HABAKKUK Rejoicing in the Tough Times

When I was a bit younger as a Christian, I had a mentor who was an older Christian man.

And when I've talked about this man in the past, I've often described him as the man most like Jesus that I've ever met.

It's a bit of hyperbole, but he was very godly.

And I remember one particular strength that this man had was scripture memorization.

He was just constantly learning verses and had been doing it the whole time through his Christian life.

He had some that he'd learned as a young boy in the King James Bible that he still knew in the King James text.

As he'd gotten older, he'd started learning others in the New International Version, which is the one that was just read out for us.

And in his house, he literally had boxes and boxes of just little memory verse cards just lined up across his room.

And whenever you caught up with him, he had a wad of cards, maybe 10 or 15 in his wallet.

There'd be four or five new verses that he was memorizing, and then maybe 10 that he'd learned in his life that he was just kind of refreshing and making sure that he didn't forget them.

And as I spent time with him, I longed for the kind of ready-to-mind Bible knowledge that he had.

Just any situation, he could call four or five verses straight to the front of his mind and respond helpfully.

But at the same time, even as I longed for that, as I looked at his discipline, I was almost more overwhelmed by how far down the track he was compared to me.

I'd learned a few Bible verses in youth group and in kids' church, but his example was so challenging, so extreme, that it was more intimidating than it was encouraging.

It didn't make me want to go and learn verses.

It made me give up because I would never be that good.

This is week number four in the book of Habakkuk.

You have been traveling a book full of challenge and encouragement as we seek to follow Jesus in a world that is hostile to following Jesus.

And it could be that this finish, what was just read for us, falls into that same category, where it's more intimidating than it is helpful.

There's a verse in there that might be familiar.

I heard at least one person reciting what was clearly a memory verse for them.

But as you read that chapter, as you listen to it read out, is it more intimidating than it is encouraging?

My paraphrase, though nothing's going right, I will rejoice.

It's kind of like that person who you know their life is falling apart, and yet they're telling you how thankful they are to God for his goodness.

And there's a small part of you that hears them talking and just doesn't believe they're being totally genuine.

It's like they know the answer is, God's great and I should thank him, but you're not convinced that's actually how they feel.

That's not what's actually going on inside of them.

I mean, we all know we're supposed to rejoice.

We all know that's the right answer.

I should rejoice.

I will rejoice all the time.

But like so many things when it comes to following Jesus, it's simple, but it's really difficult.

We know what we should do, but actually doing it is a whole other challenge.

So is there any encouragement in this chapter as we finish Habakkuk?

Or do we just file this away as a really impressive example of what you should look like as a Christian, but something that's completely unattainable?

I'll rejoice sometimes and as much as I can, but not all the time, not in every situation.

Let's dig in.

Now, it's worth remembering where we've come from.

Joy wasn't where Habakkuk started, the book.

Do you remember four weeks ago when, I don't know who it was, but somebody took you into chapter one?

And Habakkuk starts the book not with rejoicing, but with doubt.

Why, God?

Why do you allow this?

And then even as he grows a little bit from there, his next step is still not joy.

It's indignation.

God, what do you mean?

That can't be the answer.

That can't be the way you're going to deal with this.

And maybe for you in your life, that doubt and that indignation is what resonates with you.

Rejoicing in God is the answer you know you should have, but actually how you feel when you're in trial is that,

God, what are you doing?

God, why is it like this?

God, how long will it be like this?

And so the question we need to ask as we look at this final chapter, as we wrap up the book is,

how does Habakkuk go from doubt through indignation and eventually end up at this place of God,

no matter what, I'm going to rejoice in you?

What's the movement that he makes?

The answer is there in chapter three, verse two.

Be really good to have open in front of you.

Lord, I have heard of your fame.

I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day.

In our time, make them known.

In wrath, remember mercy.

What's shifted?

What's the movement?

I have heard that there's been a message, a truth, a communication that's reoriented Habakkuk's perspective.

He's still in this difficult situation, but what is this message?

What's he heard?

He's heard about God's fame.

He's heard about God's deeds.

I mean, he's been confronted with who God is, who God's revealed himself to be in his acts and throughout history.

But this isn't new.

Habakkuk's a prophet.

He lives in the stories of what God's done throughout Israel's history.

He's heard it so many times, but for some reason, here and now, he's heard it fresh.

He's heard it new.

He's heard it again, but in a way that changes everything.

And he's heard two things in particular that completely change his perspective as he deals with his struggle and with his trial.

First thing he hears, God's justice is unstoppable.

God's justice is unstoppable.

The book opens, Habakkuk's crying out to God about the injustice and evil that's in Israel, that's in the nation, part of God's people.

And he's longing for God to judge.

But when God answers and says, don't worry, I'm going to judge, he gets really offended like, that's not the kind of judgment I wanted.

I had a different idea about how this should work out.

Because God's response to Habakkuk in that moment is, I understand that you're frustrated.

I understand that you don't like what you see around you.

But what you need to recognize is, it's me they're rejecting.

Sure, you're dealing with some pain and some evil that exists, but all of that evil is actually a rejection of God.

Even if Habakkuk has to deal with some of the circumstances.

And so God just says to Habakkuk, I know you want to see this play out the way you think is best, but it's my judgment they deserve.

I'm the one they've offended.

Both Israel in chapter 1, Babylon in chapter 2, both of them are going to get God's judgment for not honoring and worshiping God as he deserves.

Habakkuk needs to be clear that just because God's not doing it his way, doesn't mean he's gone soft.

Doesn't mean he doesn't care.

Doesn't mean he's just going to sit in heaven frustrated that it's not how it should be, but I can't do anything because I love them so much.

Judgment is certain, but it will come in God's timing because it's God's judgment to give.

It's not Habakkuk's judgment to give.

It's not my judgment to give.

It's not your judgment to give.

The only judge is God himself.

God is not okay with evil.

He's not okay with evil prospering.

He's not okay with selfish gain.

He's not okay with oppression.

He's not going to let it go on unchecked forever.

Our God is a God of justice.

And so on one level, Habakkuk's response is completely right.

We should be offended by the evil that we see around us.

It should disgust us that the world is full of people just telling God that he doesn't matter, doing their own thing.

Every bit of pain and inequality and abuse and oppression that we see in the world that we live in is the direct result of people ignoring and rejecting God.

And so we should be offended by that.

We should have this frustration and desire for God to intervene, but we should be careful as well.

God's justice should also build in us a bit of humility.

As we look at a world that deserves God's judgment, we need to recognize that that's us too.

That if sin's the problem out there, sin's in here as well.

So I've got a problem too.

It's good and right to be offended by what's out there, but are you equally offended by what's in here?

Habakkuk is focused on his circumstances, on the difficulty that he's experiencing as the measure of whether or not God is just.

He's looking at this tiny little picture, but after pausing and reflecting on God's character, he realizes there's a bigger story.

I just want to be clear.

One thing that the Bible makes crystal clear is that if you're doing well in life, if things are good, you're comfortable, money's flowing, job's well, you're getting promotions, that's not evidence that God approves of you.

Equally, if you're suffering, if you're struggling, if things are going wrong, that is not evidence that God disapproves of you.

Chapter 2 of Habakkuk, God chooses Babylon, this evil, pagan-worshipping nation, to be the instrument of judgment.

They will come in and effectively wipe out Israel in a way it will never recover from fully.

They will be the most prosperous nation in the world at that time.

But we also know from chapter 2 that their judgment is just around the corner as well.

We need to see more than just the immediate circumstance.

More important than the day-to-day consequence.

More important than the day-to-day issues that we're wrestling with.

More important than what you do or don't have is how God sees you.

And you can't work that out just by focusing on your situation.

The loss that Habakkuk feels when he looks at evil people winning is real.

It hurts, but it's tempered a little bit by the eternal reality that those who reject God will face judgment.

That that is an inescapable reality.

Nice houses, career advancements, comfort in this life, when it's collected at the expense of obedience to and worship of God, will count for nothing.

In fact, worse than that, will ultimately bring you under the judgment of God.

God's justice is bigger than ours.

It doesn't just exist in the here and now, in your day, in your week, in your situation, in your season of life.

God is just throughout all of time.

And his justice will come whether you and I get to see it with our own eyes or not.

It will come.

Because God's justice is unstoppable.

It's the first thing that Habakkuk has had to reckon with.

The second thing he learns here in chapter 3

is that God's justice, his wrath, and mercy actually go together.

Even in these three short chapters of Habakkuk, there's been this tension between judgment and mercy.

Habakkuk's heard that there's going to be judgment on Israel.

He's heard that there's going to be judgment on Babylon.

God will do this.

But he's also heard of God's fame, of God's deeds, of God's reputation,

that he's a God who saves.

That's what he does.

That's how he works.

He rescues.

He shows grace.

And he's beginning to catch this glimpse

that actually those two things always sit together.

It's not wrath or mercy.

It's wrath and mercy.

The way God works is to bring wrath so that there can be mercy.

And so he prays in verse 2,

Lord, I've heard of your fame.

I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day.

In our time, make them known.

In wrath, remember mercy.

It's a prayer.

God, do what you do.

Work how you work.

Work.

That's what verses 3 to 15 are about.

It's this collection of stories

of how God has dramatically saved them throughout history.

You can chat to the kids out of Kids Church

who are doing Exodus at the moment.

There's little allusions to the time when he led them through the sea,

the way he judged Israel with the plagues,

the way that he won battles for them

as they moved into the Promised Land.

God has been merciful to his people.

God continues to be merciful to his people.

And along the way, he continues to judge those who oppose them.

Wrath and mercy come together.

God's mercy isn't trumped by his justice.

It's not one or the other.

God is just and merciful.

Even as God proclaims his judgment for Israel and for Babylon,

story after story of God pouring out on his enemies what they deserve,

God is always at the same time working to rescue those who are his.

That's the one work that he's doing throughout the Bible.

He's saving his people.

The building agenda is God saving his people

and time after time he works through wrath to achieve that outcome.

When we get to the New Testament,

it's perfectly on display for us.

When we get to the cross and we see Jesus there,

God doesn't soften on justice at the cross.

The cross is a visible expression for us

of how seriously God takes rebellion against him,

of how much sin matters.

But the same action of the cross is the moment of ultimate mercy.

As God provides his son in our place to take our wrath,

to take our judgment, to offer us forgiveness,

to offer us mercy.

Wrath and mercy go together because Jesus is our substitute.

The Bible is full of stories time and time again.

This is how God always works.

Habakkuk's demands of God have softened to become requests

of the righteous God.

He's moved from,

God, why aren't you doing anything?

To,

God, when you bring the judgment that you need to bring,

please remember mercy.

Please forgive me.

Please let me be part of that mercy,

that saving work that you're doing.

This glimpse of God that he gets as he recalls

who God has revealed himself to be over and over again

enables Habakkuk to see that sin lives in him.

That the issue, the problem lives in him as well.

It enables him to see that the issue is deeper than his situation.

It's deeper than some evil people getting away with their evil.

It's deeper than there being inequality or oppression.

The issue in our lives,

the issue in the troubled times we face,

the issue when we suffer is that we have rejected God.

And therefore, we rightly deserve his punishment.

We rightly deserve the judgment that he would bring.

Our situations and our circumstances,

our struggles,

our symptoms,

they're the proof that when you reject God,

there is consequences.

It's what Romans 1 talks about.

When we reject God,

he actually hands us over and says,

okay,

but you've got to live with the choice you've made.

You've got to roll with what happens

when you ignore what I teach you

and what I show you.

And yet, so often,

when we look at our difficult situations,

all we see is the cause that's out there.

All that we see is who else's fault it is

that I'm suffering right now.

We never stop to recognize

that we actually contribute,

if not to our own suffering,

to the suffering that exists in the world.

We never stop to look at our own heart

as we demand that God engage

and intervene and fix things.

We live in a culture

that takes no responsibility.

We sue the shopping center

when we fall over

on their perfectly flat floor.

We sue the car manufacturer

when we have an accident

when we were speeding

but their airbag didn't function

the way it's supposed to.

We don't like to take responsibility.

We like to blame.

It's somebody else's fault.

I'm entitled to this.

We need to recognize at some point

that even if our situation

is not directly my fault,

even if the struggle and pain

that you might be dealing with

right now in your life

is not your doing,

that we're still part of the issue.

Maybe you're sick.

Maybe you're struggling financially.

Maybe you're lonely.

And it genuinely is the fault of others.

It's not your fault.

I'm not telling you just change,

be nicer,

and your situation will be fine.

That's not the message.

I'm not saying it's your fault.

But as you wrestle with the results

of the sins of others

and how that impacts your life,

the Bible says that your sin is just as serious.

The Bible says that your sin is just as damaging.

The Bible says that your sin has just as much impact

on the world that you live in.

Sin is the problem.

It's what Habakkuk's getting a glimpse of.

At first, he's pointing at the evil in his own nation.

Then he's pointing at the evil in Babylon.

And finally, as he encounters God,

he begins to understand that evil lives here too.

That God's wrath is completely justified.

Until we can see that.

Until you can see that the problem's here too.

Until you can see that what we need is mercy.

More than intervention, what we need is mercy.

More than a change in circumstances,

what we need is Jesus.

The one who takes wrath for us.

The one who offers forgiveness freely

until we can see that he is what we need.

We will never know the kind of joy

that Habakkuk speaks of.

What we need in our troubled times

is someone who can deal with our sin.

What we need is somebody who can give us the confidence

that God loves us

even when it might not feel like it.

What we need is some proof

that God will not let this remain how it is.

That he will fix it in his timing.

And that in the fixing,

in the justice that he will bring,

that for us that will mean mercy.

Habakkuk encounters God.

He's heard of God's fame.

He's heard of God's deeds.

But has his situation changed?

From chapter 1 to chapter 3,

has anything moved?

Not at all.

Still the same?

He's still looking down the barrel of invasion.

Babylon is still coming.

And yet his response,

having seen God's fame and justice,

is,

I will rejoice in the Lord.

So what has changed?

What's different?

Well, like we said,

on one level, nothing.

All the things that were making him angry

and making him doubt God are still there,

but he can see them differently now.

I mean, listen to the response he has

to what he's heard.

James read it out for us.

He hears of God's fame

and he hears of God's deeds.

And it doesn't even say

this was an angelic vision.

There's not some blinding white messenger

speaking these words.

It just seems like he's heard it

and he's recalled it.

And his response to who God is,

to who God's revealed himself

to be in history is this.

Verse 16.

Have a look.

I heard

and my heart pounded.

My lips quivered at the sound.

Decay crept into my bones

and my legs trembled.

Yet I will wait patiently

for the day of calamity

to come on the nation invading us.

Suddenly, having taken a moment,

he remembers who he's talking to.

He is challenging the God of heaven,

the creator,

the one who holds the entire creation

in his hand,

sustains it by his very will,

the infinite and good God.

Just hearing about how that God

has engaged in our history,

just hearing what he's done

and who he is,

brings a physical reaction

from Habakkuk.

Have you ever sat in church,

reading the Bible,

and heard of the wonder of God

and realized with this kind of humility

who it is that we're meeting with right now?

Who it is who's speaking to us?

All that's left for Habakkuk

when he is faced with the God Almighty,

the just and merciful God,

is patient waiting.

Patient waiting for God to do what God does,

what God has always done,

what God will always do.

Judge wickedness

and save those who belong to him.

It's happened before.

It keeps happening.

It's going to keep happening.

Finally confronted with that reality.

All he can do is humbly wait.

Patiently wait.

But not even just patiently wait.

Joyful, almost defiant waiting.

Not just I'm going to grip my teeth

and tolerate this,

but look at verse 17.

Having encountered God,

he says,

though the fig tree does not bud,

there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the field produces no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen,

no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The sovereign Lord is my strength.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.

He enables me to tread on the heights.

Situation and circumstance

are no longer the basis

on which Habakkuk will despair or rejoice.

That's not how he decides

whether or not things are good or bad,

no matter what happens.

Regardless of circumstance,

in the worst possible picture he can paint.

Like, verse 17 doesn't make a lot of sense

to us right now.

We're not farmers.

We're not dependent on the trees producing

at certain times.

We're not worrying about

how many animals are in the stalls.

As long as Coles has got stock shelves,

we're okay.

The picture he's painting is starvation,

homelessness, loneliness, isolation.

Everything is going wrong,

yet I will rejoice.

What's changed for him

is the starting point.

See, at the beginning of this book,

Habakkuk gets his situation,

he gets all worked up

and he takes it to God

and says,

God, look at what I'm dealing with.

Look at what I have to put up with.

And there's a real rightness to that.

God invites us to bring our struggles to him.

But by the end of this book,

just a few short chapters,

he's now taking God to his circumstances

and saying,

hey, look at my God.

Look at who I follow.

Look at how he works.

Look at the power that he has.

Look at what he always does.

Look at the reality that you're ignoring.

He's saying,

my God is unstoppable.

When I first started school,

I remember getting in trouble occasionally.

Nothing drastic.

Just talking too much.

Not finishing my work.

That sort of thing.

And my teacher's go-to threat was,

if you keep doing this,

I will call your parents.

It freaked me out.

I remember thinking,

I'm going to get smacked or grounded

on top of having to do detention

or pick up papers or something.

So usually that threat was enough

to keep me in line.

Now, I'm sure that you won't be surprised to hear

that eventually I did cross the line.

I can't remember exactly what I did.

But I do remember standing next to the teacher after class

as she called my parents.

She was pretty worked up about whatever I'd done.

Again, I don't remember what it was.

And so she started the conversation

with a fair bit of energy,

talking with a lot of enthusiasm and anger

to, I think it was my dad at the time.

Progressively, as the conversation went on,

she became more subdued.

And at the end of the conversation,

she hung up the phone

and she dismissed me

and didn't say anything.

Now, I had no idea what was going on

in that phone call,

so I assumed I was in trouble

and spent the rest of the day

dreading the return home

and what kind of fierce punishment

would await me.

When I eventually got there,

my dad sat me down for a chat.

He didn't yell.

He asked me my side of the story.

And then he made something clear to me

that has stuck with me ever since.

He said, you need to know

you're my son

and I've got your back.

Now, this isn't a blank check.

He wasn't saying do whatever you want at school.

There'll be no consequences.

In fact, there was some pretty

significant consequences

on some other occasions.

But the point he wanted me to understand

is that he was my dad.

He wasn't a threat

that could be used against me.

The default for our relationship was

he loved me

and no one else had the power

to mess with that.

He would love me just as much

if I did the wrong thing

as he would when I did the right thing.

He loved me enough to trust me

and ask me my side of the story

even though I was a 14-year-old kid

and there was an adult teacher

saying what kind of a person I was.

And he wouldn't assume.

What that meant

was for the rest of my school career,

again, on the very rare occasion

that a teacher threatened

to contact my parents.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that rare.

But when it did happen,

I wasn't scared.

They were trying to use this situation

and use what I'd done

and use what was around me

to try and scare me

into thinking that my parents

were going to be super angry.

But it didn't work

because I knew my parents

and I knew my parents loved me

more than that.

Now, the point isn't,

hey, we're loved by God,

we can do whatever we want.

The point is that

when we change our starting point,

we can actually sit in the challenge

and struggle,

in the trial,

in the pain,

secure

that our God's justice

is unstoppable.

Secure that His love for us

is constant and unfailing.

When you encounter pain

and suffering in your life,

when things are not the way

that you want them to be,

when that drags out for seasons

and weeks and months and years,

we engage that

knowing God's wrath and mercy

go together.

Knowing those that,

that they're bigger

and more powerful

than our situation.

And so as we start to struggle,

as we start to drown,

instead of taking our situation

to God,

we just quickly point to our God.

We remind ourselves

that He has always

come through with justice.

and He will not fail.

We remind ourselves

that He has always

come through with mercy.

He faithfully rescues

and forgives His people

and so we rejoice.

Because no matter

what you are sitting in right now,

and I'm not trying to say

it doesn't hurt,

but no matter

what you are in right now,

no matter what you face in life,

when you know your God,

you know two things.

You know He loves you

and you know

nothing can change that

and you know

that justice will come.

That whatever injustice

you are experiencing

and suffering

because of right now

will not be forever.

We have the gift

that Habakkuk did not.

We stand thousands of years

after Him,

this side of Jesus.

We've got a new set

of challenges in our lives,

we've got a new set

of struggles,

we live in a different world

in a bunch of ways,

but we're asking

the exact same questions.

It could be that

you arrived here right now

and those questions

are on the tip of your tongue.

Why God?

Why are you leaving me here?

When God,

will you intervene?

Not like that God,

I've got a better idea.

And God's incredible answer

to us

is Jesus.

God's answer

is to send

an innocent Savior

to die on the cross

so that you're forgiven.

God's answer

is to give you

the grace

of inviting you

into His family

that you might know

the secure

and immovable love

of being called

a son and a daughter

so that we might

look to what

He's already done,

look to Jesus' death

for us

and know that our God

is now,

was before

and always will be

the God

who judges evil.

But gives grace

to unworthy people

like us.

We know that our God

will not let the guilty

go unpunished

and yet we know

His mercy never fails.

We can walk into

situations and circumstances

and struggles

and trials

confident

pointing at our God,

pointing at the empty cross

and the empty tomb

and Jesus on the throne

in heaven

and say,

you don't have power

over me anymore

because I'm loved

by the God

who's in charge.

How do we get there?

How do we move?

How does this not just be

some intimidating ideal

that we can't quite attain?

Well, how did Habakkuk

get there?

He heard.

He heard.

He listens to.

He recounts.

He recalls.

He remembers

the fame of His God,

the deeds of His God.

This chapter,

chapter 3,

did you notice

those weird little bits

at the beginning

and the end?

This is like

a corporate prayer.

That's what those

instructions are about.

It's a prayer

they would have said

together as a nation

of Israel.

They're training themselves

to remember

who God is.

They're hearing regularly.

That's right.

Our God

is just.

His justice

never fails.

That's right.

Our God is merciful.

Remember what He did

time and time again?

And they would hear

so that they could

wait patiently.

Habakkuk journeys

from doubt

through indignation

to kind of

humble adoration

and ends in this place

of bold,

joyful faith.

Because He hears.

The invitation for you,

wherever you are

right now,

whether you're

in that place of doubt,

whether you're traveling

fantastically,

and this is all

hypothetical,

the idea of suffering

and troubled times,

wherever you're at,

the invitation is to hear.

The invitation is to see,

to remember,

to listen,

to be reminded

that the God you follow

is good,

is just,

is faithful,

is merciful.

It's to hear,

to see,

to listen,

to look,

and to remember Jesus.

And then to rejoice in Him.

To enjoy Him

in your darkness.

To know security

and stability

in your uncertainty.

Though money

might be tight,

friendships

might be broken,

people might hurt you

and let you down,

you might lose your job,

obedience to Jesus

might cost you

temporary pleasures,

there will be pain

and loss.

And yet the invitation

is to find joy

in the faithful,

constant,

and unchanging love

of God.

Lord,

I have heard

of your fame.

I stand in awe

of your deeds,

Lord.

Repeat them

in our day.

In our time,

make them known.

In wrath,

remember mercy.

Let's pray.

Father God,

we want to come before you

and acknowledge that

this is a step,

this is a journey,

this is a movement

that we need to make,

this is not easy.

And so Father,

we ask that you would

help us to hear,

help us to see,

in the pit,

in the valley,

open our eyes

to remember

our Savior,

our risen Savior,

our victorious Savior.

Give us the confidence

confidence,

to trust in your justice

and your timing.

Give us the security

of knowing

your mercy

and your love

to us in Jesus.

Empower us

to rejoice

in every trial

and every season

so that the world

around us

may know

the hope,

the love,

the forgiveness,

the grace

that is only found

in Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.