The Answer can lead us: From Frustration to Amazement

All that’s necessary today for me to introduce the subject of this post is to play for you a TV news clip. Awww, nevermind. I don’t need to do that either. You’ve had enough, right?

To follow the news is to see bad news, bad news, and then even worse news.

Do I need to list the things that are on people’s minds?

Nope. In fact, this message is relevant no matter what is going on, because there is always something bad.

Many of you are wondering: "Where is our nation headed?"

That’s on a larger scale. What about you? Illness? Death? Divorce? Loss of a job? Personal hardship?

Why do bad things happen? It's a valid question.

Why would a loving God allow such evil?

Welcome to the World of Habakkuk. These are the sorts of questions that this ancient Hebrew prophet has. Let me just say that the book of Habakkuk is far more relevant than the name sounds.

Habakkuk is not a typical prophet pronouncing judgement or preaching a sermon. Habakkuk’s message to us, is a conversation he had with God.

You know all those things you wanted to ask of God but didn’t dare ask. Habakkuk does ask and he lived to tell the tale. Well, at least long enough to write this book.

I think of Peter who took his eyes off of the master, and became overcome by the ferocity of the waves. Habakkuk starts with the waves, and helps us bring our focus back to God.

The result is not that bad things go away, but that God is enlarged so much, that he makes the bad seem small in comparison. We can wrestle with God and grow in our faith.



The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. Habakkuk 1:1

His book is in the form of a discussion. God gave Habakkuk a hearing and answers, not just for Habakkuk, but for the benefit of Israel, and for you.

We need to listen the questions and the answer.

First, the Question:

2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

That’s the question… a lot of us have. Now let’s take the time to listen to God's answer.

5 "Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.

The prophet asks God “why are bad things happening?” and God’s answer is that he is answering that evil.

God is not silent or inactive.

Look up. Look around.

God is faithful even when bad things happen. We can depend on him. He is stable, when everything else is changing or crashing.

Also God is active. He cares. He will not remain silent forever. His timing isn’t ours, but eventually wrongs will be righted. God can, does and will intervene.

But you may not like what he does…

Read Habakkuk 1:6-11

6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own.

7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.

8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour;

9 they all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand.

10 They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them.

11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty men, whose own strength is their god."

Stop for a moment and think about what this means.

He is willing to send sinful people to punish his own people. His answer is to stop it, through whatever means necessary. And here's what's amazing...

After this, Israel never struggled with idolatry again. God put a stop to it once and for all.

To God our spiritual condition is more important than our physical condition.

Do you share that priority?

Yipes. It's a scary and serious thought.

Paul quotes Habakkuk in Acts 13

38"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. 40Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:
41" 'Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.'"

We may not always like what he does, but God will act. We can depend on him as a fair and just and loving God.

This is serious stuff. It's hard to hear.

If you are dealing with a little scrape on the knee, then all that’s needed is a Kermit the frog bandaid and a kiss to make it better.

But if you are dealing with serious illness, like cancer or something else, serious treatment is needed. And sometimes the treatment, like surgery or chemotherapy seems worse than the illness itself. At least temporarily.

The prophet is dealing with serious stuff. And God is taking it seriously. Maybe more seriously than we may want him too.

This passage makes me imagine a boy who gets in a fight with his brother. He assumes it's all his brother's fault so he calls Dad in. "DAD!", he yells.

Dad comes in, sees that everyone is at fault and punishes everyone fairly.

Do you think the child regrets calling Dad in?

We often assume that if God punishes those who do bad things that we will be unscathed. Habakkuk teaches us that we have another think coming.

Where is God when bad things happen?

He is at work. Somewhere. Even if we don't see it. And eventually, all the wrong will be righted.