Q&A
Faith and trust. The definitions of these words don’t change based on our feelings. Even when our flesh reacts. Even when our mind doubts. They remain the same.
Why Waiting on God is Hard (And What Habakkuk Teaches Us)
The Struggle of Waiting on God The Prophet Habakkuk knew a little something about waiting on God. Although his story is from thousands of years ago, its lessons are still relevant today, especially in our drive-through culture. A World That Hates to Wait Most of us hate to wait. Waiting takes patience, a virtue that can be in short supply. We expect to get our food and internet at lightning speeds, and when we don’t, we become anxious and sometimes a bit testy. We tend to treat God with this same impatience. We want God to be a drive-through God who gives us what we want when and how we like it. We grow impatient when God doesn’t answer our prayers when or how we expect Him to, and we have to wait. We often try to run ahead of Him and take things into our own hands, which rarely ends well. What if, instead of hating the waiting, we learned to embrace the wait and to recognize that it is in the wait that we find God? Habakkuk’s Cry: “How Long, O Lord?” Habakkuk’s name means “one who embraces.” Habakkuk lived in Judah around 600 years before Christ was born. Judah was in spiritual and moral decline. Corruption and injustice were everywhere. What was happening in Judah was not much different than today. When we read Habakkuk 1:2-4, we could be talking about our world. Habakkuk described Judah like this: How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. Why do You make me see iniquity, And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; Strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored And justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.” Habakkuk was heartbroken about what was going on in Judah. He had been crying out to God for his people over and over. He wanted to know WHEN God would do something about the corruption and injustice in his country. Sound familiar? “How long, oh Lord?” At one time or another, most of us have asked God that very same question. WHEN God, are you going to do something about that? All of us have a “that.” Every day on the news, there is a “that.” Some of us work with or live with a “that.” COVID-19 is a that. When Lord are you going to do something about that? God’s Unexpected Answer God didn’t answer Habakkuk’s prayers in the way he wanted or expected. God said: “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days— You would not believe if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5 If I heard that from God, I would be saying, GO GOD GO! Do it, God! Do it! But then, in the rest of Chapter 2, God tells Habakkuk what it is He is actually going to do. And, it wasn’t what Habbakuk wanted or expected. God said He would raise the evil nation of Babylon in judgment against Judah. That was God’s answer. God was going to use the wicked to judge Judah. But He also assured Habakkuk that Babylon would not escape judgment either (Habakkuk 2:6-20). In His perfect justice, God holds all nations accountable—including those He uses as instruments of discipline. Wrestling with God’s Plan Habakkuk was beside himself. He continued to question God. He wanted to know why God was answering his prayer in this way. He wanted to know how long God planned to allow Babylon to continue its evil without judgment, without consequence. Babylon was conquering nation after nation; they seemed to be unstoppable. It seemed like the bad guys were winning, and Habakkuk struggled to understand why God was allowing it. But even in the darkest moments, God remained sovereign and in control—something Habakkuk would soon come to realize. Habakkuk’s “that” was Babylon. When God are you going to do something about “that”? Habakkuk wrestled with honest questions, not because he didn’t believe in God’s goodness or His sovereignty, but because He didn’t understand why God was doing what He was doing. He truly wanted to know God’s heart. And He was willing to wait on God. But how? How did he do it? How did his faith remain strong in the middle of his wait? Positioning Ourselves to Hear God Habakkuk decided what he’d do in Habakkuk 2:1 “I will stand on my guard postAnd station myself on the rampart;And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,And how I may reply when I am reproved.” Habakkuk positioned himself like a guard on a watchtower on the city’s edge. The watchtower is high up where the guard’s view can’t be easily obstructed. The guard can see what is coming. Notice, Habakkuk said, “I will stand and watch to see what He will speak to me.” He made a deliberate choice to position himself in a place where he had an unobstructed view to WATCH AND WAIT for God. We must make a deliberate choice too. When we are hurt and don’t understand why, our pain can distort our view of God. We must ask ourselves, “Do I stay at the world’s level (ground level) where my view is blocked by whatever is right in front of me: my pain, my fear, my doubt, other people’s opinions? Or, by faith, do I choose to climb up out of that pain, fear, and doubt, to that watchtower, where I can position myself to WATCH AND WAIT FOR GOD? Staying on Watch: Don’t Abandon Your Post If a guard on a watchtower abandoned his post, the city could be lost. A guard stays on his post no matter what. Let me put it this way: Have you ever been in a long line at Walmart, a cart full of groceries, waiting to check out, and then the cash register light
What If
“What if I go through my life believing and following the Bible and Jesus, and the Bible is just a made-up story and Jesus was just some nice guy who did good things?”
Let’s truly ponder that for a minute or two… What if? What if it’s all a made-up story, what have I lost?
He Who Has Ears Let Him Hear
When we don’t listen to the Word we forfeit the kind of life Jesus died for us to live, and even bigger yet, we fail to show love for our Lord and Savior the One who gave it ALL. That breaks my heart. Does it break yours?
Revelation
I find myself craving the deeper mysteries from God’s word and all it has to teach us and prepare us. Did you know that Jesus preached much more about the coming of God’s Kingdom than he did love? That is what, in part, made me realize Believers in Christ are called to be more and more diligent at sharing the gospel of the coming Kingdom (through belief and faith in Jesus), not to give false hope in worldly gain and reparations.
Peace Be Gotten: 5 Ways to Get Peace Today
In the last blog, we talked about the Jesus Kind of Peace and how it is different than the world’s kind of peace. We found out that it can put us back together; it is eternal, and it doesn’t depend on our circumstances. You might be thinking, yes, that kind of peace sounds DIVINE, but HOW DO I GET IT? Good question. There are five things you can do right now that will help you get the Jesus kind of peace. So let’s get started. Get in God’s Presence Bad days come and go, but our peace shouldn’t have to. At least not if we spend our day in God’s presence. It is only in God’s presence where we find true peace. Don’t wait to get with God. See Him first thing in the morning. Some say, “but I am not a morning person.” I hear you, but it doesn’t matter. No excuses on this one. Our day should start with God, honoring Him, thanking Him. After all, He is the reason we wake up every day. He is the reason we breathe. “In Him, we move, and live have our being.” Acts 17:28. Maybe we don’t have time every morning to get into a full-on prayer session or read half the Bible, but we can start our day worshiping Him, acknowledging Him, can’t we? Start by telling Him how you feel about Him. Turn on some worship music. Thank Him for all His blessings. Praise Him. But don’t stop there. Commit to practicing His presence throughout the day. Practicing His presence is beautifully described by Brother Lawrence in his book, The Practice of the Presence of God: “He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.” I am convicted, how about you? Pray Continually Approach your day with an attitude of prayer. The Apostle Paul advises us to “Pray continually.” 1st Thessalonians 5:17 God doesn’t need big fancy prayers. He only needs our heart. So stop worrying about your words. Just talk to Him. Make Him a part of your everyday life. Ask His opinion on whatever you are doing, no matter how important or unimportant the task. God, should I send this email now, or should I wait? God, would it be better to purchase this one or that one? If you get stuck and don’t know what to do or which way to move, talk to God. Say, “God, I don’t know what to do, help me!” Then expect an answer. God promises us that if we lack wisdom, He will give it generously without finding fault – we just have to ask. James 1:5 If stress and worry start creeping into your day or pesky thoughts try to invade your mind and threaten to steal your peace, PRAY. Paul tells us not to “be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” And then, guess what? The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 Peace comes with prayer. Give God Control Don’t let problems get away from you or stress levels hit the red zone before you seek God’s counsel. Keep in mind that seeking His counsel is meaningless if you don’t also give Him control. Yes, I know. Giving God control means we have to submit to Him. It means we have to die to ourselves and our way of doing things. But when we submit to God, we will have peace and things will go well for us.” (Job 22:21 ) True peace comes from knowing God is in control. So when you are tempted to go ahead of God before He gives you the green light because you are tired of waiting – don’t do it. Or when you know how you want things to look but don’t think God’s way will get you there – change what you know and what you think by renewing your mind in God’s word (Romans 12:2). The bottom line is that for true peace in your life, you will have to make a choice: will you surrender to the enemy who comes to steal, kill or destroy or will you surrender to Jesus who comes to give you life and life more abundantly? Your call. Focus on God’s Promises You can find true peace in God’s promises. God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). His word never returns without accomplishing the purpose for which it is sent (Isaiah 55:11). If God says it, it will be done. A few promises you can focus on to find true peace are: God is always with you. Isaiah 41:10 God is always in control. Isaiah 35:4 God is always good. Psalm 100:5 God is always victorious. Deuteronomy 20:4 Look these verses up. Memorize them. When you feel your peace slowly slipping away begin to speak these truths over your situation. The more you speak them, the more peace you will find. Seek & Pursue Peace If we look for trouble, we will find it. That is a given. The same can be said of peace. Jesus, on the cross, made it possible for us to have peace with God. Someday we will live at complete peace with all men too. In the meantime, the Word tells us to “if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace