HABAKKUK Waiting On God

waiting for food at a restaurant, waiting to cross at the lights.

I've been living here in Chatswood for almost two months,

and I'm sick of waiting in traffic,

waiting for a husband or wife to get ready, no elbowing,

waiting for kids to do anything.

Waiting makes us impatient, makes us angry.

We've been conditioned through fast food

and the instant gratification of the internet

to get what we want and get it now.

And if we don't get it, well, we should complain.

What do you mean I have to wait?

You know, don't you know who I am?

I don't care that these three people paid before I ordered.

I want my coffee right now.

It's not just a personal shift, but it's also a cultural one too.

We as a society have lost the ability to wait.

You only have to go back a generation,

and people would do things like send letters to each other

and then wait to get a letter.

Does anybody remember that?

I remember waiting for letters.

It's a little bit less exciting, you know, checking the mail these days.

It's just bills and packages.

You would wait in line at the bank to get cash out,

and you would listen to the radio or to the wireless

in the hopes of hearing your favorite song.

I do remember back in the day having a cassette tape

and waiting to hear my favorite song,

and then I'd hit record on it.

Some young people would have no idea what that looks like.

But what is the impact of our impatience

on our relationship with God?

Do we expect that God should just jump at our prayers

and deliver what we want in 30 minutes or less,

or we get a refund?

We don't want to endure a pain or hardship.

We cry out, God, why am I suffering?

Why am I enduring loss?

Why have I lost this family member?

Why am I waiting to get a job?

Why don't I have children yet?

Why aren't you providing for me?

Why are there still problems and struggles in my life?

I think one thing we can do is we can get caught up

just remembering part of who our God is.

We remember that our God is loving and merciful,

and we think that He should just obey our every command.

And we can forget that our God is massive

and powerful and sovereign,

and He works at His good pleasure.

The truth is, waiting is hard.

Waiting on God is one of the hardest parts of Christianity,

and yet it's also one of the most important parts

of Christianity.

Today we're continuing our series,

Reasonable Faith in Unreasonable Times,

and we're looking at the book of Habakkuk.

Last week we looked at chapter 1,

and we saw that Habakkuk was crying out

because of all the injustice that he saw in Judah.

Habakkuk cried out asking God,

why aren't you doing anything?

And God replied, I am.

I am going to bring justice.

I'm going to bring the biggest superpower, Babylon,

and they're going to judge Judah.

And Habakkuk cried out,

what?

How can you bring those evil people to judge Judah?

They're so much worse.

And Habakkuk is trying to understand

how a good and pure God

could allow a sinful army

to come and attack God's people.

And this is where we find Habakkuk today.

He has cried out to God,

God has answered him,

and Habakkuk wasn't satisfied with that response,

so Habakkuk's gone back with another question,

and now we find him waiting on God.

Waiting for God.

It is such a strange phrase.

Just wait for God.

Have you ever had someone say to you,

just wait for God, just wait?

Well, what does it mean for Habakkuk to wait for God?

And what does it mean for us

as we cry out and wait for God?

We need to come to our God in prayer for this,

asking that he would teach our hearts,

so I'm going to pray now.

Heavenly Father,

as we look at your word this evening

and we learn how to wait just like Habakkuk had to.

Teach our hearts to have patience before you, Lord.

Amen.

So please have a look at me,

with me at Habakkuk chapter one.

It will be on the screen

as we look at these four short verses.

from chapter two, verse one.

I will stand at my watch

and station myself on the ramparts.

I will look to see what he will say to me

and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

Habakkuk has said his peace,

he's questioned God,

he has expressed his concern,

and now he is going to wait.

He takes his concern to God and he waits.

And what does waiting look like?

Well, it's active.

It's not passive.

He's actively looking for God's response

and he's going to persist as he waits.

And Habakkuk paints this picture

of waiting on God persistently

like a century in a watchtower.

Imagine you've got a city,

it's walled in,

and you've got towers

where you can watch over where the enemy comes.

That's what the ramparts are,

the towers where the centuries would stand.

And the job of the century

is to be on the lookout,

be watching persistently.

You have to stay there your whole shift.

It's not a job you can say,

I'm a little bit bored.

Maybe I'll have a nap.

Maybe I'll duck down to the castle cafe

for a skim milk latte.

It's not that kind of job.

If he takes his eyes off the target,

even for a minute,

he could miss seeing the approach of an enemy

and the defenses might not be ready in time.

Being a century on a tower

requires immense persistence.

This is what Habakkuk is doing.

He is waiting and watching for God's answer

with persistence.

Now Habakkuk wasn't really on the walls,

but this verse creates the idea

that he was determined and persistent,

waiting for God's response.

And he has full confidence

that God would answer his prayer.

He's just going to keep waiting

until God answers him.

Not only is he watching for God,

he is determined not to miss God's response

when it does come.

And when God does speak,

he's not going to be too busy with life.

He's not going to be distracted doing other things.

He's not like a person who asks God for something

and then forgets that they've asked,

so that when God does provide or answer,

they miss it.

He is watching.

He is persistent.

His eyes are on God.

His eyes are on the prize.

Waiting can be passive,

like you're just in a shop waiting for a coffee.

But here, waiting on God is active.

It's persistent waiting for God.

So for us, waiting on God means to keep waiting.

And so we shouldn't despair

when God doesn't answer as quickly as we would like.

It's an encouragement not to throw the towel in

when Christianity and our Christian walk

isn't as it should be.

I think far too often we can rebel

against God's lack of response.

Maybe it goes something like this.

I've prayed to God

and God hasn't answered me as quickly as I like.

And so I feel self-pity.

Woe is me.

God doesn't talk to me.

And so I'm going to stop going to church

as much as I used to.

Maybe I'll stop reading my Bible,

stop praying to Him.

Because what's the point of listening

and talking to God

if He's not going to talk to me?

And maybe I stop going to Bible study,

community group.

Maybe we distance ourself from God.

But also from the way He's going to talk to us

through His Word and through people.

Now imagine you're that sentry on the tower.

You've been sitting on that watchtower

for your whole career,

12 hours a day,

every day of the week.

And you've never seen anything.

And so you finally think,

I've had enough.

That's it.

I'm going to quit.

I'm going to go down.

And so you climb down the tower.

You go and hide somewhere.

It doesn't take too long.

Eventually the military comes

and drags you out of whatever hole

you've been hiding in.

And you get court-martialed,

dragged before a judge,

a military judge.

And the judge says,

why did you leave your post?

And you respond,

well,

I just didn't want to wait anymore.

It was too hard to keep on waiting.

Do you think the judge would be okay with that?

No, I don't think so either.

For us,

it's the same with God.

We need to continue to be persistent.

Waiting for God is active.

And Habakkuk,

he is persistent as he looks

and waits for God to answer.

He is like that sentry in the watchtower.

Waiting for God to respond,

we must persist,

even when it's hard.

Now, we don't know how long it was

that Habakkuk was waiting,

but we do know that God answered him.

He did receive God's answer.

Have a look at verse two.

Then the Lord replied,

write down the revelation

and make it plain on tablets

so that a herald may run with it.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time.

It speaks of the end

and will not prove false.

Though it linger,

wait for it.

It will certainly come

and will not delay.

The Lord's answer is a special one.

Habakkuk is to write it down.

Habakkuk might not remember it.

He might not remember everything,

but everyone needs to know this message.

It's an important one.

So write it down on tablets.

I can't help but think of the,

you know,

the movies with the Ten Commandments in it,

these big stone tablets.

It's that kind of idea.

Clay tablets.

Write it down

so a herald could carry it

and run out

so that you could leave it somewhere

and people could see it and read it.

Now, our minds can do funny things

with messages

and God didn't want to leave Habakkuk

any room for error.

He wanted this message

to be preserved with accuracy.

So write it down.

Write it down

because there was going to be

a period of waiting

for God

after this.

Verse 3,

Habakkuk had to wait

for God to answer.

And now that God has answered,

God says,

wait.

I am bringing justice

and I am working,

but you are going to have to wait.

You must have patience.

It is close,

but it might seem far off

for humans,

but it will come without delay.

There's an emphasis here

on the different timings

and there's a difference

in our perception.

God perceives time

very differently to us.

For God,

80 years goes in the blink of an eye,

but for us,

it is a lifetime.

Habakkuk,

just like us,

wanted God to act

and to act immediately.

But God is God

and his timings are his own.

And so Habakkuk

had to wait with persistence

and now he waits with patience.

Are you patient?

Would the person sitting next to you

describe you as patient?

You've got 15 seconds.

Ask them.

No, no, no, don't, don't, don't.

I'm just joking.

Maybe you say,

oh, look, patience,

that's not my virtue.

I've got other virtues.

I'm not one of those patient people.

I don't deal well with that.

And you just laugh it off,

maybe like you're doing right now.

Patience is the opposite of pride.

From Ecclesiastes 7,

it says,

the patient in spirit

is better than the proud in spirit.

Patience comes from a place of humility,

where we put someone else before ourself.

I have a three-year-old daughter, Tamara,

and patience can look like

putting her conversation

above what I need to say to her.

And so she will go on and on

and talk about leaves and dolls,

probably as Evie would know from Kids Church.

And so patience with my daughter

looks like saying,

what you have to say is valuable

and so I'm going to listen to you.

Patience before God

is actively saying,

God, you are sovereign

and things happen in your time

and not in my time.

The book of James chapter 1 says,

James 1 · chapter mention

the testing of your faith

develops patience.

Romans 5 says,

suffering produces patience or perseverance.

And patience and perseverance

develop character

and character hope.

When trouble,

dark times and suffering hit,

they are an opportunity

to learn

patience.

They're an opportunity

to learn

how to wait on God.

Imagine you're going out,

you're going on holidays.

Where would we like to go on holidays?

Does anybody want to pick a place?

Somewhere you can drive to preferably.

Sorry?

Where are we going?

I'm thinking Queensland

because we're going to New Zealand.

I'm not sure about driving to New Zealand

unless we've got some kind of

fancy new car.

Queensland?

Queensland?

Has anybody driven to Queensland before?

Yes?

Okay.

My family likes to go to Queensland.

Let's say you've got the car packed.

If there's kids in your family,

if you are those kids you are packed in,

you are looking forward to

theme parks,

sand and warm weather

and you're excited.

The whole family is excited

about leaving cold,

wet Sydney.

Is anybody with me

desiring this right now?

Yes?

Okay.

I've got you.

Good.

And you drive out

and you hit traffic.

Not just a little bit of traffic.

This is Chatswood

on a Friday afternoon

in the middle of a storm

with lanes blocked

on both sides

of the Pacific Highway

type traffic.

One of two things will happen.

Firstly,

maybe you feel yourself

starting to get

just a little bit cranky.

It's like getting hot

under the car,

just agitated.

You start to seethe.

This is taking too long.

What turns out,

what was just a minor inconvenience

all of a sudden

builds to four hours

in the car.

You haven't even left

the suburb yet.

You're snapping at the kids

or your partner in the car.

Everyone needs to go

to the toilet

but nobody can.

The people in the car

next to you

are there to blame

and you get angry

and even when you

finally get moving,

you're so angry

that the whole holiday

is ruined.

That's option one.

Maybe you can imagine that.

Option two,

a little bit different.

You get in traffic.

Instead of getting angry,

you acknowledge

that it's not

as it should be.

And instead of getting angry,

you wait patiently.

You go through

every single game

in the car you know.

And when you finally

get moving,

the family's okay.

Maybe just one or two

little cries out.

That's it.

But you've learnt patience

and you've grown.

What do we do

when suffering

and bad things

and troubles hit?

Do we thrash around?

Do we get angry?

Do we blame everyone else,

including God?

Or do we take

the God-given opportunity

to wait

and to learn patience?

When trouble hits,

when real difficulties,

when strife,

when suffering happens,

it can either

drive us

to God

to have a closer relationship,

to pray

and talk more to God,

or it can drive us

away from God.

Let it not be the latter

for us,

brothers and sisters.

We come to the final verse

of this short passage

for us today.

Verse 4.

See,

the enemy is puffed up.

His desires

are not upright,

but the righteous person

will live

by his faithfulness.

Here,

God is comparing

two different types

of people.

You've got the one

who is upright

before God

and the one

who is an enemy aggressor

that is puffed up.

I really like this term,

puffed up.

It's this picture

of someone

who is so full

of themselves.

They're just inflated.

They're like a balloon

filled up too far.

These arrogant,

puffed up people

are ready to burst

before God.

They're swollen

with pride

and self-importance.

On view here

is the Babylonian army.

They are self-righteous.

They are pursuing

every sinful act.

They're seeking

their own ends

and it just leads

to pride

and arrogance.

And it also leads

to death.

Verse 4 said,

the righteous

will live,

but the enemy

who is puffed up,

well,

the implication

is that it doesn't

lead to life.

It leads to death.

And so on view

is the Babylonian

army coming,

but it's also

anyone who is puffed up

or arrogant

before God.

God is holding

out his hand

to Judah

saying that

you can have life

even though

an enemy

is coming towards you.

God will vindicate

his people.

Life comes

to those

who have faith.

The righteous

don't think

of themselves

arrogantly,

but instead

look to God.

They've placed

their faith

in God.

This is a faith

that strips us

of our arrogance

and leads us

bare and needy

to God.

This is a,

it's a picture

of a contrast

between those

who think

they don't need

God

and those

who realize

they need

everything from God.

You see,

faith is humility.

It is the person

who admits

that they need

God's help

and what he has

to offer

and that they

can't do it

on their own.

And the view

of faith here

is waiting

in humility.

Waiting

on God

is faith.

This is what

faith is,

to take

someone else's

words,

to take someone

at their word.

Faith is to take

someone else

at their word.

Now,

is anyone engaged

here?

your daughter

got engaged

yesterday.

Tom's engaged.

I actually,

I think you're

sitting in the

same spot

Rad's was

this morning.

So,

Tom's engaged.

Okay,

let's use Tom

as an example.

Is that all right,

Tom?

Wonderful,

thank you.

It's just a very

short illustration.

So,

okay.

So,

Tom has made

a promise

to someone else.

He's made a promise

that he is going

to wait

for marriage.

When are you

getting married?

July.

Very soon.

Congratulations.

He's made a promise

that he's going

to get married

to Rad's

in July.

Now,

while he has

made that promise,

he is waiting

for that to come.

While he's waiting,

he doesn't go

and marry

someone else.

Don't,

don't go

and marry

someone else.

You,

he's made

these promises

and so Rad's

can have

faith

in his

promise

that he

won't go

and marry

someone else

and that

they'll get

married

in July.

Faith

in practice

looks like

waiting

and someone

waiting

means that

they have

faith.

God has

made promises

to Habakkuk

that he

will come

and Habakkuk

is to respond

by waiting.

Now,

the second part

of verse 4

may have

sounded familiar.

The righteous

will live

by faith.

The righteous

person will

live

by his

faithfulness.

Now,

this is

one of

the most

important

verses

in the

New Testament.

It's one

of Paul's

most important

phrases.

He quotes

this in

Galatians

and in

the book

of Romans.

Let me

read from

Romans 1.

It says,

For

in the

gospel

the

righteousness

of God

is revealed.

A

righteousness

that is

by faith

from first

to last,

just as

it is

written.

The

righteous

will live

by faith.

We

live

by faith.

God

has made

promises

to us

and faith

is waiting

on those

promises.

Just a

couple of

God's

promises.

God has

promised

that there

is only

life in

Jesus.

God has

promised

that he

will raise

us from

the dead

and God

has promised

that the

only way

to God

is through

Jesus.

He's the

only way

to God.

So having

faith means

waiting on

these promises.

We don't go

running somewhere

else to find

our satisfaction

in life.

We can only

get that in

God.

There's no

need to try

and extend

our life as

long as

possible or

even to fear

death.

Because we

will have

life in

the

resurrection

and we

eagerly want

to wait

for our

life with

the Lord.

That's what

waiting on

God's

promises

looks like.

Faith

in God

is

characterized

by waiting.

And we've

seen from

these four

verses that

waiting is

not passive,

it's active.

It's a

waiting that

is persistent,

it's patient,

and it is

done with

humility.

As I've

been writing

and preparing

this, I

haven't been

able to help

but think of

pregnancy.

Is anyone

pregnant here?

No, no, no,

tell me later,

it's fine.

What does a

pregnant woman

do as she

waits for

the baby?

You know,

after the

first 12 or

so, maybe

after the

first trimester

of vomiting

and all those

kinds of

fun things,

there's fun

things to do

like pick a

name.

Is it going

to be Harry

or Megan?

You have

to sort

out the

baby's

room,

what colour

is it

going to

be?

There's so

many decisions.

Do we find

out the

gender of

the baby?

What cot

do we get?

Do we get

a pram with

three wheels

or four

wheels?

Who are

going to

be the

godparents?

We have

to go to

prenatal

classes to

figure out

how to

hold this

baby.

And then

there's the

labour

itself.

And from

what I've

seen,

that can

be a long

active

waiting.

Sometimes

people cry,

get this

thing out

of me.

But sometimes

it can take

a long

time.

It's a

long wait.

So for

us,

our three

children have

made us

wait a

long time.

Isaac was

five days

late.

Tamara

was three

days late.

And Micah,

well, he was

having a great

time, so he

was seven

days late.

So Alyssa

and I would

do all kinds

of things,

like eat

chilli, go

for long

walks, bounce

on one of

those fit

balls to

try and

bring on

labour.

None of

them worked.

But waiting

for a baby

is an

active

exercise.

It takes

patience and

persistence.

And as a

father, plenty

of humility

because it's

not about the

father at

all.

The father's

job is to

support someone

else.

Can you

imagine if

someone found

out that they

were pregnant

and they

just decided,

I'm going to

wait for this

baby.

And then they

just, you

know, put

their feet

up and they

didn't do

anything for,

I don't

know, 35

weeks.

People would

ask, you

know, what

clothes is this

baby going to

wear when it

comes out?

Oh, I don't

know.

What are you

going to

name it?

We'll figure

it out later.

Waiting on

God does not

mean that we

just sit back

and do nothing

until he jumps

out and speaks

to us.

Waiting on

God is an

active exercise.

Waiting on

God looks like

persistence.

It looks like

patience and

it looks like

humility in

trusting God's

promises.

We keep

waiting even

when it's

hard because

we have a

God who is

faithful.

When times

are difficult

and when we

struggle, we

take the

opportunity to

learn patience

because patience

is humility

with God.

And when we

wait on God,

we grow in

our faith in

him.

Let me pray.

Heavenly Father,

we thank you

so much for

the opportunity

and challenge

it is to be

reminded to

wait on you.

Thank you for

Habakkuk's

encouragement.

Help us to be

persistent like

him, to watch

you like a

century in a

tower.

Help us to be

patient as we

wait, as we

put your timing

before our

own timing.

And Lord, we

ask that we

would remember

your promises

and we would

keep our eyes

fixed on those

as we wait

for the return

of your Son.

This we ask

in his name.

Amen.