On Hold | The Struggle Is Real | Trinity Sermons

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons.

Waiting is a pretty universal experience.

I think we all know what it's like to wait for something.

Whether you're waiting for your cookies to finish baking, waiting for a flight, or waiting

for an answer on your job application, we've all had to wait for things.

And if you know the end results, the delicious cookies, the reunion with family, the dream

job, then maybe the waiting is a little bit easier.

But if you don't know what you're waiting for, or you don't know how long it's going

to take, waiting is really hard.

And that's the situation that Habakkuk finds himself in today, as we continue our sermon

series, The Struggle is Real.

So stay tuned to find out how Habakkuk handles the wait.

Today's reading is taken from Habakkuk chapter 2, verses 1 to 4.

Habakkuk 2:1–4

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.

Then the Lord replied, write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a hair

old 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.

See the enemy is puffed up.

His desires are not upright.

But the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.

This is the word of the Lord.

It's very frustrating, isn't it?

When you are left on hold, I mean, not only is it just like you're waiting and waiting,

but there's that music, that music gets like torture.

It's like drives you crazy.

And then of course, the voice comes on, you know, we are currently experiencing a higher

than normal call volume.

Please stay on the line, right?

Nobody likes to be left on hold.

It sucks.

And as well, nobody likes to be left on read.

Now, I'm not sure if you know what this means, but in today's world of text messaging, when

you're left on read, it means you've sent a message to somebody and you know that they

have read the message because it says right there that they have read the message.

And yet for some reason they have not responded.

And that can be really frustrating.

Maybe you've messaged a friend or a family member, but maybe it was like a crush and

you're like waiting to hear back.

But when all you see is red, then it kind of says, you know, yeah, I see you there,

but I don't value you enough.

I don't value our relationship enough to actually get back to you.

Right.

Being left on read is like being marooned on a desert island.

You just you just feel so isolated and you don't.

By the way, if you ever find yourself on read, do not send this message.

Hey, you left me on read because then they'll just read that and they'll they'll leave you

on read again.

So don't do that.

But then now the latest one that has come up is is this Apple and one of its recent

iPhone updates started putting up this this new thing that they call a typing awareness

indicator.

It's that little bubble that pops up with the three dots in it.

And you can call it what you want.

But I think most people call those anxiety dots.

Right.

And when you see those things, what is it saying to you?

It's saying, OK, somebody is writing me a message now, but I don't know what it is.

I don't know when it's going to come through.

Is it a good thing?

Is it a bad thing?

Are they saying yes?

Are they saying no?

I don't know.

You just have to wait.

You have to wait till something happens.

And it's really, really frustrating when you're when all of a sudden it comes up and they're

typing something and then it goes away.

And now they're not typing.

And then it comes up.

Oh, now they're typing something again.

And now it's gone again.

And then finally, it comes up and like, OK, it's been up for a good long time.

They're going to have something really deep, something really meaningful to say.

And then finally, when you get the message, it just says something like, that's cool.

Right.

Or something like that.

It's so such a such a letdown.

So actually, there's a professor who has kind of studied the anxiety that these these things

kind of produce in our lives.

And he says that that typing awareness indicator on the iPhone conveys that something is being

done, but you don't know what it won't say what's being done.

And that is exactly how some of us may feel in our relationship with God.

It can feel like God leaves us on hold or God leaves us on red or God leaves us on the

edge waiting for a response.

And that can be really, really hard, especially if you've got a pressing burning question

or a real big problem in your life.

And you're like, God, I really need you.

God, would you please like pick up, pick up.

But it's just like being left on hold.

Sometimes God makes us feel like we're wasting our time.

It's like being left on red.

It can make us feel like God doesn't value our relationship.

And it can make us feel anxious, just like those three little dots when God never gets

back to us.

God, please, God, I need your help.

Please hold for the next available operator or whatever.

Or God, is my treatment working?

Am I going to be OK?

Your call is important to us.

Please stay on the line.

Or God, does she like me?

Will she like me back?

Will I have a job next week?

God, what do the lab results say?

Oh, please continue to hold.

Your call will be answered in priority sequence.

Waiting on God is infuriating sometimes.

But then you come across other people.

And you might know one of these people.

And they're also waiting for an answer from God.

But this is what they say.

They just say, oh, you know what?

It's OK.

I'm just waiting on the Lord.

I'm just waiting on the Lord.

What is, you know, when you hear someone say that to you, your first instinct is to deck

them, right?

Because you're like a ball of nerves, and you're really anxious.

And here they are.

They make you feel so unspiritual.

Because why?

Because, oh, they're just waiting on the Lord.

It's going to be OK.

Waiting on the Lord.

And it's almost become a cliche to say this.

What does it even mean to say, I'm waiting on the Lord?

You're waiting on the Lord?

Yes, I'm waiting on the Lord.

Now, as cliche and as frustrating as it could be, there's actually something to this statement.

Waiting on the Lord.

That is a theme that comes up again and again throughout the Bible.

So what does it mean to wait on the Lord?

What does it mean to wait for God?

Well, there's no better place to turn than the book of Habakkuk.

It's as good a place as any to find an answer to this question about waiting.

See, last week, we began this teaching series, which was called The Struggle is Real.

And we're looking at the book of Habakkuk.

And Habakkuk was a man who lived in really dark and difficult times.

We studied this last week, right?

He cried out to God, God, why is there so much evil around me?

God, why do you tolerate such injustice and wrongdoing?

And he complained about the evil and suffering in his world.

But God's response to Habakkuk was like, not good.

God gets back to him and says, oh, you think this is bad?

It's going to get even worse because the Babylonians are going to come in and they're going to

destroy everything around you.

So for Habakkuk, he was in the midst of really dark days.

Dark days were a coming for Habakkuk.

And last week, I tried to let you know that it's common for us to think that normally

life should be good times and good days.

And dark days are kind of the exception to the rule, but that's not true.

History tells us that's not true.

Habakkuk knows that's not true.

And maybe even your life would tell you it's not true.

That dark days come.

Difficult times come.

And there's nothing you can do about it.

You just have to deal with it.

Some people right now are dealing with the results of the American election last week.

And some of them are saying, oh, my gosh, dark days are coming.

Our country is going to be plunged into deep, deep darkness.

And all I want to say is, who knows?

Because on the one hand, it does sound rather extreme.

But on the other hand, it's, of course, very possible that it could happen because we know

darkness can come.

We know difficult days can descend on our lives and on our community, even on a whole

nations, just like that.

And there's nothing we can do about it.

But Habakkuk does teach us how to wait on the Lord.

You know, in the midst of dark days, there's something we can do, and that is wait.

That's actually a good thing.

You know, Habakkuk starts in verse one with Habakkuk asking God a question.

Then in verse five, God gives his first response.

Then in verse 12, Habakkuk asks his second question.

And then nothing.

Silence.

No answer from God.

Habakkuk is waiting.

He's waiting.

He's waiting.

The beginning of chapter two has Habakkuk waiting for an answer from God.

But what we learned from this is that waiting time is not wasted time.

One of the most important ways that we can face dark days is by learning how to wait

on God.

And so today, if you're waiting for something, you're waiting for a change, you're waiting

for a relationship to get better, you're waiting for a job, you're waiting for healing, whatever

you're waiting for, please don't panic.

Okay?

Because with God, the waiting time is not just a waste of time.

The waiting time actually allows some space for really important things to happen in your

life.

So here are some little sermon notes that you should have got.

I would advise you to follow along because we need to learn how to make the most of waiting

times in our lives.

Here's the first thing, and that is that waiting allows us the opportunity to give up control.

Because you see, when we're waiting, our instinct is almost always to take control, right?

We don't like feeling out of control.

When there's nothing happening, it feels like weakness in our lives.

And so what we want to do is we want to do something.

We got to start something.

We got to get control back.

But actually waiting times give us an opportunity to do the exact opposite thing.

And that is to not take control, but to release control.

God tells Habakkuk, this is really important to kind of understand what's happening here.

God tells Habakkuk that an answer to his prayer, a vision is coming in a future time.

But actually, the Hebrew word for future time is better translated at an appointed time,

meaning God has appointed a time when he's going to answer Habakkuk.

God has a plan.

Habakkuk doesn't know what that plan is.

Habakkuk doesn't know the timing of that plan, but God is in control of that time.

He has an appointed time, and Habakkuk's not in control, but God is.

And then God says, it will certainly come, and then he repeats himself, it will not delay.

That is, again, a little thing that in the Hebrew literature, it's called a double affirmation

when you say the same thing twice in different words.

And that's just to reinforce that this is a promise God is going to keep.

God's plan is going to unfold according to his timing and according to his plan.

It's not your plan.

You can't control this.

This is in God's control.

And so in waiting times, what we can do is just not try to get the control back, but

to surrender the control to God, trusting he's got an answer and he's got a timing,

and it'll all sort itself out when the time is right.

I know that lots of us have tried to give up control to God from time to time.

We've gotten down on our knees and we said, God, I got this problem.

I give it to you.

I surrender it to you.

God, you take control.

The problem is then we get up from our knees and then we immediately go to our friend and

we say, you know, I have this awful problem going on in my life.

I don't know what to do.

I'm freaking out about it.

And that, of course, means you haven't really given up control.

You're still trying to be in control.

So I want to say, whatever you're struggling with today, whether it's a national disaster

that you see looming or just a family squabble, and it seems like God has got you on hold,

on red.

It's just you're waiting.

You're waiting.

Don't waste the waiting time.

Surrender things to God.

Surrender to God's timing because his purpose will come to pass and it'll be worth the wait.

You wait and see.

Waiting allows us the chance to give up control to God.

That is the very first thing.

That's number one.

But secondly, waiting also allows us to grow our character.

Now I know that not many of us walk around saying things like this.

Oh, I'm so glad I'm going through a difficult time.

I'm so glad I'm struggling.

I'm so glad for these dark days because it gives me such an opportunity to grow and to

become more like the kind of person God wants me to be.

Bring on the difficulty.

I want to grow.

That's not how a lot of us think.

More often than not, when difficult times come, it turns us into anxious people and

bitter people, not better people.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

Waiting times can be times of transformation and character formation if we meet our troubles

with trust.

And if we meet our problems with patience, then man, oh man, God can do some real transformation

in your life.

The apostle Paul knew this.

He had been through all sorts of dark times, difficult times, beatings, flogging, stoning,

shipwrecks, hunger, thirst, betrayal, opposition, weakness, illness.

All these things could have turned him into the most bitter person you would ever want

to meet that you wouldn't want to meet.

And yet that's not what happened to him.

Why?

Because Paul would later write that he glories in his suffering because he knows that suffering

produces perseverance and perseverance produces character and character produces hope.

It is true that pressure can crush you if you let it, but pressure can also turn a lump

of coal into a diamond.

Pressure can destroy your spiritual life or pressure can give you a better spiritual life

than you ever had before.

A good example of this is in the book of Job.

Job lost everything.

He lost his family.

He lost his wealth.

He lost his health.

And like Habakkuk, he was bitter about it and angry and he complained to God, but he

waited and he waited and he waited for answers until Job was able to say, ah, God knows where

this is going.

And when he tests me like this, I will come out pure as gold.

This is the lesson.

This is the lesson we have to learn time and time again that it's often through hardship

that spiritual growth comes.

Alan Keller once said that character can't be developed in ease and quiet.

Only through the experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened.

So again, waiting time is never wasted time.

One for first of all, we have to use that time to give up control.

Secondly, it gives us a chance to grow our character.

Thirdly, waiting time allows us to gain a new perspective.

You see, at first when Habakkuk is faced with his problems, all he can see is his problems.

That's his perspective.

He couldn't see anything else.

God was going to bring in the Babylonians, this group of people who were even worse than

Israel to teach Israel a lesson.

He couldn't understand that.

Couldn't get his head around that.

It made no sense.

But then, then he changes his perspective.

This is a great line from what we just read.

He says, I will climb up to my watch tower.

Now when Mandy read it, it said, I will climb up to the ramparts.

But another way to translate is a watch tower.

And I will look and I will see what God will say to me.

Now, what is a watch tower for?

Why did ancient cities build watch towers?

It was so you could get up there and you could see what was coming.

If you're on the ground, all you can see is what's directly in front of you.

But a tower gives you a different perspective.

It gives you a wider view.

It gives you a grander view.

You can see everything.

And the higher the tower, the more you can see.

Oh, you can see some visitors are coming.

Oh, you can see the bad weather is coming.

You can see that the enemy is coming.

You can see that the cavalry is coming.

You can see that the sun is rising or whatever the case may be.

I just want to say that whatever difficulties you are going through and all you can see

is the problems that are coming at you, maybe what you need to do is get above your problems

and look to God.

Extricate yourself from this very narrow view of life that you have and instead head up

the tower and look to God and see it from another vantage point.

Because when you do, when you see it in a new perspective, you will actually realize

that there's more going on than the little problem that is before you.

Hope is coming around the corner.

Again, Paul gives us a good example of this.

He was in the midst of pain and all sorts of persecution.

And so what does he do?

He says, hey, all that suffering is now nothing compared to, oh, what do I see coming?

I'm up in the tower.

What do I see?

God's glory is coming.

God's rescue is coming.

It is being revealed to us later.

He's gone into the tower.

He's now seen the bigger picture.

And with eyes of faith, now his problems become smaller because he can see what God is doing

and it is bigger.

That's how Paul handles his struggles.

He changes his perspective.

And that's how we can handle waiting times as well.

We see things one way.

God sees things another way.

I don't know if you noticed, but in that reading, two seemingly contradictory things are happening

at the same time, though it linger.

Wait for it, because it'll certainly come and not delay.

Well, how can something linger on the one hand and yet not delay on the other hand?

And the question, the answer is it's a question of perspective, right?

God sees things different than we do.

With God, a day is a thousand years, the Bible says, and a thousand years is like one day.

So all that to say, again, when you are waiting, you've got an opportunity to do something.

You've got an opportunity to gain God's perspective on your problems.

But still, there's a lot more.

Waiting time is not wasted time because waiting time also allows us to get to work.

I know, you know, we all know that often when we are stuck waiting around for something,

we don't do anything.

We're just waiting for God's answer and there's nothing to do.

So might as well just twiddle our thumbs.

We can't do anything while we're waiting.

We have to wait first.

But that's not true.

That's not true.

Habakkuk says that while he is waiting, he is going to stand at his guard post.

Or as we read, he will stand at his watch.

In the military, if you're a guard and you're on duty and you're standing at your watch,

then that's where you stand.

That's what you do.

It doesn't matter if you get tired or if you get bored or if you get sleepy or if you get

sick, you need to stand watch.

You've got work to do, right?

You can't say, I'm kind of bored.

I think I'm going to go home a little early today.

I'm not getting much out of this.

It looks fine.

You know, I'm sure there's no problems and I'm just going to cut out.

You can't do that.

If you do that, then the whole city might be attacked.

You've got to stand your guard.

You've got to stand watch.

And even though Habakkuk is struggling with God, even though he is going through dark

times, and even though God seems to put him on hold and left him on red, he is standing

guard.

He is standing his ground.

He will not leave his post.

And maybe I need to say that some people, when they're waiting on an answer for a prayer

from God, they've been waiting years and years and they're so disappointed that it feels

like, you know, I'm just going to walk away.

I'm going to leave my post, right?

Because you know, God seems so distant.

I'm not getting anything out of this.

So maybe I'll just, I'll take off.

I'll stop praying.

You know, I'll stop going to church.

I'll stop going to my life group.

I'll stop reading my Bible, right?

Waiting around doesn't mean we stop doing things.

A waiter does not sit around doing nothing.

No, he is busy.

He is busy serving.

And that's the kind of waiting that God has in mind as we wait for answers to our prayers.

You know, someone once told John Newton, they said, you know, I'm not getting anything out

of praying.

And his response was, well, you're definitely not going to get anything out of not praying

either.

So don't stop praying.

Don't leave your post.

Don't leave your watch.

Waiting time is still prayer time.

Waiting time is still worship time.

It's still serving time.

It's still time to get up.

Keep putting one foot in front of the next.

So waiting says, you know, it's a time for us to give up control.

It's a time for us to grow in our character.

It's a time for us to gain a new perspective and it's a time for us to get to work.

But finally, there's something you can only do in difficult times, something you can only

do in dark times.

And that is to gauge your motives because there is a big difference between waiting

on God to solve all your problems and just waiting on God.

There's a big difference between waiting on God to make things better or just waiting

on God himself.

Let's just go back to the book of Job, for example, because Job and Habakkuk actually

have a lot in common.

But at the beginning of the book of Job, Satan comes to God and says, hey, Job doesn't really

love you.

The only reason Job serves you is because you're so good to him.

You give him all these great things.

He doesn't really, really love you.

In fact, what would happen if you took away his money?

What would happen if you took away his health?

What would happen if you took away his family?

Then you'd actually see God, what his real motives were, and you'll see that he wasn't

waiting on you.

He was just waiting on the stuff that you give him, right?

And during times of waiting, we too have an opportunity to gauge our motives.

Can we pray Psalm 27 and say, I will wait for the Lord?

Or are we more likely to say, I will wait for the Lord to give me good things?

Or I will wait for the Lord to answer all my prayers just the way that I want?

Can we just say, I'm going to wait for the Lord?

Do we love God only when we get what we want?

Or do we love God because he's God?

Some people leave church.

They say, you know, I used to pray.

I used to go to church.

But then God never answered my prayers.

And so I just, I left.

But in that case, I'm not sure that God really was God.

God was just a vending machine.

And you were pressing buttons.

And he kept dispensing these sweet treats that you enjoyed.

But when the treats stopped coming out, then you stopped going to church.

You know, were you really waiting on the Lord?

Or were you waiting on the stuff that he could give you?

The only time in your life that you can really find an answer to that question is when you're

going through trouble.

It's only in the dark days that you have the opportunity to see why you got into this relationship

with God in the first place.

Because only then will you have the opportunity to love God when there's no benefit to you

at all.

And if you still love him then, waiting times give us the chance to find out whether we

follow God to serve him or to get God to serve us.

You know, Tom Petty was totally right.

The waiting is the hardest part.

Whatever it is you're waiting for, it sucks to be on hold.

It sucks to be on read.

It's horrible to be on edge waiting to see if God's going to get back to you.

Some of us here today, we've got anxiety dots all over our life and we can't even sleep

at night because of all this.

But remember, waiting time is not wasted time.

Waiting time allows us to give up our control, to grow our character, to gain a new perspective,

to get to work and to gauge our motives.

So Trinity, in the words of Psalm 27, wait on the Lord.

Be strong, let your heart take courage and wait on the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons.

This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church, Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario on November

10, 2024.