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. It's so good to have you here and if it's
your first time joining us, welcome! So the past couple of weeks we've been
looking at talking with God and really what we've been seeing is how we form
and maintain a relationship with Him because let's face it all relationships
start with conversation. I've said this time and time again. Now sometimes those
relationships take longer than others to form. Others seem to have an immediate
connection. You know it's that rare occasion that you meet someone. It's like
you've known them your whole life. You're just immediately best friends. You know
many of us we've had rough starts. You know having to deal with that
particular person that we just plain don't like. We don't see eye to eye with.
We don't get along with and then over time that relationship develops into
something wonderful. You know it starts with you start finding respect for
one another. Some common ground and then it builds and builds and then eventually
you have something just absolutely beautiful. Possibly in some cases you
might that might even be how you became best friends. You started off at one end
and worked your way to the other. It happens. You know others others come
quickly. You know a great example you put a bunch of veterans in the room together
introduce them and once they find out hey this person served as well guess what
not even ten seconds an instant family. They're not strangers anymore. They are
actually family. It's amazing to see if you haven't seen it get up with me.
Believe me I can I can pick it out for you and I can show you real quick.
All right it's an amazing thing. You'll see smiles. You'll hear conversations.
You'll hear things said and the way that they're said and you're just thinking
man this is how are they talking to each other. And it's and it's odd because
you're listening you know and it's not just veterans. You hear it with first
responders, medical personnel, construction workers. Every vocation that's out there
there's some something in a way that they talk to each other but especially
with veterans and first responders you listen to them and the way that they they
joke around and they rib on each other and you're like oh my goodness. How are
they doing? What is going on? But when you're hearing it you have no doubt in
your mind they're talking to each other out of love. Absolutely a hundred percent
it sounds like a couple of siblings. Now in chapters one and two we've seen
Habakkuk take those things to God that were weighing heavily on his chest. So
much so that it was causing him to doubt his faith even. It's a stumbling block we
all have to deal with from time to time and he also demonstrates a great example
of actually talking to God which is simply put is prayer. Now again prayer is
how we talk to God. That's how we further our relationship with him and it's
important to note he doesn't use any special meter. He doesn't use any special
rhyme or any of that other stuff that people throw out there to convolute the
conversation. You know to make it sound you know like holier than thou or
whatever else. You know he simply spoke to God. He took the burdens that were
weighing him down placed him at the feet of the Father and then sat there
patiently waiting. I shouldn't say he sat there. He started waiting and patiently
listening for God to answer him and I say this because he demonstrated how we
should wait for those answers as well because the answers that we're seeking
may not be readily available for us or as we've seen in other books of the
Bible they may be delayed by other things. So we have to be patient. We
have to. So when the questions have been asked at this point the answers have
been received at this point. Now Habakkuk is at peace with his faith. His faith in
God has been restored and there is a special peace that comes over a person
when they get to that point. It's unexplainable and you know we saw in the
first two books that basically there are I'm sorry not the first two books the
first two chapters the first two parts of the book it was basically a Q&A
questions and answers. Now what we're going to see is how we respond to God's
answers or as Paul Harvey would say the rest of the story. Now go ahead if you
have your Bible with you or if you're taking notes join me here we're going to
look at Habakkuk 3 and chapter 3 the entire thing is a prayer from Habakkuk
where he's basically he's praising God. He's going through a list of things here
as we're going to see but the entire thing is his prayer to praise God and
his glory and we're gonna go through it piece by piece here. Okay now with that
said I want you to take note as well of how he's praying and we're gonna go in
more on that at a later time as well as far as how to pray. It's you know that's
one of those things that sometimes I feel like the church we just kind of
fall back on and we leave it like oh you need to say things this way or certain
words or any you know and they throw out jargon and we're gonna cut through all
that kind of stuff we're gonna break it down nice and easy but that's for a
later time. Alright so like I said Habakkuk chapter 3 we're gonna see his
prayer to praise God for answering his questions and restoring his faith. So
Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 1 through 2 the Bible says a prayer of Habakkuk the
prophet on Shigionoth I know I probably just butchered that one that that's one
I struggle with myself if you could pronounce it better than me good on you
because that's a tough one at least for me it is okay. Lord I have heard of your
fame I stand in awe of your deeds Lord repeat them in our day in our time make
them known in wrath remember mercy. So at this point Habakkuk knows that the
people of Judah are going to be punished and it's not going to be a good
experience. In fact punishment and correction rarely are you know I don't
I don't know of any kids I don't know of anyone for that matter that's ever
enjoyed really you know being spanked you know when you're in trouble you know
I recall being paddled in school somewhere around probably the fourth
grade and I know I'm gonna date myself here because this is in the the wanting
days when we still had corporal punishment in the schools okay and you
know I got sent to the principal's office and it was time to take my swats
and the principal using the paddle to give me my swats didn't quite come down
properly and broke my tailbone not a pleasant experience you know to add to
add the insult to injury of course after that you know the the family was called
the old man had to come pick me up and of course I got my licks there too so on
top of already having a broken tailbone there was more coming you know but you
know I digress think about it though all the different things that are out there
and I'm only gonna list a few here you know going to get a switch from the tree
for you for the grandmother you know or you know how about how about having a
grandfather that's the opposite you know he never raised a hand but instead had
that gentle way of talking to you just telling you simply how disappointed he
was and that in itself would make you feel like just the absolute worst person
on the planet you'd be crying like you just took the beating of your life you
know or how about you know the the father out there that had that that
leather strap and had no qualms of hitting and beating you and yelling at
you you know or how about this my I'm gonna take a take a page here out of
my mom's work workbook here you know wooden spoons and kitchen utensils or
maybe you're at a longer range where she couldn't reach you with that so she
threw her clogs at you you know those of you that live here in a southwestern
region of the US well heck I should just say the southern region really you know
the the beloved chancla you know some some of our mothers are our certified
bonafide snipers when it comes to those now you know like I said it's just a few
examples you know none of these are or were pleasant situations and I'm sure
each and every single one of us has stories of how we were corrected and
punished growing up you know punishments not fun it's not supposed to be it's a
learning moment you know and as a parent we don't look forward to having to
punish our children and God is no different he doesn't want us to be
punished he puts out correction he puts out guidance yet as people as human
beings as part of the human human nature you know we we tend to to push things to
a point you know we we cross that line as far as we can and we test those
waters and the reality is it's that God just you know lashing out and punishing
us we bring the punishment on ourselves through our disobedience to him and our
just done right refusal to listen to what he's been telling us all along you
know it eventually it builds to this point where God's warners hey you need
to stop don't do that knock it off but we didn't listen and what ends up
happening is we have to learn things the hard way now have a cook he knew what
was headed their way much like when you're set to go fetch the belt and
bring it back for your own whooping you know it's important to see here though
he's not resistant he's not resisting at all you know he he knows that Judah has
messed up as a nation and that he is you know was the part of that nation he is a
citizen of Judah and as a nation they were going to have to pay the price for
their transgressions now knowing this have a cook he didn't ask to be spared
he doesn't try to save himself or get himself out of what's coming he doesn't
even ask to not get hurt instead he accepts God's will and asks for help he
asks for mercy because he knows that as a people that Judah needs to learn the
lesson that God has for them so they could get realigned and get back to
where they need to be with God you know it's one of those heart those those
things that we forget about it's you know we're getting punished for
something or we're being corrected on something okay and the way culture set
up today was we will take on as a victims mentality and what we need to be
doing is asking God what are you trying to teach me what do I need to learn here
what am I missing okay that that is the missing factor here so flip with me
here to Hebrews chapter 12 Hebrews chapter 12 and we're going to look
specifically at verses 5 through 11 and the Bible says have you completely
forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses
his son it says my son do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose
heart when he rebukes you because the Lord disciplines the ones he loves and
he chases everyone he accepts as his son should probably underline that
highlight that do something to mark that that's a good one all right endure
hardship as discipline God is treating you as his children for what children
are not disciplined by their father if you are not disciplined and everyone
undergoes discipline then are you not legitimate not true sons and daughters at
all moreover we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them for it how much more should we submit to the father of
spirits and live they disciplined us for a little while as they thought best but
God disciplines us for our own good in order that we may share in his holiness
no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful later on however it produces
a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it God
disciplines his children in love to bring them back to him he takes away the
distractions and he gets his children to focus on him to look at him so get you
know it's like you had that toddler getting out of line you know at the at
the store just anywhere really you know and so you give him that little swat on
the butt like hey knock it off look here you know and what happened they turn to
you right God does it's the same thing it's like hey you know redirect your
focus you know so who let me ask this who loves their children more the
parents that let their kids to skate by on anything and everything that they do
or the parent who corrects teaches and disciplines their kids to be better and
to do the right thing you know it comes back to the whole do the right reason I'm
sorry do the right thing for the right reason even if it's not popular even
when no one's looking right God's correction and discipline is one of the
many ways in which he shows his love for us and it is because he wants us to do
what's right so when we're facing his discipline much like had a cook we need
to refocus and again like I said earlier we need to ask him hey what do I need to
learn and we need to be grateful you know really we need we need to read learn
how to be grateful but we need to be grateful for the fact that God loves us
enough to correct us and to mold us into better people not wallow in self-pity
and you know we're buying into that garbage victims mentality you know again
we need to ask God to help us face the things that we need in order to make the
necessary changes we need in life before it's too late so going back to Habakkuk
chapter 3 and we're gonna look at verses 3 through 7
so the Bible says God came from Taman the Holy One from Mount Paran his glory
covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth his splendor was like
the sunrise rays flashed from his hand where his power was hidden plague went
before him pestilence followed his footsteps followed his steps he stood and
shook the earth he looked and made the nations tremble the ancient mountains
crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed but he marches on forever I saw the tents
of cushion in distress the dwellings of Midian and anguish in simple terms here
Habakkuk is saying that God's coming and his judgments coming with him you know
now there's those comments those memes out there that say you know heck I could
think of a few movies here you know a Western in particular says tell them I'm
coming and hell's coming with me well you know what I say go ahead because my
God is mightier and his judgment is more to be scared of I'd rather be corrected
in life than to spend eternity in hell for not listening to what he warned me
about and what he told me to stop doing
continuing on to Habakkuk chapter 3 we're looking at verses 8 through 15 now
the Bible says were you angry with the rivers Lord was your wrath against the
streams did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and chariots
to victory you uncovered your bow you called for many arrows you split the
earth with rivers the mountains saw you and writhe torrents of water swept by
the deep ward and lifted its waves on high sun and moon stood still in the
heavens at the glint of your flying arrows and the lightning of your
flashing spear in wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you
threshed the nations you came out to deliver your people to save your anointed
one you crushed the leader of the land of wickedness you stripped him from head
to foot with his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out
to scatter us gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in
hiding you trampled the sea with your horses
churning the great waters a storm was coming and the storm was about to come
upon them and it was going to be intense there were going to be some drastic
changes made that would save God's children and it was going to change the
landscape around them things were not going to be the same moving forward not
in any way shape or form not even the slightest iota you know God had already
given plenty of correction he'd given guidance he'd sent warning you know for
those who turn a deaf ear and you know weren't faith you know they weren't
faithful it you know it was it was gonna get real ugly real fast they brought
punishment on themselves basically it came down to is they listened to the
devil the devil was trying to sell him something and they listened and they
were going to find out that what they bought into wasn't what they thought it
was leadership is gonna be shaken their culture was it's gonna be weeded out
you know basically think of farming or gardening I know a lot of you garden you
know is very much what was gonna happen here is you know it's gonna be like
pulling weeds from the crops and gardening you know God was going all
out here he's pulling those weeds he's clearing out the debris reshaping the
soil for crops you know an irrigation applying fertilizer where needed dealing
with the bugs and the animals and all those those various things that would
destroy the garden you know things were gonna get dirty things were gonna get
messy but it was gonna be for the good of the garden so good fruit could flourish
again you know so with God doing this he did he was doing this so that his
children could prosper so let's keep moving forward here and we're gonna look
at verses 16 through 18 now so I have to cook three verses 16 through 18 the
Bible says I heard and my heart pounded my lips quivered at the sound decay
crept into my bones and my legs trembled yet I will wait patiently for the day of
calamity to come on the nation invading us though the fig tree does not bud and
there are no grapes on the vines though the olive crop fails and the fields
produce no food though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the
stalls yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will be joyful in God my Savior so you
know scary stuff was coming some scary stuff is coming but Habakkuk knew it's
gonna be temporary and he knew that that nation that was being sent to deliver
the punishment he knew that their their day was coming as well so you know even
though things were going to be tough Habakkuk was going to take the lesson
that he learned of living in faithfulness and he was going to apply it
to his everyday life remember back in a chapter 2 verse 4 it says the righteous
person will live by his faithfulness meaning we will trust in God and be
obedient to him that's what that means is that we need to be you know
obedient to God we need to trust in him and really that's the secret to finding
happiness that real spiritual joy in our lives just because we're being patient
and we're waiting on the Lord it doesn't mean we're sitting around doing nothing
we're not hanging out on our laurels or any of that kind of stuff matter of fact
you know if you turn with me to Isaiah chapter 40 and verses 30 through 31 the
Bible says even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but
those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength see the Lord he expects
us to keep working you know things get tough he doesn't expect us you know hey
ask and then just sit there doing nothing to wait even while we're waiting
on him he wants us to keep moving forward and doing the work that he set
in front of us so knowing this and you know we also need to remember that no
matter what we're doing there are those times that we're just plain gonna get
worn out and when we're waiting on the Lord to to provide for us what while we
go and we do that work that he's placed for us we're multitasking and we don't
even realize it we don't think of it that way so we can wear down really fast
and it's at these times especially that we need to take a moment and remember to
pray and we need to pray for strength and then forgot you know basically that
God's gonna renew it we need to you know I said ask God for that renewal of
strength and knowing that we could call on the Lord at those times on the father
that you know what he has our back he has our best interest at heart and in
mind and that could help us to relax a little bit better because he's going to
provide for us you know going back to my farming reference from earlier with all
that was coming the animals and the crops were literally going to be
destroyed a whole lot of things absolute chaos and destruction was coming and
this was something that was gonna make things just you know even more
devastating to Judah however Habakkuk promised that even though there's going
to be starvation and loss that he was still going to rejoice in the Lord he
didn't give into his feelings about all the stuff that was going on around him
instead he was looking to find his strength in God this is something that
we could all learn from and we could find hope in you know because you know
even Jesus said you know bad things are gonna happen there's there's no if-ands
or buts about it it's it's not if it's when things are gonna happen bad guys
are going to get away with absolute heinous things just you know just
absolute terrible horrible heinous things for a time life is going to be
difficult that's the way of the world that is the storm of our lives however
we need to stay focused on Jesus and when we stay focused on Jesus and we
ask him for him you know to give us that strength and to help us out to be that
rock for us you know that foundation he's going to give it to us he's going
to provide for us and he's you know and this is the beauty of it it's not like
we just go to him he's like here you go bye-bye good luck he's with us through
it all he's with us every step of the way side by side going through it with
us so while nobody else might may know the storm that you're going through you
can rest assured that Jesus does because he's there with you whether you realize
it or not he's dealing with the same stuff for you so let's look at the final
verse in the book Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 19 the Bible says the sovereign
Lord is my strength he makes my feet like the feet of a deer he enables me to
tread on the heights for the director of music on my stringed instruments so that
little that last little part there was you know if it was basically you know
the early church you know taking his prayer and everything that they're gonna
play it to music or anything this this is really what it's going into in that
little section all right so if it doesn't make sense I hope it does now
going back to this though see God's going to see to his children Christians
those of us you know followers believers in Jesus because because of him and
because of his promises we can all find strength and we can all find confidence
he has had more more before we were born he has more coming after he has more
than enough strength and confidence for all of us and even though it seems like
there's no end to the evil having its way with the world it's not going to go
on forever you know all these evil people and groups and companies
organizations you know political groups politicians you know governments
nations so on and so forth eventually there you know they're they're gonna
get their due they're bringing their punishment on themselves and the Bible
has already assured us that the battle is won we just need to remain faithful
and trust in God see how the cook he did something hard really hard I I can't
emphasize that enough he was in duress and in his time of duress he called out
to God and he asked the questions we've all asked you know hey what's going on
here how long are evil people gonna prosper and keep getting away with doing
whatever they want while good people suffer God provided the answers say hey
they're going to pay and he showed that he can also take all that bad and you
know these evil people and use it to help more people find him so he can take
that bad and use it for good you know so he's taking those evil doers and using
them to help more people to find God to help them find Jesus to save them in
their hours of greatest need because keep in mind we don't see Jesus the
clearest except for when we're at our lowest and we can count on him to always
do the right thing for the right reason and at the right time and I'll remind
you that the right time it's not our time it is always his time his time now
isn't it great to know that our God has an open door policy that we can talk to
him at any time about anything and everything not only that we can but he
actually encourages us to do so he wants us to do so you know there's not a bad
time and you know sometimes we're we're we're faced with some ugly things that
we really we don't want to deal with you know we all could say say you don't even
want to acknowledge you just like I'm it no no nothing the world's happening here
you know and when those times come you know it's so easy to lose your about
your sight and you know fall back into the whole you know wonderment you know
where's God what's he doing in all this what's going on you know and that's what
that's when we need to stop what we're doing and we need to pray we need to
refocus on God we need to pray and wait for his answer and then based upon the
answer that we're given we need to push forward so that he can bless us you know
sometimes the thing that's the very thing that's just right there in our way
that stumbling block you know or that hardship that whatever that calamity is
it's the very test that we need to overcome so that we could get to the
blessing that the Lord has waiting for us you know it's that little piece it's
like hey you know what I you know I know this sucks but you know this is a test
for you and you need to get through it so you get into a line with me you know
and sometimes we wonder you know bad things happen and we're sitting there
we're praying we're like dude what's happening and we don't get that answer
right away you know again it's in his time but think of it this way think about
when you were in school and it was time to take a test what was one of the
number one rules don't talk don't ask questions don't talk you do you do your
test if you need a pencil or something you stick your hand up the teacher will
take care of that part but there was no talking so sometimes when we don't hear
the Lord we need to remember the teacher doesn't always talk during the test
matter of fact more often than not they stay quiet so get you know just work on
that test and figure out what what do I need to learn what do I need to adjust
on what am I struggling on because you know testing that's what it's there for
to find out how proficient you are with something right now if you're not
already talking with the Lord you know well let me say if you are keep doing so
but if you haven't you need to start now before it's too late before you get to
that point where you're standing before Jesus and he says depart I never knew
you he's knocking at the door of your life and he he wants to have a
conversation he wants to start that conversation he wants to start that
relationship he wants to form that relationship if you already have one he
wants to keep working on it and improving it and making it deeper and
you know he's he wants to have that relationship with you and he wants to
walk with you through your heaviest storms you know the the times when
you're you're hurting and you're asking for them you know those times when in
the past where you're you're asking for him and wondering where he was well you
know what he was there just as he's there now for you but you got to refocus
we need to ask him for strength and we need to ask him for guidance in our
lives right now you know it's it's often said by a lot of people you know and I
know I've used the phrase as well that you need to make Jesus the Lord of your
life it and really kind of you know and thinking about that it says it's the
wrong term it's it's saying the right thing but the wrong way because when you
say you know hey you need to make Jesus the Lord of your life it's it's like
it's like you're saying you know that you're the Lord but you're handing over
the reins like you're just telling him hey you know what here's the key to the
house here's the key to the car take over it's yours now you know and that's
just it's not the case you know Jesus is already the Lord of Lords and the King
of Kings he's already the Lord and King of our lives but he's not like just that
that boss that says do as I say he is a servant leader he you know he set the
the ultimate example by doing it when he sent Jesus you know hey this is how you
do it so you know it wasn't just do as I say it's do as I do when he showed us
how and so what we all need to do is we need to be humble we need to humble
ourselves before him and we need to repent of our sin and be obedient to him
and by repenting of our sin it's not just acknowledging it it's taking those steps
to stop doing it to remove it from our lives and some things are harder than
others something you know some things it's not going to be just immediate so
we need to ask him on that strength and that guidance to get us through it so we
can get away from it you know it's it's it becomes so much easier though it
really is it's it's easy when we know how much Jesus loves us and the great
lengths that he's going to go to to protect us to know that when we bend our
knee to his will and we follow his plan as opposed to ours we're going to be
saved and we're going to be in fellowship with them not only here but
in heaven you know in heaven he's preparing a place for us so like
Habakkuk I want to encourage you talk to the Lord ask the hard questions be bold
don't hold back don't be afraid let it out and then be prepared for the answers
regardless of what they may be because let's face it sometimes we don't like
the answers we get it's not there for us to like the truth is the truth we have
to accept it and we need to respond in faithfulness by declaring his glory to
all because it is all his victory you are a blessing so go and be a blessing
go be the church y'all 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