1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,600 We've all been hurt. We all carry scars. We can all overcome these things and be 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:11,440 healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's build that relationship 3 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:19,380 together right here. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Hey everybody 4 00:00:19,380 --> 00:00:24,480 and welcome back to the sanctuary. Thank you so much for joining us. It's great to 5 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,960 have you here. As we get started today, I do want to take a moment to say thank 6 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:34,480 you to everyone who messaged about last week's episode. Want to be tough guys. As 7 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:39,280 some of you are aware, I was getting over a cold so I wasn't sure how well I 8 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:44,040 sounded, let alone how well I came across. So thank you so much for your kind 9 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:50,360 messages. They are very uplifting and very empowering. Of course, everybody I 10 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:55,440 will tell you I love getting your prayer request. I do pray over every single one. 11 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:01,040 I do see every single one regardless of whether it's a DM through Facebook or 12 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,440 you know you email me any of that stuff. I do see all of them. I do pray over all 13 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:10,840 of them. So please keep them coming. A caveat to that, if you would like to have 14 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:17,760 me share anything you know here with the church or anything here on the podcast 15 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:25,160 anywhere, please please please do include that it is okay for me to share it with 16 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:31,120 others and I will happily do so. If you would like to remain anonymous, please 17 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,960 include that as well. I can definitely share your needs with others to pray on 18 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:40,760 so we can all come together as a church without calling you out individually. 19 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:46,840 That's not a problem. Okay so also any questions that you have, any topics or 20 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,960 subjects you'd like to hear hear me discuss, please keep those coming in. 21 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:56,680 Alright and with that let's get started here. So you know we all have questions 22 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:03,400 in life and they start early in our childhood when we start exploring our 23 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:10,560 world and they continue as we get older from the imaginations of a child to the 24 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:16,480 complexities of the universe as we know it and beyond. You know some answers are 25 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:25,240 simple, others are more complex, some even leave us with more questions. 26 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:33,840 However not every question has an answer that we like. In fact some answers we 27 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:40,720 really don't want to hear or downright refuse to hear. Others, you know the 28 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:48,240 questions leave us without answers entirely and because of this many people 29 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:53,360 begin to have doubts in their lives. Now some deal with those doubts and they 30 00:02:53,360 --> 00:03:01,040 drive on and they live out their lives. Others begin to doubt and doubt their 31 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:07,040 faith and because people begin to live in a world that you know and begin to 32 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:14,920 live in that doubt, it can consume them and it can harden their hearts and some 33 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:19,520 don't look at any of these options as being acceptable. So they begin to look 34 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:25,720 for even more answers and today that is exactly what we're going to start 35 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:31,120 looking at as we begin studying the 10th shortest book in the Bible Habakkuk. 36 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:37,200 Alright so of course I have a little bit of background and we're going to be 37 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:43,880 going over this for the next few weeks. Okay so now Habakkuk he wrote this book 38 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:50,880 to the people of Judah and it was to show that God is still in control even 39 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:57,360 though it looks like evil is winning and just running rampant throughout the 40 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:04,840 world. Something we can still relate to easily today and this was written 41 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:12,960 between 612 BC after the fall of Nineveh and before the Babylonian invasion of 42 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:20,360 Judah in 588 BC. The book of Habakkuk can really be broken down into three pieces. 43 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:26,580 Now a lot of papers that you read, a lot of like the study bibles and you know 44 00:04:26,580 --> 00:04:34,120 and so on, they'll kind of break it down into two pieces. Q&A and then prayer. 45 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:39,040 Alright but really as you're gonna see here it can be broken down into three 46 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,760 pieces and I'm gonna explain what they are right now. So in chapter one we're 47 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:49,960 going to see Habakkuk has questions. He has a lot of questions and a lot of your 48 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,200 text, a lot of your translations are going to refer to these as complaints. 49 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:59,920 Alright so in chapter one we're going to see the questions. We're gonna see some 50 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:04,040 answer from God but then we're gonna see more questions and really chapter one is 51 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,640 really dedicated to those questions and those complaints. In chapter two we're 52 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:16,280 going to see how God answers him and really chapter two is dedicated to God 53 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:24,280 providing answers. And then in chapter three which is the third part we'll find 54 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:31,360 Habakkuk's praise as he responds in a prayer of faith. Alright so the three 55 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:39,920 parts chapter one really dedicated to questions or complaints. Chapter two God's 56 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:48,120 answers and then three prayer and faith. As we go through we're going to see that 57 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:52,680 just like Habakkuk we can also bring our questions, our complaints, our 58 00:05:52,680 --> 00:06:02,400 frustrations to the Father who will not only listen but will give us an answer. 59 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:11,880 And like Habakkuk we can all rejoice at the fact that he is in control and very 60 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:19,720 much at work in our lives. Now for those who follow along in their Bible and for 61 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:26,240 those who like taking notes please join me here in the book of Habakkuk. Now it's 62 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,240 going to be towards the end of the Old Testament so about midway through your 63 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:35,160 Bible if that helps you to get there any faster. Alright so Habakkuk chapter one 64 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,760 we're going to be looking at chapter one today and we're going to kick off here 65 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:43,380 with verses one through four. So Habakkuk chapter one verses one through four the 66 00:06:43,380 --> 00:06:51,640 Bible says the prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received. How long Lord must I 67 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:58,800 call for help but you do not listen or cry out to you violence but you do not 68 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:07,560 save. Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? 69 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:13,920 Destruction and violence are before me there is strife and conflict abounds. 70 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:23,000 Therefore the law is paralyzed and justice never prevails. The wicked him in 71 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:33,640 the righteous so that justice is perverted. So again Habakkuk lived in 72 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:39,880 Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim which we can learn more about in Second 73 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,640 Kings. If you if you want to take a look at that if you go to Second Kings 74 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:49,900 chapter 23 verse 36 and then going all the way through chapter 24 through verse 75 00:07:49,900 --> 00:07:54,080 5 you can read more about that there we can all learn from that. We'll be 76 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,480 covering that here at a much later time but if you wanted to go ahead that's 77 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:04,280 where you'll find it. Now Babylon was the rising powerhouse in the region and 78 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:11,480 quickly you know moved up to become the dominant world power of the day. Habakkuk 79 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:19,000 was very disheartened by a lot of the same things that we see today. He was 80 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,320 looking at violence, he was looking at corruption, he was looking at the elite 81 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:28,960 keeping the common man down, a legal system that was dysfunctional and we 82 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,880 just saw you know he called it paralyzed. Paralyzed. You know so we could 83 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,120 definitely relate to that because we see struggles in our own legal system today 84 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:44,480 and he wanted to know why God seemed so indifferent you know or basically like 85 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,960 he didn't care about everything that was going on you know he was asking why did 86 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:55,240 good people suffer while evil people go unchecked and unpunished you know 87 00:08:55,240 --> 00:09:02,000 and we've all had that question ourselves and he was witness to all of 88 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:09,920 these things just like we are today. Now prior to his ministry the temple was 89 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:12,800 already being desecrated and he was witness to that as well you know 90 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:18,880 prostitution was common, pagans were sacrificing their children in addition 91 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:24,480 to other evil acts to appease their idols or their false gods. It was you 92 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:31,120 know for the faithful people of Judah it was a very overwhelming and just 93 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:36,640 downright scary you know thing to witness is very you know those are very 94 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:43,520 dark days and much like today Habakkuk lived in chaos you know for some of us 95 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:50,960 even more so in chaos than what we live in today you know he was looking at the 96 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:57,600 same kinds of things though wars, threats of wars, rumors of wars, dirty 97 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:03,480 politicians you know a broken legal system you know same the same things 98 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:09,360 that we're confronted with daily the same things building up ungodly people 99 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:15,480 you know and destroying other people's lives just like we see today you know 100 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:20,920 he was asking how long is this gonna go on doesn't that sound familiar? 101 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:27,360 You know we hear that same question from unbelievers and those of faith you know 102 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,280 it's a big reason why a lot of people doubt like what's going on with this is 103 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,560 you know we have a god and this is gonna keep happening you know what why does 104 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:38,720 God let bad things happen to so many people why doesn't he do something 105 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:46,160 about it what we all need to remember is that God will always do the right thing 106 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:57,600 for the right reason in his time not ours in his he has a reason for allowing 107 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:04,560 evil things to continue even though we may not understand it because he can 108 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:11,000 take anything and use it for his will he can take a bad thing and turn it to 109 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:16,600 something good all right now let's continue we're gonna look at verses 5 110 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:28,480 through 11 now so Habakkuk chapter 1 verses 5 through 11 the Bible says look 111 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:37,160 at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed for I am going to do something in 112 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:44,400 your days that you would not believe even if you were told I'm raising up the 113 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:50,880 Babylonians that ruthless and impetuous people who sweep across the whole earth 114 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:58,800 to seize dwellings not their own they are a feared and dreaded people they are 115 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:08,280 a law to themselves and promote their own honor their horses are swifter than 116 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:16,800 leopards fiercer than wolves at dusk their calvary gallops headlong their 117 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:24,400 horsemen come from afar they fly like an eagle swooping to devour they all come 118 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:31,040 intent on violence their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners 119 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:38,760 like sand they mock kings and they scoff at rulers they laugh at all 120 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:45,200 fortified cities by building earthen ramps they capture them then they sweep 121 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:53,760 past like the wind and go on guilty people whose own strength is their God 122 00:12:53,760 --> 00:13:00,760 so the very narcissistic people right you know they're looking at the at 123 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:08,080 themselves they're worshiping themselves basically you know God is responding God's 124 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:12,800 responding he's telling the Habakkuk stand back and prepare to be amazed the 125 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:18,640 show's about to kick off all right you know and the Jews you know they would 126 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:24,080 indeed see the unbelievable the first thing that they're gonna see is their own 127 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:30,840 kingdom was going to go from being a strong independent nation to a vassal 128 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:36,240 nation vassal meaning submissive all right that's that's one of those words 129 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,920 that gets put out there and a lot of people don't break down a lot of people 130 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,640 like what's what is the exact meaning of this I mean are they indentured 131 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:46,880 servants what's going on yeah they're they're submissive they're being brought 132 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:53,160 brought underneath and you know basically stepped on second you know one 133 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:57,800 of the second things that they were going to see was Egypt who was a 134 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:03,800 tremendous world power was quickly going to be wiped out they're gonna be brought 135 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:10,880 leveled out real quick the other one Nineveh so the Assyrians they were the 136 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:15,820 other world power and they were pulverized to a point where people 137 00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:23,000 couldn't even remember where they stood like I think it's in that direction I'm 138 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,680 not exactly sure where but I think if you go that way maybe you'll find 139 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,520 something I mean they were just wiped out you know like like they didn't even 140 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,480 exist for it took a long long time before archaeologists were even able to 141 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:42,840 to find a piece of where their civilization was Babylonians you know 142 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:48,480 that they were going to rise up and they were going to very quickly become the 143 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,560 top world power they're gonna move up to the very tippy top of the spear there 144 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:57,440 all right and during the course of a lifetime you know really less you know 145 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,920 that generation they witnessed all of these things come to pass you know 146 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:09,240 things that nobody ever could have imagined would happen the rise and fall 147 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:16,640 of nations and the shift of world power and I think of that the rise and fall of 148 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,720 nations and this shift of world power 149 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:26,400 Habakkuk raised questions you know he had complaints he had frustrations but 150 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:30,040 you know he voiced all these things to God he's like dude what's up what gives 151 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:38,800 and God in turn answered and told him hey stand back amazing things are about 152 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:44,520 to happen just sit back and watch check out this show see when we're surrounded 153 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:51,600 by chaos and we're and we're witness to evil things regularly it gets really 154 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:59,440 hard to remember that God is in control we may even start to wonder you know 155 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:05,200 hey has he forgotten about us I'm sure at some point the the majority of even 156 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,560 wondered you know hey has God stopped watching this does he even care about 157 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:15,360 this anymore you know or did he go on vacation vacation you know I'll remind 158 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:22,840 you none of us not one is here by mistake none of us are here by 159 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:29,280 coincidence we're not living as a result of fate or some freak accident in the 160 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:35,480 cosmos or anything like that we are all here and living in this time in 161 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:43,520 accordance with God's will for each of us and when we open ourselves up to him 162 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:55,880 and his will for our lives then we are able to accept his answers and we find 163 00:16:55,880 --> 00:17:06,160 patience and peace because we're able to wait for things to happen in his time 164 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:15,840 and not ours that's the hardest part right there his time not ours we're a 165 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:20,960 big part we know we're doing the whole hurry up and wait thing hurry up and 166 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,560 wait you know we've all heard that military but we live by that motto you 167 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:33,600 know the Babylonians they they lived in the base in the northern Persian Gulf 168 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:43,640 and their ascension if power started around 630 BC within roughly 25 years 169 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:52,560 they had beaten the biggest world powers of Assyria in Egypt now of course 170 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:56,640 Assyria that's you know when we're talking about Nineveh because Nineveh 171 00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:01,440 was their capital as we just learned you know and the previous weeks in our 172 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,360 studies so when we talk about Nineveh we're talking about Assyria and the 173 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:11,440 Assyrians and then Egypt Egypt was another huge power for years and years 174 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:22,280 all right looking at verses 9 through 11 we can see that the Babylonians they 175 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:28,320 were just as nasty and evil if not more so than the Assyrians you know and it 176 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:33,040 wasn't just because of their violence it was also because of the fact that they 177 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:38,720 like to take captives and they were very prideful people very boastful they were 178 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:43,920 especially proud of their military their military might and they placed their 179 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,680 full trust in it it's like oh who's gonna beat us you know we're just gonna 180 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,760 beat him into submission you know it's kind of that same mentality a lot of 181 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,760 people have like oh yeah we got that we got the nukes we got but no it's that 182 00:18:55,760 --> 00:19:02,880 same mentality you know Babylonian armies they they've gone and they 183 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:09,280 developed new tactics and methods and they ramped up tech their technologies 184 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:15,240 to be able to take down fortified locations you know places that 185 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:22,320 previously had been considered impenetrable and unbeatable you know 186 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:31,560 they and to top that off they had no regard whatsoever zero zero regard for 187 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:38,520 humanity and and just like the armies that they had crushed they in turn also 188 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:44,280 pillaged and plundered and burned cities and raped and killed as they deemed with 189 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:48,640 you know as they saw fit whatever they wanted they just went through just you 190 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,000 know jolly jolly Giants just doing their thing because they ruled the world you 191 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:59,120 know and they brought home wealth and perceived glory as they basically just 192 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:02,880 marched right over other nations and bring them in you know they'd bring them 193 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:07,640 into submission or destroy them and they'd bring home these riches it to and 194 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,560 pay tribute to pay tribute to their idols and for enforced others to do the 195 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:19,760 same now here's the thing about about idols and about idolatry the basis of 196 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:27,880 idolatry is going to God and asking him or even false gods to help us to get 197 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:34,840 everything we desire that's also the problem with prosperity preachers you 198 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:40,960 know the whole live your best life now but it's not biblical matter of fact we 199 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:44,720 even see this you know in the temptation of Christ in the wilderness you know 200 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,960 this is this is what Satan is offering this is what Satan is offering the world 201 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:54,480 it's what he's been trying to offer you know from the very beginning so it's not 202 00:20:54,480 --> 00:21:00,000 biblical it's not godly you know in the contrast is what we find in Christianity 203 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:10,000 when we ask God to help us give our all to help others and to best serve him I 204 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:16,240 dollotry is self glorification and selfishness while faith is the 205 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:21,840 glorification of work that little tongue tied there the glorification of God and 206 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:31,440 selflessness servant leadership if you would regardless of what people claim 207 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:37,600 their actions one way or the other they will tell the truth about the 208 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:45,520 relationship with Jesus are they all about the self glorification self 209 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:51,000 gratification that selfishness or are they about the glorification of God and 210 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:58,320 being selfless putting others first you know let's look at let's take a look at 211 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:06,560 sports sports are an extremely easy way of seeing where people stand you know I 212 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,840 read an article a ways back and it was talking about a high school girls 213 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:15,040 basketball team I want to say it was out of Texas I can't remember it's been a 214 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:20,600 little what a little little times past but anyhow their teams you know it's 215 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,480 talking about their team and how they prayed before every game and it was a 216 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:28,960 student-led prayer they had somebody that would go in and you know the team 217 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:34,440 prayer if you would and they would lead the team in this prayer before every 218 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:42,280 game now well yes they want to win just like every other team they don't pray to 219 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:51,160 win you know instead what they what they pray for is the health of both teams 220 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:58,560 that nobody gets hurt that everyone who plays plays to the best of their ability 221 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:05,960 and that they all have safe travel home afterwards and not just the teams but 222 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:12,800 also their families their friends and their fans now how powerful is that what 223 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:18,840 does that say about this team's connection with the father what's that 224 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,920 say for all of us for that matter you know it'd be just as easy to pray for a 225 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:29,080 win and and let's face it people do that on and off the field people who put you 226 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:35,200 know we're talking about athletes and their fans you know but instead this 227 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:41,160 team humbles themselves and they pray about the things that matter 228 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:48,960 idolatry versus faith I think you all would agree with me that faith is a much 229 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:56,040 prettier thing so join me now we're gonna we're gonna go back into the book 230 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,160 of Habakkuk here we're gonna start wrapping up this chapter here fairly 231 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:03,600 soon we're gonna look at verses 12 through 17 now so I have a cook chapter 232 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:13,000 1 verses 12 through 17 the Bible says Lord are you not from everlasting my God 233 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:22,680 my Holy One you will never die you Lord have appointed them to execute judgment 234 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:30,440 you my rock have ordained them to punish your eyes are too pure to look on evil 235 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:39,640 you cannot tolerate wrongdoing why then do you tolerate the treacherous why are 236 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:45,440 you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves have 237 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:52,200 you made people like the fish in the sea like the sea creatures that have no 238 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:59,920 ruler the wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks he catches them in his net 239 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:07,920 he gathers them in his dragnet and so he rejoices and is glad therefore he 240 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:16,400 sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet for by his net he lives 241 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:22,920 in luxury and enjoys the choicest food is he to keep on emptying his net 242 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:29,920 destroying nations without mercy you know I have a cook he had some good 243 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:36,360 questions didn't he and they're the same questions that we asked today they 244 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,440 really are you know and this is and this is one of those reasons why you know 245 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:45,800 Christians say the answers that people are looking for in life are in the 246 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:52,480 Bible we're seeing some great examples of this just in this opening chapter in 247 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:57,560 his prayers Habakkuk didn't hold back so remember that's where the prayer is 248 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,360 talking to God it's a conversation with Jesus you know his his despair about 249 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:07,200 using absolutely evil people you know for him that raised some red flags some 250 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:13,040 really big flags you know and he didn't let that hold him back from asking God 251 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:18,320 what the deal was like dude what's up what's going on here what we're seeing 252 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:27,360 here is really two things one God can use bad things to bring about good 253 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:36,120 there's nothing he can't use all right and two he wants us to ask questions he 254 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:42,760 wants to hear our concerns our questions our complaints he wants them all he 255 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:47,600 wants to hear he wants us to talk to him and he does not want us to hold back he 256 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:53,280 wants us to talk about everything that's what relationship is even if you're 257 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:59,840 outside even if he we already know he does know everything he does but he 258 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:04,600 doesn't want us to hold back he wants us to go forward and talk to him and we 259 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:10,120 should all be as bold as Habakkuk and not be afraid to ask those hard 260 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:15,920 questions you know just like any other questions we need to remember we may not 261 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:20,880 like the answers that we get back some of them might be so hard that we just 262 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:26,640 downright we really don't want to hear them however just like Habakkuk we may 263 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:32,520 find that certain answers that we're looking for come from suffering and 264 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:37,840 it's more often than not that we find our answers when we're suffering 265 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:44,040 because it is at that time that we're able to see God the clearest that were 266 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:49,920 that we're looking towards him like dude I need help what's going on you know 267 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:55,800 the the veils pulled back a little bit you know we're we're more willing to let 268 00:27:55,800 --> 00:28:04,000 down and let go of our worldly tethers and trust in God's hand there's a reason 269 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:09,160 why people have to hit rock bottom before they're more likely to turn to God 270 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:17,680 than those who are at the top of the mountain Judah was about to be punished 271 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:23,160 and it was going to be through the Babylonians Habakkuk was very much up 272 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:27,840 in arms about he wasn't happy he was not a happy camper you know why would God 273 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:33,720 use a nation so evil to do this to punish them in addition to this the 274 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:37,880 Babylonians didn't even realize that they were being used as a tool to bring 275 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:41,960 about God's will they were so caught up in their own idolatry they look at me 276 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,760 I'm so big and bad what are they gonna do huh I'm just gonna run through them 277 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:54,880 watch this lay them out you know they were going to be the very thing that was 278 00:28:54,880 --> 00:29:01,120 going to turn Judah back to God because as a nation they had straight and that's 279 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:06,200 why they were going to be punished there the Babylonians were going to be the 280 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:10,880 very tool that brought them back into alignment with God and Babylon's own 281 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:18,720 pride would also ultimately become its own downfall evil people evil groups 282 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:26,520 evil organizations evil states nations and so on they are never beyond God's 283 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:34,080 control he will use them as tools to accomplish what he needs to and then 284 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:40,520 he'll deal with them accordingly he may well be telling that you know be using 285 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:47,160 them to tell us something to correct us in our actions in our thought processes 286 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:57,080 to bring us back into alignment with him and his will after all none of us is 287 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:04,040 without sin so you know who are we to complain you know about how the father 288 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:08,800 deals with us when it comes to that sin how he punishes us or corrects us how he 289 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:18,080 guides us we're his children he is the parent that's something so many of us 290 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:22,680 forget these days you know especially with children being allowed to 291 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:28,440 disrespect parents and families and teachers and law enforcement and so on 292 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:37,440 the father knows what's best for all of us it's on us to lean into him and trust 293 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:42,320 what he is doing just like children need to relearn that they need to be able to 294 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:47,440 you know to trust in their parents and parents need to get plugged back in you 295 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:54,640 know that hurt that pain that suffering in our lives in my life in your life that 296 00:30:54,640 --> 00:31:01,080 suffering is a reminder that we need to stay focused on Jesus and not the storm 297 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:08,280 around us to look at him and not what's going on you know not what the world is 298 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:17,800 doing not the those distractions we need to trust in Jesus he will not fail you 299 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:25,080 he will never happen he will not fail you and we have hope in the fact that we 300 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:36,040 know he loves us and will look out for us we have hope in hardship loss pain 301 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:45,720 that he is with us and we have hope because of him all right so that's all 302 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:49,320 we're going to cover for this week again next week you know we're going to go into 303 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,920 chapter 2 and we're gonna look at more at the God's answers all right so join 304 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:58,120 us then as we see more of what you know of God's response and we start moving 305 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:03,840 towards chapter 3 when we look at Habakkuk's prayer faith remember Jesus 306 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:10,560 loves you he has your back and all things it's not always about our timing 307 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:18,400 it is about his so go and be the church I want to thank you for joining us today 308 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:23,360 if you have any questions prayer requests or would like to know more 309 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:28,680 about our ministry you can find us on our website at be the light sanctuary 310 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:35,600 org or on Facebook at be the light sanctuary we'll catch you next time God 311 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:48,880 bless