Await God's Timing - Habakkuk Intro

The Heber Springs area offers retirees one of the most beautiful areas in the entire world in which they can spend the latter days of their life this side of heaven. This is not a Chamber of Commerce advertisement; it is a fact proven as you look at the color of the hair of most of the people in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church each Sunday morning. Juanita and I moved here in 1975 and decided to remain here when we retired in 1986. It is absolutely unbelievable at the number of our dear friends in this church that have gone to be with God in the past thirty-two years. It is also heart-lifting and amazing at the number of our dear friends that have been at death’s door, with seemingly no hope for recovery, but they are still with us and serving our Lord with greater zeal than seems humanly possible.

The question that haunts each of us is why some must go seemingly before their time while others remain with poor health or other conditions that prevents quality life. The number of prayers offered is not the answer—so it must be that we have difficulty in knowing the true will of God for each of us. There is a God reason…and we must accept this by faith and continue to obey Him to the best of our ability.

The church body has been enlisted in intercessory prayer in each and every case. Selfishly, we pray for healing and recovery in each case. Some of our prayers are answered according to our clock…while some are answered according to God’s will for each person. Sometimes it is difficult for us to accept God’s answer to our prayers. There are even times when we wonder if he answered our prayers or ignored them. This kind of attitude can only be strengthened and satisfied when we have grown in faith to the point that we truly believe that God does hear our prayers and he does answer each one in his time and in his own way. Do you believe? Do you fully trust God to always do what is best for you and yours? Stop! Wait a minute! Think hard. Do you…through a strong and abiding faith…always accept the answers you get for your prayers?

I might not recognize some of our people who are the most deserving, so will not attempt to mention names, but if you have been with us during the past thirty-two years, you will have no problem recognizing some of the people of whom I write. There are some that have suffered long and devastating illnesses and then passed on. Some have suffered long and seemingly insurmountable health problems and are still with the church body, serving God and proving that God’s timing comes from a special clock. If you truly believe—you will AWAIT GOD’S TIMING and you will accept it with a merry heart. Habakkuck did!

The prophet Habakkuk [pronounced as huh...Bak…kuk] faced some bleak circumstances just as we face today. Just as we are tested, so was he. One of his problems was that he saw wickedness throughout the land going seemingly unchecked by the God he knew to be all-powerful. Prayers were seemingly unanswered. This was simply because God’s timing was kept on a different clock. By this I mean that the prayers were answered, but at a different time and in a different way than was expected by the prophet.

Look at verse two. “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?” Have you ever felt just like this question indicates that Habakkuk must have been feeling about his unanswered prayers? During the past few years, either you or someone you love has been suffering from some kind of special pain, or life threatening condition. You have prayed. Others have prayed with you or for you and to date the answer you expected has not come. Just like Habakkuk, you are asking…”How long. Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen?”

I HAVE ERRORED, SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Juanita and I had planned to be with our extended family on a week-end when our soon-to-be first Great Grand Boy was going to be rained on…hu, I mean it is going to shower on him and his parents and we wanted to be there. I have tried to do some essential chores and lost my timing. Sorry, but just do not have time to complete these thoughts about Habakkuk.

This is a Bible event in the prophet’s life that is relevant to our conditions in today’s world. Hope you will spend some time and study it to show thyself approved. See you next time. John.