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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Amen. Why don't we stand this morning as we go to the Lord in prayer? And I'm sure that as we go through Christmas season, most of us probably had wonderful opportunity to spend time with friends or family members. And hopefully you had a great opportunity. But I also know this is a very challenging time for many people's lives, and maybe they're here today and you have many needs in your life. You know, I look at our world today, how many think that we live in a world full of challenge.
[00:00:29] And, I mean, we should be praying, I think, for our nation right now more than ever.
[00:00:35] I was just talking to our prayer people on the morning service. You know, my grandparents, if they would be living in this time, they would be shocked.
[00:00:44] You know, the movement away from the things of God is so pronounced, it's amazing. So let's just cry out to God, maybe you have needs today. Let's lift them before God. And maybe you came this morning. I'm sharing kind of an interesting message on when life doesn't make sense.
[00:01:03] And for some of you, maybe that's exactly where you're at. And we're going to talk about that this morning. So let's open our hearts to God. Father, we thank you this morning.
[00:01:12] There are always different seasons in life, and some of us are probably going through an amazingly good, positive, gracious season in life, and we're grateful for that. And then there's others that are walking through maybe one of the most challenging, difficult times in their entire church experience or Christian experience. And, Lord, I just pray maybe not even in their Christian experience. This is just the experience of their life right now, and it seems overwhelming. And I pray today that you would speak into our hearts and lives, that you would allow faith to arise within us, that we would actually come to a deeper level of trust in you that we've ever had before because of what we're walking through. And we thank you for that. And we think of our nation, we think of families in our church family. We think of those that are dealing with tremendous challenges in their life. There's medical issues, there's relational issues, there's financial issues, there's health issues.
[00:02:06] Lord, I just pray right now that you would hear our cry, that you would hear and respond and have mercy upon us, Lord. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name. And God's people said amen. Amen. You may be seated.
[00:02:21] I'm going to have you turn to a little book of the Bible in the Old Testament called Habakkuk. And I'm going to talk about how to find a deepening faith, an enriching faith, when life doesn't make sense. You know, many saints have come to a place called the dark night of the soul. And it's probably one of the times, great testing time, a struggle time, a time maybe of despair. Maybe you're not so much in doubt. But some people walk through doubt.
[00:02:52] Others may call it a Gethsemane experience. Jesus, you'll remember approaching the cross, he knew he had to. This great challenge was before him.
[00:03:04] And he went to a garden called Gethsemane, and there he prayed to his father, and he asked his disciples to stand with him, but they all fell asleep. You know, sometimes in the most challenging moments in life, there's no one there, and there's a sense of abandonment. And, you know, I think godly people have walked through seasons like this. This dark night of the soul is maybe where we feel like we're alone, where we wrestle with how our lives are going.
[00:03:32] Martin Luther, the great reformer, man of great faith, struggled with bouts of depression in his life. And he battled with those issues, and he called them just some of the worst challenges in his life. And he said one of the worst years of his Life was in 1527, probably the most challenging year. And it's hard to imagine that he had any energy or spirit to probably compose one of the greatest hymns that the church recalls. And we'll get to that. The hymn that he wrote in the Hour of Deepest Despair. Isn't that fascinating? Sometimes the greatest creative pieces of work in our lives come in the most difficult times.
[00:04:14] On April 22, he was facing a dizzy spell that forced him to stop preaching in the middle of a sermon. Ten years after he had published the 95 thesis, which he had spoken against the abuses of indulgences in the church, he had been buffeted by political and theological storms. His life had been in danger. He was battling with other reformers over the minion of the Lord's Supper. He felt like these errors were just as great as the errors that he had challenged earlier. He was disturbed and frustrated, battling severe depression. Then on July 6, his friends arrived for dinner, and he felt an intense buzzing in his left ear.
[00:04:53] And he went to lie down, and he suddenly said, you know, I feel like I'm dying.
[00:04:58] Became cold. He was convinced he had seen his last night. In a loud prayer, he had surrendered himself to God's will.
[00:05:04] With the doctor's help, he partially regained his strength, but his depression and illness again overcame him. In the month of August, later in September, and then finally in December. Looking back on one of these bouts, he wrote his friend Melathon. He said, I have spent more than a week in death and hell. My entire body in pain, I still tremble. Completely felt abandoned by Christ. I labored under desperation.
[00:05:31] But through the prayers of God's people, he said, he began to show mercy on me and pulled me from that inferno below. Meanwhile, in August, the plague had erupted in the city that he lived in in Germany, Wittenberg.
[00:05:45] Fear began to spread. Many townspeople fled the city. This was, you know, bubonic plague kind of stuff. He considered it. His duty remained to care for the sick. Even though his wife was pregnant. His house was transformed into a hospital.
[00:05:59] He watched many of his close friends die and his son became ill. And not until late November did the epidemic abate and the ill began to recover. And during that horrific year, Luther took time to remember the 10th anniversary of his publication against the Indulgences.
[00:06:17] Noting the deeper meaning of his trials, he said, the only comfort against raging Satan is that we have God's word to save the soul of believers. I'm going to tell you something. That's why I encourage you as a pastor to read your Bible and, you know, just develop a discipline. It just. It's so critical that you don't even realize what you're putting inside of yourself. Because there come moments in life where those scripture verses will come back to encourage and strengthen you. And he said. Sometime that year, Luther expanded the thought into a hymn he. He's most famous for. And that was A Mighty Fortress is Our God. This hymn was translated by Frederick Hedge in 1853, one of the more than 60 English versions of this hymn that was written originally, of course, in German. And he says this. And though this world with devils fill should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, For God has willed his truth to triumph through us.
[00:07:17] The prince of darkness Grim, we tremble not for him his rage we can endure. For lo, his doom is sure One little word shall fell him.
[00:07:27] You know, when life isn't working, when things don't make sense, when what is happening seems to conflict with what you believe about God, how do you move forward? What do you do then?
[00:07:40] Well, one man decided to confront God. And God gave him some rather interesting answers.
[00:07:45] And the man was struggling with the problem of what he considered a great injustice.
[00:07:50] And so, seven centuries before the birth of Christ, Habakkuk, a prophet, was struggling with what was happening in his world.
[00:07:58] It just seemed crazy to him. You know, he saw evil was prevailing. Sin was rampant, violence was unchecked. The righteous were suffering at the hands of the wicked. And as we look into the times that Habakkuk was speaking into, we find some incredible parallels into our own hour. And I think that's why this is so important that we hear the words from the book of Habakkuk.
[00:08:22] It was a time when doing what was right didn't really seem to matter.
[00:08:27] And in these tiny three chapters of this book, we find an incredible dialogue between Habakkuk and God regarding what he would consider to be a tremendous injustice. He was perplexed by what God was allowing to happen in his nation.
[00:08:45] It didn't make sense to him. And so he gives us two complaints. And finally, in the last chapter, we have probably the most profound expression of gratitude and faith on the lips of a prophet in the midst of something in his own mind didn't make any sense. And yet we see him express these amazing words of faith and proclamation. We're going to look at that.
[00:09:10] So I want to look at these three communications with God that shows us a progression of faith that's developing in the heart of this prophet. And I want to just say this. In our journey with God, he's going to develop you. You're going to be on a journey and he's going to keep progressing things in your life. And there's going to be moments in your journey with God that things are going to happen and you're going to go, I don't get what you're doing. I don't understand this. And that's the moment when you and I need to have our foundation built on God's word that we're able to stand, even though in our minds we're going, I don't get this, but I'm going to trust you anyways. And God will see you through those moments in your journey of faith. So I'm going to take a look at these communications with God. First of all, there's a complaint regarding the condition of the times. And maybe some of you are questioning the time in which we're living in right now. We're questioning, why is God not intervening?
[00:10:07] Why are things changing for the better? It seems that we're drifting towards more and more evil. Why is this happening?
[00:10:14] So he's complaining now to God about the seeming unjust conditions.
[00:10:19] And it's stated as a complaint to God. And God seems to be allowing these things to happen in the land of Judah. And he begins by bringing the situation to God's attention and you'll notice the terms. We're going to look at them. But he's going to use terms like violence and injustice, toleration of wrong, destruction, strife and conflict. And what compounded the problem in his mind was simply that God did not seem to be listening to his prayer. You know, how many know that's kind of tough when you're praying and nothing seems to be happening. And that was Habakkuk's situation. So here's how he begins his prayer in chapter one, in verse two and three, we're going to look at all three chapters. I'm just going to highlight certain verses. How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
[00:11:04] You get any echoes of the psalmist? How long, O Lord? You know that statement is there. And I don't know if you've ever had those experiences in life when you've questioned, you're saying, God, is this ever going to change? How long is this going to go on? Is this ever going to come about? And some of you are going through a trial. And when you're in a trial, the question is, how long? How long is this going to continue?
[00:11:27] How long do I cry out to you violence, but you don't save?
[00:11:32] Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Their strife and conflict abound. So he's complaining to God. He said, I don't like what I'm seeing. Why are you allowing these terrible things to happen? Anybody ever ask yourself those questions? Why are you letting this occur, God? That was Habakkuk's complaint.
[00:11:57] So what was the result?
[00:11:59] Well, it seemed like in his mind, God's law had no power. There seemed to be no clout in the situation. In verse four, it says, therefore the law is paralyzed and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous so that justice is perverted. How many go, this is not a good time.
[00:12:17] Can you see that Habakkuk is questioning, why are these things going on, God? You know what's happening here?
[00:12:24] And we find that when the wicked prevail, the law is cast aside, or the law is perverted, or the laws are rewritten to further that which is evil.
[00:12:35] Restraints are destroyed. Justice is perverted. You know, Job actually says the same thing in his book, in Job. And this is actually Job saying this. So it's not one of the his critics. When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges.
[00:12:52] If it is not he, then who is it? Who's doing this who's allowing this to happen? That's what Job is saying. So what does all this mean? When society embraces evil, even the laws begin to support the evil.
[00:13:06] And we're living in that hour, by the way. We're witnessing that very thing in this day.
[00:13:11] Laws are being rewritten to support the evils of our day.
[00:13:15] Do we realize that?
[00:13:17] You see? And that's a troubling trend.
[00:13:20] Now, I want you to notice God's response to Habakkuk's prayer.
[00:13:25] This is what he's about to do. He's about to do something, but it's going to be something that we're going to be a bit surprised by. And I think we need to understand that in our minds. We think, well, God's just going to come in with his white horse and rescue everything.
[00:13:37] That's not what he's going to do. It's going to be actually the opposite of what we think he should do.
[00:13:43] He's about to deal with the injustices in the land, but in a way that really startled Habakkuk. As we're about to see. It was incomprehensible to this man. God's answer to the sin issues of his day, to the problems that Habakkuk, actually God's solution seems to be even worse than what Habakkuk had imagined. Look what he says in verse five. Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. God's speaking back now to Habakkuk. For I'm about to do something in your days that you would not believe even if we're told.
[00:14:18] I'm about to do something, Habakkuk, and it's going to shock you. Are you ready? Brace yourself. Here's the answer. I'm going to raise up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. They are feared and dreaded people. They're a lot of themselves, and they promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of dust. 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.
[00:14:58] They mock and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities by building earthen ramps. They capture them and then they sweep past like the wind and go on. Guilty people whose own strength is their God. Oh, what was God about to do?
[00:15:18] He was about to come. You know the problems you're seeing in the country, I'm going to judge it. I'm going to send people more vile than you guys that are going to come and conquer you.
[00:15:30] How many go? That's a shocking response.
[00:15:33] Now let me ask a question. Did Judah deserve to be disciplined by God?
[00:15:39] The answer is, of course they were. They'd been warned for hundreds of years. They'd been in violation of God's covenant. They'd been turning their backs on God. God been warning them, warning them, warning them. They weren't listening. God says, now it's time. The consequences of your violation of the covenant. I'm going to send an even viler nation against you.
[00:15:59] And they don't have any.
[00:16:02] I'm going to use them as an instrument to discipline you. And then I will punish them.
[00:16:07] You know, we rarely ask the question, why does God allow war?
[00:16:14] Why does God allow such devastation on the human race?
[00:16:19] Why would God allow people like Hitler to rise up, or Stalin or Munsetung? Why does God allow those things?
[00:16:27] And they destroy millions of people's lives.
[00:16:31] But, you know, when you look at the thing that's happened, like some of these countries that were before they, you know, many of them were, you know, not necessarily any worse than what these. These dictators were raising up and destroying people.
[00:16:48] But you know what? God is not going to just leave sin unaddressed in our world. He's going to judge it. And sometimes he allows some very vile things to happen to purge the sin in the nation.
[00:17:02] How many know it brings humility. It changes the whole course of human history.
[00:17:07] You know, it's a shock to us. You know, we've actually lived in Canada now my whole lifetime.
[00:17:14] We've had basically peace.
[00:17:17] We've had unmitigated prosperity.
[00:17:20] And you know, what we've done as Canadians? We've turned our back on God and we've gone our own way and done our own thing, and we've sinned grievously against God.
[00:17:28] And we have this attitude like, you know, God owes us something. No, I think we've been reaping.
[00:17:35] We're going to reap what we've been sowing for a long time. God's giving us opportunity to humble ourselves and repent and cry out to him and, and ask for his kindness and favor. We really do need a move of God in our nation. I'm telling you, it's a real desperate situation we're getting into.
[00:17:53] Sin will always be judged. Death will be the result. And that leads to the second complaint, which is the inability to Grasp God's response. Habakkuk just couldn't get over this. He was shocked. This was a stunning response to his question.
[00:18:08] You know, God can answer our prayers in ways that are far different than our expectations. How many have discovered that it's not the way that we would have answered?
[00:18:18] I mean, Habakkuk's confused. He's really disappointed by God's response. He's teaching us that we cannot manipulate God to do our will.
[00:18:28] He's always going to accomplish his purpose.
[00:18:31] And though at times it may be confused by what he's doing, Habakkuk's case, the question in his mind was this tremendous sense of injustice. How can you use people more wicked to punish the more righteous person? That's really what he was saying.
[00:18:45] How can you do that? How can you tolerate that? The Bible says that God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so much higher are God's ways than our ways. Habakkuk struggling with God's solution to the problem that he had raised.
[00:19:03] So he says, your eyes are too pure to look on evil. You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
[00:19:16] Great question. He's going, I don't get this. God, why are you doing this? You know, it's fascinating to me. You know, I actually love history. I do a lot of reading in history. And, you know, Barbara Tuchman is a American historian. She wrote a book called the March to Folly, and she kind of outlines different epochs in human history where people have made terrible decisions and led to dire consequences. You know, like even world wars as a result of poor decision making. But, you know, I want to go back to the American Civil War, which is really fascinating. The United States was divided politically, economically, philosophically, even theologically.
[00:19:56] There was a great divide in the nation. Three of the nation's leading Protestant denominations, the Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists, were all divided over slavery. Isn't that interesting? On the whole, though, the clergy of the north and south found scriptural grounds to support their perspectives.
[00:20:12] In other words, the Southern Baptists were arguing that slavery was okay. Bible warranted it, kind of supported it. Northern Baptists said, that's wrong. God. God's opposed to slavery. And they were going at it. The whole nation was divided. Both north and south believed God was on their side. Isn't that interesting? Yet the war progressed. Then an unusual insight came from someone that was Kind of an interesting person. Unexpected place. Abraham Lincoln, the President, he was writing in his own journal, and these were the thoughts that were ruminating in his mind. He said, the will of God prevails in great contests. Each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be and one must be wrong. In other words, they're probably both wrong, but at least one's wrong. He said, God cannot be for and against something at the same time.
[00:21:04] In the present civil war, it's quite possible that God's purpose is something different than from the purpose of either party. In other words, God's doing something that neither one would.
[00:21:14] He's not on either side. He's doing his own thing. And yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect his purpose. I'm almost ready to say this is probably true, that God wills the contest and wills that it shall not end yet. Because, you know, they could have brought that war to an end a lot faster, but it just kept perpetuating four and a half years of conflict. The greatest loss of human life in American history. Amazing. He said he could have saved or destroyed the Union without even a human contest. Yet the contest began, and having begun, he could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds. Like a figure from Israel's ancient history. Lincoln was arguing with God, but it was no longer a domestic deity.
[00:21:59] You know, I like that statement, an American God, but he's the ruler of the nations.
[00:22:06] The truth had begun to dawn to Lincoln that this God was not at the nation's beck and call, but the nation was at God's beck and call.
[00:22:14] God's in charge, not us.
[00:22:17] In a second inaugural address, Lincoln shares his conviction that the reason for the war was God's judgment on the nation for 250 years of slavery.
[00:22:25] And he says, if we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which in the providence of God must needs come come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives to both north and south this terrible war as the woe due to them by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in the living God always ascribe to him. Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. And yet, if God wills that it continues until all the wealth passes piled up by the bondman's 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, And until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as it was said 3,000 years ago, so shall it must be said. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. What was Lincoln saying?
[00:23:25] Well, he was just saying that the war was a judgment of God upon the United States for her institution of slavery and her abuse of these slaves is now being paid in full on the loss of incredible life and economics in the land.
[00:23:39] That's pretty strong language, isn't it?
[00:23:42] And so we need to understand something that God is not mocked.
[00:23:46] You know, you can't mock God. Whatever a person sows, they're going to reap. And that's true of a nation. Whatever a nation sows, they're going to reap. And that's going to happen on our land.
[00:23:56] So now we have Habakkuk waiting upon God for the answer. It's interesting how he addresses his personal struggle. He decides to wait for God for the answer. I love this.
[00:24:06] One of the most difficult things for us to do in a time of crisis is to wait. How many say that's true? That is so hard, isn't it?
[00:24:16] You know?
[00:24:18] In New and Now, author Lucy Shaw writes, I'm an impatient, restless person. Slowing down and waiting seems like a waste of time. Yet waiting seems to be the inevitable part of the human condition.
[00:24:29] Henry Nouwen said, waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting.
[00:24:37] Eugene Peterson shares in his paraphrase of Romans 8, 22, 25. It resonates with what Nouwen has written. It says, waiting does not diminish us any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother.
[00:24:50] We are enlarged in the waiting.
[00:24:53] During a time of waiting, God is vibrantly at work within us.
[00:24:59] You know, we spend a lot of time as a church. You know, three times a year, we have three days of prayer and fasting. Why do we do this?
[00:25:07] It's a time of waiting on God.
[00:25:11] It's a discipline.
[00:25:13] It's not something, you know, I eagerly sign up. Oh, I can hardly wait to start fasting.
[00:25:19] It's not my favorite activity, but it's something I know I need to do. It's good for me. It's good for me to stop and put my life on hold and just wait on God and be patient and allow God to speak into my soul. And allow God to speak into your soul and God to prepare your heart. You and I have no idea what 2026 is going to unfold before us. We have no idea possibly of a great crisis that might come before us. We have no concept of what's before our feet.
[00:25:47] But we need to wait on God.
[00:25:50] We need to hear the voice of God. We need to have the strength of God. We need to have an understanding heart and mind. We need to have God prepare us so that whatever befalls us, that you and I can stand strong in that hour and that you and I can trust God no matter what happens in 2026, be it good or evil. Because, you know, sometimes even in the good times, what happens is people get so caught up in the blessing, they. They stray away from God and they get caught up in the blessing.
[00:26:16] You know, we have strayed as a nation. I think sometimes adversity is a disguised blessing. We don't like it, but it certainly causes us to, you know, trust God in a way that maybe we wouldn't have otherwise.
[00:26:29] Habakkuk says, I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts. I will look to see what he will say to me and what answer I'm going to give to this complaint.
[00:26:39] You have questions for God, this is the time to bring them.
[00:26:42] This is the time to say, God, I have some concerns. I need to know your mind. I need to know direction in my life. I need to understand your purposes.
[00:26:51] Help me to do your will in 2026. Not my will be done, but yours be done.
[00:26:56] Because whatever we do in God's purposes, that's going to work out for the ultimate good, not only for others, but for ourselves as well.
[00:27:05] You know, times when we just can't seem to understand what God's doing.
[00:27:11] God's answer is simply this. The just have to live by faith.
[00:27:16] That's his answer, and not by sight.
[00:27:19] God would punish this ungodly nature. But in the meantime, the people of God are called to just trust him.
[00:27:27] The just live by their faith.
[00:27:32] That word faith is interesting in the Greek language. It can also be translated by their faithfulness.
[00:27:40] Faith and faithfulness go together, guys.
[00:27:43] So, you know, sometimes as believers, we talk about our faith, but I'm going, yeah, but your faith should be evidenced by your faithfulness.
[00:27:52] People that genuinely have faith are going to be faithful.
[00:27:56] They're going to trust.
[00:27:57] They're going to trust in God.
[00:28:01] Habakkuk Then the Lord replied, write down this revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it, for the revelation awaits an appointed time. It speaks of the end and will not prove false, though. But linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay.
[00:28:19] See, he is puffed up. His desires are not upright. But the righteous person will live by his faithfulness or faith.
[00:28:29] Indeed, wine betrays him.
[00:28:33] He's arrogant and never at rest because he's greedy as the grave, and like death, it's never satisfied. He gathers to himself all the nations and takes captives all the people. And in verse 6, the question is raised by the prophet, well then, how long must this go on?
[00:28:48] And then God reveals his heart against the sins of the lands of Judah and the sins that would bring about them into captivity into Babylon. Those same sins bring about our own captivity. How many people are trapped today in addictive behavior, desiring to be free, but unable to break the chains of bondage? God allows these pains and consequences to have their impact on our lives because we have gone our own way and done our own thing. Here God states five conditions or activities that will bring about captivity for the soul. I want to just list them here in chapter two.
[00:29:21] Woe to those who are greedy, he says.
[00:29:25] Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion. How long must this go on?
[00:29:35] Woe to those who use unethical means to acquire earthly wealth.
[00:29:40] Says woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, settling his nest on high to escape the clutches of ruin.
[00:29:47] Woe to those who resort to violence to accomplish their aims. Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by injustice.
[00:29:56] Notice the progression. What started as a wrong heart motive to trust in earthly resources diminishes the capacity to exercise sound judgment.
[00:30:05] Now the greedy are using violent means to acquire ill gotten gain from violence. We move to seduction.
[00:30:13] Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.
[00:30:21] And then finally, final woe reveals where their trust and worship have degenerated. To idolatry is the end result, he says, woe to him who says to wood come to life, or to lifeless stone wake up. Can he give guidance? Is it covered with gold and silver? There is no breath in it. What's he saying?
[00:30:39] He's saying, this is what happens when you and I, you know, the evil nature takes over in our lives. Paul describes it this way. Look at what he says in Colossians. Put to death. I gotta pause here and ask a question. Who's responsible to put these things to death.
[00:30:58] We are whatever belongs to your earthly nature. We are responsible to put these things to death. Death, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed.
[00:31:14] And then he summarizes, which is what?
[00:31:18] Which is idolatry. So when these things are ruling our lives, that's what we are worshiping.
[00:31:25] That's an idol. It's controlling us.
[00:31:28] And God wants to set us free.
[00:31:30] You know, this is God's design for our lives.
[00:31:34] Many times we struggle in our walk of faith. We don't see or understand the purposes of God. Another man who went through a deep time of darkness and deep despair was Job.
[00:31:43] He struggled with what was happening in his life. But we need to hear his incredible declaration to his friends in the darkest hour of trial. This is what Job though he slay me, yet I will hope or trust in him.
[00:31:56] I will surely defend my ways to his face. Oh, that my words were recorded that were written on a scroll. Well, Job, you got your answer. God did record them. That they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead or engraved in rock forever. I know that my redeemer lives.
[00:32:11] I love that.
[00:32:14] And that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see him with my own eyes. I am not another. How my heart yearns within me. Wow, this is a guy that's going through the most difficult hour of his life. Totally doesn't comprehend what's happening. Can't understand it. He's been serving God faithfully. God himself said he was a pure and blameless man and God allowed his life to be tested.
[00:32:41] It didn't make any sense to him, but he said, God, I'm going to trust you.
[00:32:46] Let me go to the third communication revealing a progression of faith is really this prayerful confession.
[00:32:52] Habakkuk's response to God is one of awe. He's just blown away. He realized that God is just. So now he appeals to God based on God's nature. He knows that God is compassionate and merciful. He prays for spiritual transformation to come on the land.
[00:33:08] You know, this is what we need to be doing right now as a believer. Listen to what he prays.
[00:33:16] Lord, I've heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds. Repeat them in our day, in our time. Make them known in wrath. Remember mercy. You know, he says, repeat them or revive them. Another translation says, you know, what can we do in times of great injustice and ungodliness? We should Be praying for God's mercy.
[00:33:39] We say, God, you know what? You have come in the past and brought a great move of the spirit of God. You know, Patty and I were listening to a song by Lovesong, one of the original Christian contemporary artists.
[00:33:53] And you know what? The beginning of this, these guys were hippies that were into drugs, selling drugs, and God saved them, you know, serendipitously. I mean, it was the spirit of God. And they started writing Christian music.
[00:34:10] You know, it was amazing. They, they experienced God. The spirit of God came over the land. You know, some of you have watched the Jesus revolution. Listen, folks, I lived through that time. I saw God move by his spirit. There was a stirring of God's spirit that was turning the hearts of young people back to God. These were people who had been in the 60s, rebellious into drugs, sexual immorality, and all of a sudden they saw the emptiness of this way of life. And the spirit of God came upon them and, and regenerated them. And the churches began to fill up with all of these people that had no church background. Amazing work of the spirit of God.
[00:34:53] This is what is needed right now in our nation.
[00:34:56] And you know what? It's going to take some people to get on their knees and say, God, remember the past. Remember what you've done. We need the mercy of God to be poured out in our land. We need to speak spirit of the living God to be poured out in the land of Canada. That's the only hope for this nation. Otherwise we are headed for some terribly dire consequences.
[00:35:19] We need God's mercy.
[00:35:22] And then, in spite of personal fears, the prophet awaits the judgment of his nation.
[00:35:28] And eventually the destroyer as well.
[00:35:31] It says, I heard and my heart pounded. My lips quivered at the sound. Decay crept into my bones. My legs trembled, trembled. And yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
[00:35:45] In other words, he's saying, I know this nation is going to come and destroy us, but I'm going to wait for the day when God destroys them.
[00:35:53] But he says, right now I'm trembling, I'm trembling. What's about to happen?
[00:35:58] God had revealed to him what he was about to do. Wow, that's pretty intense.
[00:36:04] But here's the word of hope. You know, God never stops there.
[00:36:08] Wouldn't that be awful? That was the end of the passage.
[00:36:11] It doesn't end there. A word of hope. In a time of great despair, the prophet receives God's answer of hope. It's found in trusting God regardless Of the outward circumstances in life. And here in the last paragraph, it's one of the most powerfully moving expressions of faith. It's a testimony of trust and hope in a time of despair.
[00:36:31] Listen what he says. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, Though the crops. 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. What's he saying? He said, regardless of the calamity that's coming upon us, I will still praise God.
[00:36:54] I will still rejoice in the Lord. I will still be joyful. He's choosing an attitude in the midst of a very distressing, despairing situation.
[00:37:06] How many know this takes a lot of faith to do that?
[00:37:10] He goes on to say, here the Lord, the sovereign Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to go on the heights.
[00:37:23] You know, Let me just close with two stories.
[00:37:30] Some of you may not know this person's name, but in the 1950s, there was a British minister, Methodist minister, by W.E. sangster.
[00:37:39] And he began to notice that his body was deteriorating. There was an uneasiness in his throat. He started to drag his leg around. He went to the doctor, and he found out he had an incurable disease that caused progressive muscular atrophy.
[00:37:52] His muscles would gradually waste away. His voice would fail. His throat would soon become unable to swallow.
[00:37:58] So he began to throw himself into work at a higher level. He said, I could still write, and he would even have more time for prayer. So he started pleading, God, let me stay in the struggle. I don't mind if I can no longer be a general. Just give me a regimental lead. He wrote articles and books and helped organize prayer cells throughout England.
[00:38:17] He wrote to some people who pitied him. I'm only in the kindergarten of suffering.
[00:38:22] Gradually, his legs became useless. His voice went completely. But he could still hold a pen shakily.
[00:38:27] And on an Easter morning, just a few weeks before he died, he wrote a letter to his daughter. In it, he said, it's terrible to wake up Easter morning and have no voice to shout.
[00:38:37] But he said it'd be terrible still to have a voice and not want to shout.
[00:38:44] He got it.
[00:38:46] You know, some of us probably know that song, God Will Make a Way.
[00:38:51] Maybe we don't know the story behind it.
[00:38:53] Don Moen was writing. Was awakened in the middle of the night because his mother in law phoned, was told that his wife, sister Susan and her husband Craig and four boys were in a terrible car accident. Tragedy occurred.
[00:39:08] The oldest boy, Jeremy, aged, was instantly killed and the others were seriously injured.
[00:39:14] His wife and dawn were trying to walk through this grief and pour out their hearts to God. They felt helpless at communicating to their family members hope and grace.
[00:39:26] And Don recalls how God helped him through the tragedy. And it was as if the Lord gave me these words. God will make a way where there seems to be no way.
[00:39:35] He works in ways we cannot see. He'll make a way for me.
[00:39:40] He will be my guide, hold me closely to his side with love and strength for each new day.
[00:39:46] He will make a way.
[00:39:48] We know that God's ways are not our ways.
[00:39:53] You and I have to learn to trust God in the midst of the times when it makes no sense to us. And maybe you're camped right there right now and you're going to, why is this happening to me?
[00:40:04] And the answer is I don't know.
[00:40:07] And you don't know.
[00:40:10] But God is saying to you, I want you to trust me because you know, if you've walked with God for a long time, you're going to go through these moments. You know, I have, I've had moments in my life where it was very difficult and very dark.
[00:40:26] I've had these moments.
[00:40:28] I get what's going on now. In hindsight, looking backwards, I can look back and say, wow, you know, but those are deeply transformative moments. They're refining moments, they're life changing moments.
[00:40:44] And we have a choice in that hour, we're going to either trust God or we're not going to trust God.
[00:40:50] And I remember years ago as a pastor, I was in Atlanta, Georgia, probably the darkest hour of my life. And I said to God there, and there was 44,000 ministers worshiping God at a conference. It was unbelievable. The spirit of God was so strong.
[00:41:06] And I just knelt down right there and even in the midst of 44,000 people, you can feel absolutely alone.
[00:41:15] And I said, God, I will continue to preach, preach this gospel even if one person will listen.
[00:41:25] I want to be faithful right to the end.
[00:41:28] I just made a consecration.
[00:41:31] And that's what we have to do in those moments. We just have to settle something in our hearts and say, God, I will do your will. No matter what the environment is like.
[00:41:44] I will commit myself to trust you. Let's stand just with every head bowed this morning. I do believe this message is here for someone.
[00:41:57] You know, God puts things on Your heart for a reason. And maybe you're here today and you're saying, wow, that's exactly where I'm at, Pastor.
[00:42:07] I'm walking through a time and it makes no sense to me.
[00:42:12] But that doesn't mean God has abandoned you. He's not.
[00:42:16] It may not make sense to you, but God knows exactly what he's doing and he's calling you to trust him today with all of your heart.
[00:42:26] You may not even feel emotional.
[00:42:29] Maybe the most unemotional decision you've ever made. You go, I have no emotion. I've already used up all those tears.
[00:42:36] But today I choose to trust you.
[00:42:39] Just like Job said, you may slay me, but I'm going to trust you.
[00:42:44] Habakkuk said, I'm shaking in my boots.
[00:42:48] Everything may be disappearing from me, but I'm going to trust you. That's what God's calling you to do.
[00:42:54] You may not make sense of what you're going through, but God says, I want you to trust me.
[00:42:59] Just trust me and I'll take you through this experience. Experience.
[00:43:03] You're going to come out the other side. You're not going to be the same person. You won't be.
[00:43:08] You cannot go through these times and stay the same. If you trust him, something will be deposited inside of you. A faith that's unshakable.
[00:43:19] That's what will happen. You'll be deepened in your walk with God.
[00:43:26] So let me pray with you this morning.
[00:43:29] I'm not even going to ask you to raise your hand. I'm just going to trust that God's speaking to hearts right now.
[00:43:33] This is a word from God for you right now. Lord, I pray for my brother. I pray for my sister right now. As they're walking through this time in their life, it makes no sense. It's so painful. It's a dark time.
[00:43:48] It's a difficult hour.
[00:43:51] But right now, as we're consecrating ourselves to you, we're making a choice today.
[00:43:55] Lord, I'm going to trust you. I'm going to trust you. In this hour. I'm giving myself fully to you. In this hour. I'm walking through with you.
[00:44:05] Do the deepest work that you need to do inside of my soul and bring me to the other side, refined by your fire, trusting that your purposes are going to be accomplished in me and then through me. In Jesus name, Amen. God bless you as you leave this morning.
