We've all been hurt. We all carry scars. We can all overcome these things and be
healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's build that relationship
together right here. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Hey everybody
and welcome back to the sanctuary. Thank you so much for joining us. It's great to
have you here. As we get started today, I do want to take a moment to say thank
you to everyone who messaged about last week's episode. Want to be tough guys. As
some of you are aware, I was getting over a cold so I wasn't sure how well I
sounded, let alone how well I came across. So thank you so much for your kind
messages. They are very uplifting and very empowering. Of course, everybody I
will tell you I love getting your prayer request. I do pray over every single one.
I do see every single one regardless of whether it's a DM through Facebook or
you know you email me any of that stuff. I do see all of them. I do pray over all
of them. So please keep them coming. A caveat to that, if you would like to have
me share anything you know here with the church or anything here on the podcast
anywhere, please please please do include that it is okay for me to share it with
others and I will happily do so. If you would like to remain anonymous, please
include that as well. I can definitely share your needs with others to pray on
so we can all come together as a church without calling you out individually.
That's not a problem. Okay so also any questions that you have, any topics or
subjects you'd like to hear hear me discuss, please keep those coming in.
Alright and with that let's get started here. So you know we all have questions
in life and they start early in our childhood when we start exploring our
world and they continue as we get older from the imaginations of a child to the
complexities of the universe as we know it and beyond. You know some answers are
simple, others are more complex, some even leave us with more questions.
However not every question has an answer that we like. In fact some answers we
really don't want to hear or downright refuse to hear. Others, you know the
questions leave us without answers entirely and because of this many people
begin to have doubts in their lives. Now some deal with those doubts and they
drive on and they live out their lives. Others begin to doubt and doubt their
faith and because people begin to live in a world that you know and begin to
live in that doubt, it can consume them and it can harden their hearts and some
don't look at any of these options as being acceptable. So they begin to look
for even more answers and today that is exactly what we're going to start
looking at as we begin studying the 10th shortest book in the Bible Habakkuk.
Alright so of course I have a little bit of background and we're going to be
going over this for the next few weeks. Okay so now Habakkuk he wrote this book
to the people of Judah and it was to show that God is still in control even
though it looks like evil is winning and just running rampant throughout the
world. Something we can still relate to easily today and this was written
between 612 BC after the fall of Nineveh and before the Babylonian invasion of
Judah in 588 BC. The book of Habakkuk can really be broken down into three pieces.
Now a lot of papers that you read, a lot of like the study bibles and you know
and so on, they'll kind of break it down into two pieces. Q&A and then prayer.
Alright but really as you're gonna see here it can be broken down into three
pieces and I'm gonna explain what they are right now. So in chapter one we're
going to see Habakkuk has questions. He has a lot of questions and a lot of your
text, a lot of your translations are going to refer to these as complaints.
Alright so in chapter one we're going to see the questions. We're gonna see some
answer from God but then we're gonna see more questions and really chapter one is
really dedicated to those questions and those complaints. In chapter two we're
going to see how God answers him and really chapter two is dedicated to God
providing answers. And then in chapter three which is the third part we'll find
Habakkuk's praise as he responds in a prayer of faith. Alright so the three
parts chapter one really dedicated to questions or complaints. Chapter two God's
answers and then three prayer and faith. As we go through we're going to see that
just like Habakkuk we can also bring our questions, our complaints, our
frustrations to the Father who will not only listen but will give us an answer.
And like Habakkuk we can all rejoice at the fact that he is in control and very
much at work in our lives. Now for those who follow along in their Bible and for
those who like taking notes please join me here in the book of Habakkuk. Now it's
going to be towards the end of the Old Testament so about midway through your
Bible if that helps you to get there any faster. Alright so Habakkuk chapter one
we're going to be looking at chapter one today and we're going to kick off here
with verses one through four. So Habakkuk chapter one verses one through four the
Bible says the prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received. How long Lord must I
call for help but you do not listen or cry out to you violence but you do not
save. Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me there is strife and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed and justice never prevails. The wicked him in
the righteous so that justice is perverted. So again Habakkuk lived in
Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim which we can learn more about in Second
Kings. If you if you want to take a look at that if you go to Second Kings
chapter 23 verse 36 and then going all the way through chapter 24 through verse
5 you can read more about that there we can all learn from that. We'll be
covering that here at a much later time but if you wanted to go ahead that's
where you'll find it. Now Babylon was the rising powerhouse in the region and
quickly you know moved up to become the dominant world power of the day. Habakkuk
was very disheartened by a lot of the same things that we see today. He was
looking at violence, he was looking at corruption, he was looking at the elite
keeping the common man down, a legal system that was dysfunctional and we
just saw you know he called it paralyzed. Paralyzed. You know so we could
definitely relate to that because we see struggles in our own legal system today
and he wanted to know why God seemed so indifferent you know or basically like
he didn't care about everything that was going on you know he was asking why did
good people suffer while evil people go unchecked and unpunished you know
and we've all had that question ourselves and he was witness to all of
these things just like we are today. Now prior to his ministry the temple was
already being desecrated and he was witness to that as well you know
prostitution was common, pagans were sacrificing their children in addition
to other evil acts to appease their idols or their false gods. It was you
know for the faithful people of Judah it was a very overwhelming and just
downright scary you know thing to witness is very you know those are very
dark days and much like today Habakkuk lived in chaos you know for some of us
even more so in chaos than what we live in today you know he was looking at the
same kinds of things though wars, threats of wars, rumors of wars, dirty
politicians you know a broken legal system you know same the same things
that we're confronted with daily the same things building up ungodly people
you know and destroying other people's lives just like we see today you know
he was asking how long is this gonna go on doesn't that sound familiar?
You know we hear that same question from unbelievers and those of faith you know
it's a big reason why a lot of people doubt like what's going on with this is
you know we have a god and this is gonna keep happening you know what why does
God let bad things happen to so many people why doesn't he do something
about it what we all need to remember is that God will always do the right thing
for the right reason in his time not ours in his he has a reason for allowing
evil things to continue even though we may not understand it because he can
take anything and use it for his will he can take a bad thing and turn it to
something good all right now let's continue we're gonna look at verses 5
through 11 now so Habakkuk chapter 1 verses 5 through 11 the Bible says look
at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed for I am going to do something in
your days that you would not believe even if you were told I'm raising up the
Babylonians that ruthless and impetuous people who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own they are a feared and dreaded people they are
a law to themselves and promote their own honor their horses are swifter than
leopards fiercer than wolves at dusk their calvary gallops headlong their
horsemen come from afar they fly like an eagle swooping to devour they all come
intent on violence their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners
like sand they mock kings and they scoff at rulers they laugh at all
fortified cities by building earthen ramps they capture them then they sweep
past like the wind and go on guilty people whose own strength is their God
so the very narcissistic people right you know they're looking at the at
themselves they're worshiping themselves basically you know God is responding God's
responding he's telling the Habakkuk stand back and prepare to be amazed the
show's about to kick off all right you know and the Jews you know they would
indeed see the unbelievable the first thing that they're gonna see is their own
kingdom was going to go from being a strong independent nation to a vassal
nation vassal meaning submissive all right that's that's one of those words
that gets put out there and a lot of people don't break down a lot of people
like what's what is the exact meaning of this I mean are they indentured
servants what's going on yeah they're they're submissive they're being brought
brought underneath and you know basically stepped on second you know one
of the second things that they were going to see was Egypt who was a
tremendous world power was quickly going to be wiped out they're gonna be brought
leveled out real quick the other one Nineveh so the Assyrians they were the
other world power and they were pulverized to a point where people
couldn't even remember where they stood like I think it's in that direction I'm
not exactly sure where but I think if you go that way maybe you'll find
something I mean they were just wiped out you know like like they didn't even
exist for it took a long long time before archaeologists were even able to
to find a piece of where their civilization was Babylonians you know
that they were going to rise up and they were going to very quickly become the
top world power they're gonna move up to the very tippy top of the spear there
all right and during the course of a lifetime you know really less you know
that generation they witnessed all of these things come to pass you know
things that nobody ever could have imagined would happen the rise and fall
of nations and the shift of world power and I think of that the rise and fall of
nations and this shift of world power
Habakkuk raised questions you know he had complaints he had frustrations but
you know he voiced all these things to God he's like dude what's up what gives
and God in turn answered and told him hey stand back amazing things are about
to happen just sit back and watch check out this show see when we're surrounded
by chaos and we're and we're witness to evil things regularly it gets really
hard to remember that God is in control we may even start to wonder you know
hey has he forgotten about us I'm sure at some point the the majority of even
wondered you know hey has God stopped watching this does he even care about
this anymore you know or did he go on vacation vacation you know I'll remind
you none of us not one is here by mistake none of us are here by
coincidence we're not living as a result of fate or some freak accident in the
cosmos or anything like that we are all here and living in this time in
accordance with God's will for each of us and when we open ourselves up to him
and his will for our lives then we are able to accept his answers and we find
patience and peace because we're able to wait for things to happen in his time
and not ours that's the hardest part right there his time not ours we're a
big part we know we're doing the whole hurry up and wait thing hurry up and
wait you know we've all heard that military but we live by that motto you
know the Babylonians they they lived in the base in the northern Persian Gulf
and their ascension if power started around 630 BC within roughly 25 years
they had beaten the biggest world powers of Assyria in Egypt now of course
Assyria that's you know when we're talking about Nineveh because Nineveh
was their capital as we just learned you know and the previous weeks in our
studies so when we talk about Nineveh we're talking about Assyria and the
Assyrians and then Egypt Egypt was another huge power for years and years
all right looking at verses 9 through 11 we can see that the Babylonians they
were just as nasty and evil if not more so than the Assyrians you know and it
wasn't just because of their violence it was also because of the fact that they
like to take captives and they were very prideful people very boastful they were
especially proud of their military their military might and they placed their
full trust in it it's like oh who's gonna beat us you know we're just gonna
beat him into submission you know it's kind of that same mentality a lot of
people have like oh yeah we got that we got the nukes we got but no it's that
same mentality you know Babylonian armies they they've gone and they
developed new tactics and methods and they ramped up tech their technologies
to be able to take down fortified locations you know places that
previously had been considered impenetrable and unbeatable you know
they and to top that off they had no regard whatsoever zero zero regard for
humanity and and just like the armies that they had crushed they in turn also
pillaged and plundered and burned cities and raped and killed as they deemed with
you know as they saw fit whatever they wanted they just went through just you
know jolly jolly Giants just doing their thing because they ruled the world you
know and they brought home wealth and perceived glory as they basically just
marched right over other nations and bring them in you know they'd bring them
into submission or destroy them and they'd bring home these riches it to and
pay tribute to pay tribute to their idols and for enforced others to do the
same now here's the thing about about idols and about idolatry the basis of
idolatry is going to God and asking him or even false gods to help us to get
everything we desire that's also the problem with prosperity preachers you
know the whole live your best life now but it's not biblical matter of fact we
even see this you know in the temptation of Christ in the wilderness you know
this is this is what Satan is offering this is what Satan is offering the world
it's what he's been trying to offer you know from the very beginning so it's not
biblical it's not godly you know in the contrast is what we find in Christianity
when we ask God to help us give our all to help others and to best serve him I
dollotry is self glorification and selfishness while faith is the
glorification of work that little tongue tied there the glorification of God and
selflessness servant leadership if you would regardless of what people claim
their actions one way or the other they will tell the truth about the
relationship with Jesus are they all about the self glorification self
gratification that selfishness or are they about the glorification of God and
being selfless putting others first you know let's look at let's take a look at
sports sports are an extremely easy way of seeing where people stand you know I
read an article a ways back and it was talking about a high school girls
basketball team I want to say it was out of Texas I can't remember it's been a
little what a little little times past but anyhow their teams you know it's
talking about their team and how they prayed before every game and it was a
student-led prayer they had somebody that would go in and you know the team
prayer if you would and they would lead the team in this prayer before every
game now well yes they want to win just like every other team they don't pray to
win you know instead what they what they pray for is the health of both teams
that nobody gets hurt that everyone who plays plays to the best of their ability
and that they all have safe travel home afterwards and not just the teams but
also their families their friends and their fans now how powerful is that what
does that say about this team's connection with the father what's that
say for all of us for that matter you know it'd be just as easy to pray for a
win and and let's face it people do that on and off the field people who put you
know we're talking about athletes and their fans you know but instead this
team humbles themselves and they pray about the things that matter
idolatry versus faith I think you all would agree with me that faith is a much
prettier thing so join me now we're gonna we're gonna go back into the book
of Habakkuk here we're gonna start wrapping up this chapter here fairly
soon we're gonna look at verses 12 through 17 now so I have a cook chapter
1 verses 12 through 17 the Bible says Lord are you not from everlasting my God
my Holy One you will never die you Lord have appointed them to execute judgment
you my rock have ordained them to punish your eyes are too pure to look on evil
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing why then do you tolerate the treacherous why are
you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves have
you made people like the fish in the sea like the sea creatures that have no
ruler the wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks he catches them in his net
he gathers them in his dragnet and so he rejoices and is glad therefore he
sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet for by his net he lives
in luxury and enjoys the choicest food is he to keep on emptying his net
destroying nations without mercy you know I have a cook he had some good
questions didn't he and they're the same questions that we asked today they
really are you know and this is and this is one of those reasons why you know
Christians say the answers that people are looking for in life are in the
Bible we're seeing some great examples of this just in this opening chapter in
his prayers Habakkuk didn't hold back so remember that's where the prayer is
talking to God it's a conversation with Jesus you know his his despair about
using absolutely evil people you know for him that raised some red flags some
really big flags you know and he didn't let that hold him back from asking God
what the deal was like dude what's up what's going on here what we're seeing
here is really two things one God can use bad things to bring about good
there's nothing he can't use all right and two he wants us to ask questions he
wants to hear our concerns our questions our complaints he wants them all he
wants to hear he wants us to talk to him and he does not want us to hold back he
wants us to talk about everything that's what relationship is even if you're
outside even if he we already know he does know everything he does but he
doesn't want us to hold back he wants us to go forward and talk to him and we
should all be as bold as Habakkuk and not be afraid to ask those hard
questions you know just like any other questions we need to remember we may not
like the answers that we get back some of them might be so hard that we just
downright we really don't want to hear them however just like Habakkuk we may
find that certain answers that we're looking for come from suffering and
it's more often than not that we find our answers when we're suffering
because it is at that time that we're able to see God the clearest that were
that we're looking towards him like dude I need help what's going on you know
the the veils pulled back a little bit you know we're we're more willing to let
down and let go of our worldly tethers and trust in God's hand there's a reason
why people have to hit rock bottom before they're more likely to turn to God
than those who are at the top of the mountain Judah was about to be punished
and it was going to be through the Babylonians Habakkuk was very much up
in arms about he wasn't happy he was not a happy camper you know why would God
use a nation so evil to do this to punish them in addition to this the
Babylonians didn't even realize that they were being used as a tool to bring
about God's will they were so caught up in their own idolatry they look at me
I'm so big and bad what are they gonna do huh I'm just gonna run through them
watch this lay them out you know they were going to be the very thing that was
going to turn Judah back to God because as a nation they had straight and that's
why they were going to be punished there the Babylonians were going to be the
very tool that brought them back into alignment with God and Babylon's own
pride would also ultimately become its own downfall evil people evil groups
evil organizations evil states nations and so on they are never beyond God's
control he will use them as tools to accomplish what he needs to and then
he'll deal with them accordingly he may well be telling that you know be using
them to tell us something to correct us in our actions in our thought processes
to bring us back into alignment with him and his will after all none of us is
without sin so you know who are we to complain you know about how the father
deals with us when it comes to that sin how he punishes us or corrects us how he
guides us we're his children he is the parent that's something so many of us
forget these days you know especially with children being allowed to
disrespect parents and families and teachers and law enforcement and so on
the father knows what's best for all of us it's on us to lean into him and trust
what he is doing just like children need to relearn that they need to be able to
you know to trust in their parents and parents need to get plugged back in you
know that hurt that pain that suffering in our lives in my life in your life that
suffering is a reminder that we need to stay focused on Jesus and not the storm
around us to look at him and not what's going on you know not what the world is
doing not the those distractions we need to trust in Jesus he will not fail you
he will never happen he will not fail you and we have hope in the fact that we
know he loves us and will look out for us we have hope in hardship loss pain
that he is with us and we have hope because of him all right so that's all
we're going to cover for this week again next week you know we're going to go into
chapter 2 and we're gonna look at more at the God's answers all right so join
us then as we see more of what you know of God's response and we start moving
towards chapter 3 when we look at Habakkuk's prayer faith remember Jesus
loves you he has your back and all things it's not always about our timing
it is about his so go and be the church I want to thank you for joining us today
if you have any questions prayer requests or would like to know more
about our ministry you can find us on our website at be the light sanctuary
org or on Facebook at be the light sanctuary we'll catch you next time God
bless