 00:21:00.269 my feet like those of a deer and enables me to 00:21:00.269 --> 00:21:04.480 walk on mountain heights. Now, I'm going to tell 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.140 you something cool. If you've never seen it before, 00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:08.579 you need to go look it up on YouTube. But there 00:21:08.579 --> 00:21:10.900 are certain species of deer that can climb mountains. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.079 And it's not AI, by the way. It really is true. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:18.839 On a separate note, be careful what you see on 00:21:18.839 --> 00:21:20.680 the Internet these days. There's a lot of junk 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:23.000 out there that's a lie. And so be careful when 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:25.019 you start searching for stuff. When I was looking 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:27.059 for these deer that climb mountains, I found 00:21:27.059 --> 00:21:29.059 some videos of some deer climbing trees. And 00:21:29.059 --> 00:21:30.880 I was like, I don't think that that's right. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:36.369 And sure enough, it was AI. But there are really 00:21:36.369 --> 00:21:39.069 deer that climb mountains, and you can find those 00:21:39.069 --> 00:21:42.569 videos of those deer, and it's incredible. You'll 00:21:42.569 --> 00:21:45.390 see an almost completely vertical mountain, and 00:21:45.390 --> 00:21:47.529 the deer just run up there, and they just jump 00:21:47.529 --> 00:21:49.450 and run and hop around that thing, and I'm like, 00:21:49.470 --> 00:21:51.750 what in the world are they even grabbing a hold 00:21:51.750 --> 00:21:56.410 of? How can they climb this mountain? They don't 00:21:56.410 --> 00:21:59.170 have no opposable thumbs. They've got hooves, 00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:02.089 and they climb up that mountain. I'm talking 00:22:02.089 --> 00:22:06.480 about... In no time. And that's the illustration 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:10.039 that Habakkuk uses here. He makes my feet like 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:13.519 those of a deer and enables me to walk on the 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:17.619 mountain heights. Now, it would look impossible 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:21.720 for a deer to be able to climb a mountain, but 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:25.519 yet they can, and they can walk comfortably on 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.480 the top of the mountain. And maybe there are 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.000 some things in your life today, some mountains, 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:35.990 so to speak, that seem impossible. They're so 00:22:35.990 --> 00:22:39.970 high, and they're so steep, and you say, God, 00:22:40.190 --> 00:22:44.130 how in the world am I ever going to climb this 00:22:44.130 --> 00:22:47.549 mountain? Or you're going to climb it, because 00:22:47.549 --> 00:22:50.450 just like Habakkuk, he can make you like a deer 00:22:50.450 --> 00:22:53.890 that can do things that seem almost impossible. 00:22:55.029 --> 00:22:57.589 Not only can you climb the mountain, but you 00:22:57.589 --> 00:23:01.279 can get to the top of the mountain. So when we 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:03.799 look at the psalm that says, where does my help 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:06.480 come from? It comes from the Lord, the maker 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:10.779 of heaven and earth. The verse before that is, 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:14.740 I lift my eyes to the hills. I lift my eyes to 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:19.660 the mountains. Habakkuk had a mountain that he 00:23:19.660 --> 00:23:21.680 couldn't wrap his head around of how he was overcome 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:26.279 what was before him. Didn't understand really 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:28.240 how God was working and why he was working in 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:31.660 the way he was. And he asked God about it, and 00:23:31.660 --> 00:23:33.240 God said, well, hang tight. I'm going to take 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:36.240 care of it. And for Habakkuk, that was good enough. 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:40.779 He says, I trust you, God. Things are really 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:44.259 bad, but I trust you, and I know you're going 00:23:44.259 --> 00:23:47.720 to help me to overcome what I'm up against. And 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:49.359 I want you to know that God will help you to 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:52.460 overcome what you're up against today. It's greater 00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:55.500 than anything that's within you to overcome. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:59.160 But praise the Lord, the Scripture says that 00:23:59.609 --> 00:24:02.849 Through Jesus Christ, we can overcome the things 00:24:02.849 --> 00:24:06.509 of this world. We can be overcomers. That he 00:24:06.509 --> 00:24:08.890 who is within us is greater than he who is in 00:24:08.890 --> 00:24:12.890 the world. God sent Jesus Christ to die on the 00:24:12.890 --> 00:24:14.950 cross so that our sins could be forgiven. So 00:24:14.950 --> 00:24:17.650 that we would have hope. So that we would know 00:24:17.650 --> 00:24:20.049 that God's word is true. And there is victory 00:24:20.049 --> 00:24:24.589 in Jesus Christ. And if we would trust in Jesus 00:24:24.589 --> 00:24:26.849 Christ today and repent of our sins, we would 00:24:26.849 --> 00:24:31.339 find that same strength. I wish I could give 00:24:31.339 --> 00:24:33.319 you answers to all your questions about things 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:35.599 you don't understand, about how God does things 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:37.779 the way he does and why he doesn't, but I cannot. 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:42.880 And even if God told us, we still probably wouldn't 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:44.980 understand, and so we are left with a choice 00:24:44.980 --> 00:24:51.240 to either trust God or not trust him. But I pray 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:54.000 that we would be those that no matter how difficult 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.539 our path may be, that we say, God, I trust you 00:24:56.539 --> 00:25:00.140 because I know that you're good. Even if I don't 00:25:00.140 --> 00:25:03.599 understand it, God, I know you're good. Let's 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:06.700 pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for your 00:25:06.700 --> 00:25:08.640 good word. I pray that you would help us. Maybe 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:11.279 there are some in this room today, dear Lord, 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:13.799 that are just struggling and they're having a 00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:16.200 hard time with whatever they're up against. Maybe 00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:18.579 they just see the evil and the fighting and the 00:25:18.579 --> 00:25:21.000 feuding and all those things that are going on 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:23.619 in the world, God, and they just don't understand 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:27.690 why they're taking place. I pray, God, that you 00:25:27.690 --> 00:25:32.069 help us to understand as best we can, but with 00:25:32.069 --> 00:25:34.130 what we can understand, I pray that we would 00:25:34.130 --> 00:25:37.930 just trust you. God, you are good, and everything 00:25:37.930 --> 00:25:41.849 you do is for the good of your kingdom. There's 00:25:41.849 --> 00:25:43.730 nothing that takes place that you don't allow, 00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:47.849 dear Lord. So I pray, God, that you would help 00:25:47.849 --> 00:25:51.009 us to just be a people who would trust in that 00:25:51.009 --> 00:25:55.250 truth, that God, even if things may be bad for 00:25:55.250 --> 00:25:58.259 us, that we would still praise you this morning. 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:00.420 God, I pray that if there are any who do not 00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:02.539 know Jesus Christ and have put their faith in 00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:04.259 him and have found hope today that they would 00:26:04.259 --> 00:26:07.279 trust him and find victory in him, that they 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:10.779 would climb those mountain heights. And I ask 00:26:10.779 --> 00:26:13.220 these things in Jesus' name. Amen.