What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Habakkuk 1:1 CSB – The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
“Pronouncement” = “Burden”
Habakkuk 1:2-4 CSB – How long, Lord, must I call for help
and you do not listen
or cry out to you about violence
and you do not save?
3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4 This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.
Habakkuk’s Groan
Habakkuk 1:4 CSB – This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.
Is it okay to question God?
1 Peter 3:15 CSB – in your hearts regard Christ, the Lord, as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV – You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
When you ask, remember that you are Hamlet
Job 38:2-5 CSB – Who is this who obscures my counsel
with ignorant words?
3 Get ready to answer me like a man;
when I question you, you will inform me.
4 Where were you when I established the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly, you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
Ask Questions, but Don’t Fall in Love with Your Skepticism
Habakkuk 1:5 CSB – Look at the nations and observe—
be utterly astounded!
For I am doing something in your days
that you will not believe
when you hear about it.
God’s Promise: I will do amazing
Ephesians 3:20 – [God] is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us things among you!
Habakkuk 1:6-11 CSB –
Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter, impetuous nation
that marches across the earth’s open spaces
to seize territories not its own.
7 They are fierce and terrifying;
their views of justice and sovereignty
stem from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards
and more fierce than wolves of the night.
Their horsemen charge ahead;
their horsemen come from distant lands.
They fly like eagles, swooping to devour.
9 All of them come to do violence;
their faces are set in determination.
They gather prisoners like sand.
10 They mock kings,
and rulers are a joke to them.
They laugh at every fortress
and build siege ramps to capture it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind
and pass through.
They are guilty; their strength is their god.
Lesson: If you follow God, He will do amazing things in your life; but, most of the time God’s amazing ways are not our ways!
Genesis 12:1-2 CSB –
The Lord said to Abram:
Go out from your land,
your relatives, and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
Isaiah 55:8-9 CSB –
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
“I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love,
even when there’s no one there.
And I believe in God,
even when he is silent.
May there someday be sunshine
May there someday be happiness
May there someday be love
May there someday be peace….”
– Found on the wall of concentration camp in Cologne
Habakkuk’s Response: Embrace God
Habakkuk 1:12, Are you not from eternity, Lord my God? My Holy One, you will not die.
Lord, You appointed them to execute judgment;
My Rock, You destined them to punish us.
1. Embrace God’s Promises:
· God’s promises when suffering
Romans 8:18 CSB – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us”
1 Peter 5:10 CSB – The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.
· God’s Promises when discouraged
Deuteronomy 31:8 CSB – The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Psalm 34:17 CSB – The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
Psalm 40:1 CSB – I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit
· God’s Promises when feeling Lonely
Psalm 46:1 CSB – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”
· God’s Promises when you feel needy
Philippians 4:13, 19 CSB – I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
· God’s Promises for Forgiveness
2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB – He made the one who did not know sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Isaiah 53:5 CSB – By His wounds we are healed.
· God’s Promise for Hope
Psalm 25:3 CSB – No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame
Psalm 90:15 CSB – Make us rejoice for as many days as you have humbled us,
for as many years as we have seen adversity.
Romans 8:37 CSB – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us
2. Embrace God’s People
Who are your go-to people for spiritual encouragement?
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 CSB – Two are better than one …10 For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up
