Await God's Timing - Habakkuk Intro (continued)

I am back. Got the shower and a rain—down power! What a day! God blessed. Had I completed the lesson…this is what it would have said to you. Hope I am back on track and will see you next Sunday. JLV.

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 most deserving, so will not attempt to mention names, but if you have been in the church during the past thirty-two years, you will have no problem remembering 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!

There is a second world wide problem facing us today that makes the writings in this book even more relevant to us than the examples mentioned above. Allow me to start here at home in Heber Springs. As great as this place is to live in as a family…times and events are changing rapidly in many ways—and not for the best. Juanita and I moved here 32 years ago. The by-weakly police report now tells us that crimes of all magnitude are increasing at a rapid pace. The murder rate in Little Rock has skyrocketed. Arrests for manufacture and use of drugs in Cleburne County have risen each year. Horrible crimes against families and children are not unusual any more. The number of hard criminals has risen until available space in the prisons to accommodate those deserving incarcerations is now inadequate.

I do not want to sound like a pessimist, but it sometimes appears that the criminal receives the benefit of the law more often than does the honest citizen. Listen to me! I am not talking about skid row in Kansas City, Harlem in NY, or Bourbon Street in New Orleans. This applies to our little quiet town in the Ozarks; and terrorist attacks have leveled our government buildings abroad; sunk our ships at sea, and destroyed the twin towers in NY and a part of the Pentagon in DC. These acts of terrorism have driven us into a war that has made us unpopular and cost us billions of dollars and loss of far too many lives. Following the 9/11 day of horror our nation seemingly turned to God prayerfully calling for God’s help and for some reason the help has not come. We have no choice…we must keep our faith…and continue to pray that we can survive until God’s plan is complete and his time clock says that enough is enough.

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. The prophet prayed, “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?”

There may be some in our church and in this extended Sunday school class that have wondered about the Old Testament being relevant to us and our problems under the New Covenant. My challenge to you is that you study the message of this prophet and see for yourself that almost every verse is directly relevant to life in Heber Springs in the year of our Lord 2007.

YOU MUST READ VERSES 1-4. This passage, almost word for word, could easily be the prayer of our pastor on any Sunday morning. This was a list of complaints that were in the oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.

YOU MUST NOW READ THE LORD’S ANSWER IN VERSES 5 THROUGH 11. Remember that the good King Josiah who had fought to bring God’s rule back to Jerusalem died in 609, Daniel was taken captive into Babylon in 605; Habakkuk’s ministry ended in 588; and the fall of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem came in 586. No one could have been happy about what God said he would do. He allowed Babylon to conquer Judah and destroy Jerusalem. Why? Destruction came to his own people because of their disobedience.

Here is a scary thought. God described Babylon as a dreaded enemy—ruthless and impetuous; who seize places owned by others; feared and dreaded; thy fly like vultures, swooping to destroy; whose own strength is their god. BUT THEY WILL BE VICTORIUS.

Now think of the three major powers that are involved in our problems today. [There are others, but three is enough to make my point] Think first of America whom we believe to be the do-right nation. Second, think of the communist who have determined to conquer all. Third, include the Islamic nations who hate Christians and Jews. Could it be that God would treat us as he did Judah? Because of our disobedience…could he allow one of the other two [or someone else] to succeed for a time as he allowed Babylon to do?

When we think about the title of our lesson today AWAIT GOD’S TIMING, it is easy to see that God is telling us that life in filled with mysteries that man is not supposed to understand. [Why do some live and some die? Why does God allow nations to terrorize? Why is crime more prevalent?] God has a reason for this—and it is to see that we come to the point that we can and will trust our holy and just God to treat us fairly and faithfully. This prophecy by Habakkuk was an important message from God, not just to Judah, but to our nation which will help us to better understand the mysteries of life and God’s time clock.

Even this prophet from God could not understand how a holy God could permit wickedness in the land of Judah. We do not understand why God allows the followers of Islam to continue on their bent to destroy Christianity. God assured the prophet that he will punish sin where ever it is found and Habakkuk has passed this knowledge on to us. There will be a pay-day some-day. The second mystery that puzzled Habakkuk was how God could use the wicked, undeserving land of Babylon to judge Judah, defeat and destroy the nation. Then God explains that after using Babylon, or allowing Babylon to judge Judah…He will then punish Babylon. We can be sure that even if God is allowing the ungodly Islamic terrorist to judge America…he will then punish them for their disobedience.

Brief outline and review…or book in a nut-shell NOTE: {If you are time limited but want the core of his message, at least read these selected passages.}

I. The title [1:1]

1. The prophet’s problems [1:2 to 2:4]

2. The prophet’s cry [1: 2-4]

3. Jehovah’s answer [1: 5-11]  

4. The new problem [1:12-17]

5. The prophet’s attitude [2: 1]

II. The prophet’s proclamations [2; 6 to 3: 19]

1. The vision of destruction in five woes [2: 6-20]

2. The prophet’s prayer and psalm [3: 1-19]