
Habakkuk 1:1-11
The country was on the brink of a devastating invasion. Famine threatened. Violence and social injustice filled the land. Habakkuk the Old Testament prophet had every reason to sink into despair. Where was God in these turbulent times?
Destruction and turmoil lay firmly on the horizon. His own people had turned away from God, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire came crushing down on his nation and people. Habakkuk wondered where God was in all of this. He struggled, prayed, and pressed toward God in the midst of catastrophe. Habakkuk is a healthy model of faithfulness to God.
The book of Habakkuk teaches both the faithfulness of God and what faithful living before God looks like when life is turned upside down and catastrophe strikes. God’s people had turned against him, and violence and oppression surrounded Habakkuk. But in the midst of that upheaval, God commanded the prophet to live faithfully, even at great cost. That was fine for Habakkuk, we readily concede. But if God were to give such a directive to us, how would we respond? Faith in God and faithfulness to God are demanding!
Habakkuk reminds us that the act of giving ourselves over, wholly and fully, to the Lord is not an empty pursuit. God is faithful to give life to those who respond to his call. Because of this dual emphasis upon faith and obedience to God, Habakkuk teaches what it means to live faithfully before God, even through tragic or confusing times.
Join us this Lord’s Day as we look at the opening chapter of this short but powerful book. One of the great preachers of the last century was a British preacher by the name of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. His study through the book of Habakkuk is “From FEAR to FAITH,” with a subtitle of “Rejoicing in the Lord in turbulent times.”
We are borrowing his title for our series but even more importantly, we are praying that as a people we will learn to rejoice in the Lord in difficult circumstance, or as he puts it, ‘in turbulent times.’ May God’s Spirit grant us grace.
For His Glory,
Pastor Wayne
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