In May I spoke at the MST Chapel on Habakkuk and I thought I would share here some of what I shared there… partly to remind myself, as well as maybe it can encourage you.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 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. A quick overview is important here: This book is a conversation between Habakkuk and God. Habakkuk is complaining. He says; Justice is perverted! I’m calling out to you and you are silent – are you going to allow this? What are you going to do about it? God says, don’t stress, I am doing something about it, I’m raising up the Babylonians, and they are going to wipe out this evil. Habakkuk feels like the situation isn’t changing quick enough and so he complains again: But God, the wicked prosper, they destroy the righteous, are you really going to allow this to continue? God says; be patient, they will surely get what they deserve, and woe to them! Habakkuk considers this and decides not to complain again. He instead writes a song – and talks about how amazing God is and how He is to be feared. And He says, even though life sucks at the moment, while the wicked prosper and I am waiting for God’s deliverance, I will praise the name of my God, and I will find my joy in HIM!! It’s a beautiful story of how faith evolves through trials. We start in a place of discontent, frustration at the circumstances. The story shows how God consoles us and comforts us in our trials and tells us not to let go of His promises. And how we wrestle with this, and to and fro with God about it… but eventually come to peace with God’s perspective… and remember how great He is… and that nothing else matters… and we praise His name. And when we can shift our focus to worshiping God, during trial, we find in Him the love that sustains and brings great joy. This is the point of so many of our trials. God wants to show us that He sustains us the way nothing else can. He wants to show us that His love is better than life – He wants us to grow to a place where we can say like Paul, “I count everything as loss compared to knowing you.” How well do you know Christ’s love? Here’s another question. When you look at the verse above, do you see a picture of success or failure? From an earthly perspective it would be very easy to assume that everything has failed. But when God looks at Habakkuk, what does he see? Does He see empty stalls and no crops, thinking Habakkuk has failed? Or does He see faith that has persevered through trial and has found a way to praise God despite what’s going wrong? Does God not count this as great success? Whatever you are going through, if you are feeling like nothing is working and all the doors are closed and you have nothing to show for your labour and things have been stripped back so you are functioning with nothing – you are not a failure. God prizes faith as your most valuable asset. (Not your crops.) And what kind of faith? Faith that loves and praises Jesus no matter what. Sometimes we might feel like we have very little faith because we’ve prayed our best and seen no change come. We look at people who pray and the circumstances change and we think, what amazing faith! Yes. But if you can lose everything… and still praise God, you have faith that the Bible says is worth more than gold. (1 Peter 1:7) Think about that! Gold is pretty valuable! Entire empires are built on the presence and abundance of gold! Australia is essentially founded on gold! And God says faith that perseveres through trial is worth more than this. It is a greater foundation, on which is built the Kingdom of God; a place where God’s Spirit resides and rules. I want that!
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AuthorWe are Brad, Andy, Hunter and Belle. Hoping to keep you connected! Archives
May 2019
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