How Long, Oh LORD?: Faith and Doubt

I was thinking about it, and I've been a Christian for almost 20 years.

I became a Christian right around age 21 and 40, so I suppose technically 19 years.

And if I look back over that period of time and all that has happened,

there is one consistent nagging question that has undoubtedly been the greatest source of doubt for me in my faith.

And yes, pastors are full of doubt sometimes, maybe even more so than other people.

And there's been one central cause behind most of my doubt, and that's the question of suffering, what we call theodicy.

Basically put this question of how, if God is all good and all powerful, can there be such suffering and evil and injustice in the world?

I have wrung my hands and stayed up late many nights wondering about that question.

And if you just quickly scan the headlines, you know, I did this on Friday.

I just kind of went and said, you know, what are the highlight headlines in the news?

Here's what I saw at like a three-minute glance.

Back-to-back hurricanes wreaking havoc, killing people and destroying homes and entire communities.

A bomb explosion in the London Underground.

North Korea menacingly firing missiles over Japan.

White nationalist rallies happening around the country.

That's just a three-minute scan.

And then I started thinking about the lives of people I know.

I mean, people right here in our own community.

Right now in our community, there are people struggling with loneliness,

with unwanted, unchosen singleness, or with marital strife, facing unemployment or impending unemployment.

People who are struggling because they are homesick.

People who are struggling because of challenges trying to parent their children.

Or maybe their kids are sick.

People facing sickness themselves.

People grieving the recent death of dear immediate family, loved ones.

I mean, all of this is happening right now.

And that's just a tiny sliver of what's going on in our greater community.

And so if you think about that, you realize that if you're a Christian and you have any integrity at all,

in a world like this, you have to face really tough questions.

You cannot be a Christian in a world like ours and not have to wrestle with very tough questions like this one.

The good news is we are not the first people to ask these questions.

And in fact, God's people have been asking these questions for thousands of years.

And if you look in the Bible, there's probably no one who asks hard questions with more brutal honesty than a man named Habakkuk.

He's one of the prophets.

You can find him in the Old Testament.

And Habakkuk, it's a short book, but it's packed with incredibly profound and unique writing.

Habakkuk is unique among the prophets that we see in the Bible for one major reason.

Most prophets follow a similar formula.

You have God, and then the prophet is aligned with God.

And the prophet, on behalf of God, is questioning the people.

Right? So the prophet speaks for God, and the prophet questions God's people.

Why do you go on sinning?

Why don't you come and repent?

Why don't you trust and put your faith in the Lord?

Why are you abandoning the Lord your God?

And this is the sort of central prophetic message that you see again and again and again.

Well, Habakkuk is different.

Habakkuk is not questioning God's people.

Habakkuk is actually aligning himself with God's people,

and Habakkuk is questioning God on their behalf.

And it's a very intense dialogue that we see unfold here.

And through all of this questioning of God, the pushback, the doubt,

somehow Habakkuk remains faithful.

So we're going to ask, how is that possible?

What do we have to learn from this amazing little book?

So we're going to be spending the next few weeks in a series called,

How Long, O Lord?

Asking this question together.

And tonight we really come to understand doubt

and the role that doubt plays in our faith.

So Habakkuk chapter 1 is going to show us a couple of things.

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

First, the doubt in our faith.

And then secondly, the promise in our pain.

The promise that is embedded deeply in the pain and suffering of the world.

So let's pray together as we get started.

Our Father, we thank you for your word,

and we thank you that sometimes your word is clear and makes sense,

and sometimes it's very hard to understand,

or it says things that we don't want to hear.

But we know that all of it is good and profitable,

and by the power of your Holy Spirit can equip us

and mature us and nourish us in ways that we cannot find anywhere else.

And so we come hungry and thirsty and open-hearted, Lord,

by the power of your Spirit to receive your word today.

We pray this in your Son's holy name. Amen.

So Habakkuk chapter 1, it really begins with a bang.

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

I mean, he dives right in.

There's no introduction.

He just gets right to it.

Brass-tax kind of guy.

But let me just give you a little bit of information about Habakkuk.

We don't know a whole lot about him.

He's one of what we call the minor prophets.

Now, don't let that make you think that he's less important.

You know, read the major prophets,

but the minor prophets are less important.

That's not what it's talking about.

Minor prophets simply means shorter in length.

So you have Isaiah, Jeremiah.

They're very long.

The minor prophets are a lot shorter.

Habakkuk's only three chapters.

So it's like book-length prophets versus blog-length prophets

is maybe a better way to think of it.

And Habakkuk is an interesting word name.

It's Akkadian.

And quite frankly, scholars can't agree on how to pronounce it.

And so I'm going to say Habakkuk.

Some people say Habakkuk.

The traditional Hebrew way of saying it is Habakkuk.

I tried that in the mirror,

and I just couldn't do it with a straight face.

Every time I did it, I would laugh.

And so I'm just not, I can't do that.

I'm not a speaker of Hebrew.

And so I'm just going to say Habakkuk,

for lack of a better option.

We don't know a lot about him personally,

but I think his words immediately resonate.

Just listen to how he opens his writing here.

The first four verses are Habakkuk talking to God.

And then verses 5 through 11 are God's response.

And then verse 12 through the end of the chapter, verse 17,

that's Habakkuk responding back to God's response.

So that's how it, you know, Habakkuk, God, Habakkuk.

That's how it goes.

So here's how it opens up.

Habakkuk says this to God.

Oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear?

Now is there anybody who has not said that?

How long will I cry for help, and you will not hear?

Or cry to you, violence!

Violence!

And you will not save.

You know, as I said before,

I think this is a question for the ages.

God, if you're all good and all powerful,

how can you look at what's happening to me, to us,

and not do anything about it?

Where are you?

And then God, as I said, answers in verses 5 through 11.

We'll look at that more in a little bit,

but suffice it to say,

it is not what Habakkuk expects at all.

It just makes things worse.

And so after that, in verse 13,

listen to what Habakkuk goes on to say.

He says in verse 13,

you who are of purer eyes than to see evil,

and cannot look at wrong,

why do you idly look at traitors,

and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man

more righteous than he?

So what's he saying there?

I mean, he's kind of being honest, right?

God, I know we're not perfect.

I know we deserve some judgment.

You know, nobody's saying we're perfect,

but they are way worse than us.

He's talking about the Chaldeans.

This is one of the words in the Bible for the Babylonians.

If you know anything about the Babylonians,

they were, as God himself says,

cruel and vicious and wicked and bloodthirsty.

They didn't even know or care about the God of the Bible.

They worshipped their own strength.

And Habakkuk is saying,

you know, we don't have our act together.

We've got some ways we need to shape up,

but we're nothing like them.

And then he says,

how do you dare to be a God who hates evil,

who claims to love goodness and justice?

You claim to love us,

and yet you're going to let them sweep across the world,

take us captive like a man would put sand into a jar.

And you've got to hear the desperation in his voice.

You know, at the core of his questioning of God,

Habakkuk is zeroing in on a disconnect that he perceives

between what God has revealed

and his lived experience.

That's the disconnect.

Right?

God, you say you're good,

and yet you seem to tolerate evil just fine.

God, you say you care about justice,

and yet we're drowning in injustice.

God, you say that you love us,

but from where I'm looking,

it seems like you've abandoned us.

God, you say,

help us understand.

That's the core of chapter one.

So you might say,

he's expressing some doubt, right?

So I want to stop there and just ask,

what are we meant to make of this?

Why is this in Scripture to begin with?

And I think it shows us a couple of things

just before we move on.

I want to focus a little bit on the implications of this.

The first thing it shows us is this.

It shows us that doubt is extremely important.

That in fact, for believers,

I think doubt is extremely valuable.

It's valuable.

Not only does God allow Habakkuk to doubt him,

right, these are some of the strongest words

leveled at God anywhere in the Bible.

I mean, he is towing the line of direct accusation.

God not only allows him to do that,

but then God takes this writing

and he places it in his canon.

This is holy inspired Scripture, right?

This is meant to be profitable

for our growth.

And this is, I think,

a clear sign

that doubt is meant to be

integral to a healthy,

maturing faith.

Right?

So, you know,

you can't really get this

unless you look at the whole book.

And sometimes, you know,

week to week, sermon by sermon,

we can lose the forest for the trees.

But if you look at the whole scope of Habakkuk,

commentators will say

that it's not just a book on doubt.

It's partly that.

But I think one of the best commentators out there

is a guy named Palmer Robertson.

And he says this.

He says,

Remarkably,

the reader is allowed

the unique privilege

of witnessing the progress

of the prophet himself

in submitting to a new concept

of the Lord's purposes

among Israel and the nations.

The idea of growth

or maturing in faith

is essential to appreciating

the genius of this prophecy.

You hear what he's saying?

This isn't just about doubt.

As he expresses doubt,

we get to see Habakkuk grow

and mature

because he's doing that.

And if you look at the book,

Habakkuk begins in sorrow,

but you know how it ends?

In song.

The whole third chapter

is a song of praise.

Now, some of you grew up

in religious homes

and you grew up

or religious churches

where the culture

was very much about

accept what you've been taught

and don't ask questions.

And if you asked hard questions,

well, this seems to be

an inconsistency

and how do we understand this?

And these two books

seem to contradict each other.

You know, people,

parents or pastors

would say,

don't ask questions.

Faith means just accepting

even if you don't understand.

Right?

And so some of us were taught

that if you ask questions

or have doubts

and express those,

that means you have

a weak faith.

Well, I think that Habakkuk

shows us the exact opposite

is true.

That in fact,

not asking questions

means you have

a weak faith.

Because what that shows you

is that your faith

is like this really

delicate house of cards,

this sand castle,

this glass sculpture

and that you have to

protect it

from even a strong wind

that might knock it over.

That's a weak faith.

A strong faith

is a faith

that can hold up

even in the storm,

even when everything

is breaking loose

and things are falling apart.

A strong faith

is that kind of faith

that can be amassed

in the storm

that you can cling to.

How do you get that?

You have to weather

a few storms.

It has to be challenged.

So we're not called

to have a blind faith.

We're called to have

a bold faith.

Boldly facing doubt.

Boldly asking hard questions.

So that then begs

the next question

which is okay,

well how do we get

that kind of faith?

How does doubt

lead to that kind of faith?

And I would say

we need to look at Habakkuk

and what he's actually doing

with his doubt.

What's he doing

with all these questions?

Is he hiding them?

Is he going off

and complaining

to other people about them?

I can't believe.

Can you believe what he's,

you know.

No, he's coming directly

to God with them.

In prayer.

He's wrestling with God

over questions

that he has about God.

Right?

He's falling on his knees

before him.

And what we've got to understand

is that, I mean,

verse 12 is the giveaway

that really shows us

his posture.

He says,

even in the midst

of his frustration

and his anger,

he says,

O Lord, my God.

My Holy One.

Right?

So this isn't a man

who's standing back

from God saying,

you better explain all this

or I, you know,

I'm not going to,

you need to help me

or, you know,

the jury's still out on you.

That's not what he's doing.

He's like a child.

He's falling into the arms of God

and saying,

help.

This doesn't make sense.

Help.

My God.

My Holy One.

I know I belong to you.

I know that you're holy.

I'm not even questioning that.

Help me.

Understand this.

It's a very different posture.

You see doubt expressed

in different ways

in the Bible.

There's a great example of this,

of the contrast

in Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Interesting back-to-back accounts

between two individuals.

You have Zechariah

and you have Mary.

And in both accounts,

Zechariah and Mary,

an angel comes out of nowhere

and says,

you're about to have a baby.

And both people

are astounded, right?

Zechariah's past childbearing years,

Mary's a virgin.

So both Zechariah and Mary

express doubt to the angel.

What?

How can this be?

What's going to happen?

So they both question

the claim being made

by the divine being.

So up to that point,

they're the same.

But then the angel's response

makes these stories

radically different.

What happens to Mary?

The angel is kind

and loving

and generous

and gives her more information

and helps her to understand, right?

What happens to Zechariah?

Right?

He gets struck mute.

Right?

Oh, you're asking questions.

I'm going to take away

your ability to speak

until the baby comes, right?

And you just think,

well, what's going on there?

Is Gabriel just kind of

having a bad day?

And he's like,

I'm tired of all the questions.

Bam!

No more words from you.

You know?

And it's interesting

to try to make sense of that.

But the answer, I think,

comes from the fact

that the Bible

has a very nuanced

understanding of doubt.

A very nuanced

understanding of doubt.

And this is where

you see the difference.

There's what you might think of

as honest doubt.

And there's what you might call

dishonest doubt.

And if you look at Mary,

Mary is an honest doubter.

Which means this.

She is honestly looking

for more information.

She's honestly wanting

to understand.

Right?

She knows that she's a virgin

and she simply wants

to understand

the angel better.

So she asks literally,

how will this happen

since I have not known

my husband?

How is this going to happen?

What are the mechanics of it?

Because I don't,

I can't,

I don't know how

this kind of thing works.

Right?

And if you look at Zechariah,

what he's actually asking

is subtly

but very meaningfully different.

Zechariah says,

not how will this happen,

but he says,

how do I know?

It's a very different tone.

So in other words,

he's not saying,

help me understand this better.

He's saying,

prove it.

Maybe I'll believe you,

maybe not.

Prove it to me

and then we'll see.

Very different kind of doubt

because honest doubt

comes from a place

of intellectual humility.

Honest doubt is saying,

you know,

I know I don't understand everything.

I know you know

way more than I do.

Understand things way beyond

what I'll ever be able to.

Help me understand.

Give me wisdom.

Give me knowledge.

Give me understanding.

That's honest doubt.

It's asking questions

and wanting answers.

Dishonest doubt

is called dishonest doubt

because it actually tends

to come from a place

of intellectual pride.

Right?

It's the posture

that assumes

you know most everything

worth knowing

and even more importantly

that if you can't

understand something,

if something doesn't fit

with your sense

of how the world works,

it must not be true.

See, so it's not really doubt.

It's more of a kind

of posture of judgment.

I will decide

whether this is true or false.

I will decide.

And if it doesn't make sense to me,

it's probably not true.

And there are a number

of people who say,

you know,

you look at Christianity

and there are these mysteries

and seeming inconsistencies

and things that don't line up.

That's a clear sign

that it's not true.

And I would say,

if that's your way of thinking,

you should really question that.

I think assuming

that things can only be true

if we understand them

fully

is the height

of human arrogance.

Right?

Unexplained mysteries

don't automatically mean

something isn't true.

In fact,

if we're really dealing

with the deepest mysteries

of existence,

wouldn't we expect

that there would be

some things

that might be just beyond

our vast intellectual capacity?

So I think one of the things

to take away from this is,

beware simplistic answers.

Do you know,

some of the greatest times

of growth for me

in my own spiritual life

have come from people

asking me,

knowing I'm a Christian,

and asking me

really, really,

really hard questions.

Well, how do you explain this?

What do you Christians

think about that?

Because what it does

is it drives me

into prayer,

and it drives me

into God's Word.

And it drives me

to ask and seek out

the advice and wisdom

of people who have been

believers longer than I have,

who are more mature

than I am.

And all of those things

bring about

great opportunities

for rich maturity

and growth.

But we have to be willing

to face the hard questions

if we want that

to be true for us.

So that's part one,

the doubt in our faith

and the significant role

it plays in Habakkuk's life

and in our life.

And now,

with the rest of our time,

we're going to look

at God's response,

verses 5 through 11,

and we'll see the promise

to be found

in our pain.

Here's how God responds.

Now listen,

imagine that you're Habakkuk,

you've just said

what you've said.

Now here's what God says.

Look among the nations

and see,

wonder and be astounded,

for I'm doing a work

in your days

that you would not believe

if told.

And you can imagine

Habakkuk saying,

I'm ready,

lay it on me,

this is going to be amazing.

And then guess what God says?

If you go on,

right?

I'll just summarize it for you.

God essentially says,

and I'm sort of putting

words in his mouth,

hopefully this is

an accurate paraphrase,

you think it's bad now?

You think this is bad?

It's going to get way worse.

Right?

I'm going to raise up

the Chaldeans,

the Babylonians,

who are bloodthirsty

and wicked

and they only worship

their own strength,

and they're going to take

all of you captive

like a man piles sand

into a jar.

Now that's an interesting reference

considering the promise

given to Abraham, right?

I'm going to make

your descendants

as vast and as numerous

as grains of sand.

Right?

Well now God's saying,

I'm going to let

this foreign nation

who hates me

and hates you,

they're going to gather

all of that sand up

and put it in a jar.

They're going to take you captive.

Right?

And Habakkuk is horrified

and so Habakkuk fires back

and says essentially,

Lord, as I said,

I know we're not perfect

but there's so much worse.

How could you let this happen?

And chapter 1

ends with this image

of Habakkuk saying,

you know,

all of us are like fish

in the sea

and you're allowing

the Babylonians

to be like this fisherman

who just mercilessly

like a commercial fisherman

just throws these big nets out

and gathers everybody up

and then at the end of the day

they don't even give you

thanks for that, God.

They worship their nets.

And then he says,

are you just going to let them

take over the world?

Is this your great plan?

End scene.

Right?

That's how chapter 1 ends.

But fortunately,

we have an advantage,

I think,

that Habakkuk didn't have

which means we know

a little bit more

of the story.

This is happening

in the, you know,

around the 6th,

7th century BC

so we have a little

more perspective.

All Habakkuk knows

is that this wicked nation

is going to conquer them

and take them into exile.

And yet more happens

and 600 years later

the Apostle Paul

is preaching in a synagogue

and he's preaching

to a combination

of Jews and God-fearers.

These are people

who are Gentiles

who want to follow God

and have a relationship

with Him

and so they're Gentile converts

to Judaism.

And so he's preaching

to this mixed audience

and he's talking about Jesus.

And he's talking about

how because of the cross

and the death

and resurrection of Jesus

it's now possible

to be saved in a way

that the law

didn't make possible.

And that's something

that is now open

to everyone.

Jews and Gentiles alike, right?

This is this new message

of the gospel.

In other words,

Paul is sort of,

he's just sort of laying out

God's plan for salvation

and then of all things

he could have quoted

in the Old Testament scriptures,

where does he go?

He quotes Habakkuk 1.5.

I mean, that's crazy, right?

He quotes this passage

full of doubt.

And he quotes

where God is saying,

look, you scoffers,

be astounded and perish,

for I'm doing a work

in your days,

a work that you will not believe

even if one tells it to you.

He quotes Habakkuk 1.5.

And the fact that he quotes it

where he quotes it

tells us something

loud and clear.

Paul is saying,

when God said these words

to Habakkuk,

ultimately these words

were pointing

to the coming of Jesus.

Habakkuk never could have known that.

But this is what God

is actually saying.

He's saying to Habakkuk,

look and be astounded.

Look at what's about to happen.

He says,

you know,

I'm going to raise up Babylon

and you're going to be

taken into exile.

But that's just the beginning.

He says,

then I'm going to raise up Assyria

and Assyria is going to conquer Babylon.

And then you're going to be

set free again.

And then Greece is going to take over.

And because the Greeks take over,

their language is going to become

the dominant common language

among these known people groups.

And then after that,

you're going to become decentralized.

And instead of the temple,

you're going to develop

the synagogue system.

And so all of these Gentiles

are going to start to come in

and become familiar

with the Jewish way of life

and religion.

And then Rome is going to take over

and establish the Pax Romana.

And then the known world

is going to be connected by roads

and a common system of government

and systems and institutions.

And then this perfect storm

of major political forces

that Habakkuk,

you're not even going to begin

to understand.

This perfect storm

is going to be established

from all these countervailing movements

in world history.

And right in the midst

of that perfect storm,

God's Son is going to plunge Himself.

And while you, Habakkuk,

may cry out,

O Lord,

and believe that you're alone.

And while we may cry out,

O Lord,

and believe that we're alone.

That man is going to cry out,

O Lord,

from the cross,

and he will be alone.

The only one in history

that God truly abandoned.

But because of that,

because of that,

this promise is going to ensue

of a complete cosmic renewal.

Because of this death,

all the injustice

and hatred

and cruelty,

all of that stuff

that you're railing against Habakkuk,

all of that is going to be dealt with.

And one day,

justice will fill the earth again.

And then the news of this

is going to begin to spread.

And it's going to go far and wide.

And then people are going to start

writing it down.

In what language?

Koine Greek,

the common tongue.

And then it's going to begin

to be written down

and formed into something

that will be called the Bible.

And then that's going to be

translated into Latin.

And then it's going to start

to be translated

into all of the various

common tongues

around the known world.

And that book

is going to become

to date

the most widely read book

in the history

of humanity.

And that book

is going to contain

all things necessary

for any human being,

regardless of their background,

regardless of their ethnicity,

to be reconciled

to the creator God

of the universe.

So yes, Habakkuk,

I'll try to answer

your question.

But even if I laid

all of it out for you,

you wouldn't believe me.

You wouldn't believe me.

You wouldn't understand.

But here's the thing, Habakkuk.

It starts with exile.

It's going to be hard.

Trust me.

Trust me.

So this is the choice,

I think,

that we have to make

on a daily basis.

Because just like Habakkuk,

I think that we live lives

where there's a disconnect

between what God has said

and who he says he is

and then what our lives look like

on a daily basis.

And it doesn't seem

to fit together.

Right?

On the one hand,

God promises to be our God,

to work all things

for our good,

to never stop loving us.

And yet,

on the other hand,

our lives are sometimes

full of struggle

and hardship

and it seems like

God is nowhere.

So this core question

is put to us

just as it was him.

Are you going to trust

only what you see

with your eyes?

Or are you going to trust

the words of God

to shape your ultimate

understanding of reality?

Where do you put your faith?

Do I trust that God's promises

might be unfolding

even in the midst

of my pain?

Paul saw the promise

in the pain

and the question

is presented to us.

Can we have eyes

to see the promise

unfolding

even in the midst

of our pain?

The world's groaning

in pain.

You know,

in our northeast congregation,

our pediatrician,

Dr. Reese,

you know,

Kristen Reese Hall,

she's our boys pediatrician

and she's a wonderful woman

and wonderful doctor.

But every so often

we have to take our boys

to see her

and we have to break

the news to them

in the car

that when we get there

you're going to have

to get a shot.

And they freak out

because that's what kids do,

right?

And then there ensues

a kind of theological debate,

right?

Well,

if Dr. Reese

is all-knowing

and if she's good

and if she's loving

and she wants the best

for us

then how

when this random nurse

comes in

and sticks a piece

of metal in my leg

why does she sit

idly by?

Why does she not

hear our cries?

Right?

Why does she do nothing?

And we say

everybody can hear

your cries.

That's not the problem,

right?

And we say,

you know,

we could try

to explain it to them

but they can't really

understand immunizations

and all that

because they're five,

right?

And seven.

And so at the end

of the day

we say trust us.

Now this is nowhere

near the scale

that we're dealing

with in Habakkuk

but it's a,

it's at the core

of it the same question,

right?

Are you going to trust me

that this is ultimately

going to turn out

for your good?

Are you going to trust

me with this?

You know,

some of you know

the story of,

you know,

my wife and I,

we met years ago

in 1999

and we got,

fell in love

and got engaged

and everything

was great

and then as we

got engaged

and started approaching

the wedding

I just began

to lock down

and I can't really

explain it

but essentially

I can only describe it

as a kind of profound

emotional,

spiritual,

psychological block

where I just could not

move forward.

I was utterly terrified

and this resulted

in us having to

call off our engagement

and it was bad

because it was only

a few months

before the wedding

so we're talking

thousands and thousands

of dollars

of deposits lost,

trying to sell

bridesmaids dresses

on eBay,

you know,

the whole nine yards.

Laura was utterly

devastated,

you know,

I was so devastated

and depressed

that I started taking

antidepressants

and going to counseling

and trying to figure out

what's wrong with me.

I felt like I was

a massive failure

and we were apart

for five years

and much of that early time,

first two or three years

was just wrestling

with God

over what happened,

what,

I felt so called to this

and she felt so called

to this

and it all seemed right,

what happened to me?

You know,

and it's weird

when there's something

in your own soul

that you can't understand.

There's a part of you

that's doing something

that you can't even

make sense of.

You feel like

you've betrayed yourself,

at least I did.

And then through

this whole series

of events,

five years later,

we reconnect,

we realize we're more

in love than ever,

we get back together,

we get engaged,

we get married

and now we've been

married for ten years,

we have three beautiful kids

and I may be biased

but I think we have

one of the best marriages around.

I'm absolutely crazy

about her

and she likes me okay

as well

and it works great.

And you know,

the funny thing

about that story is,

again,

it's just a small example,

it's nothing like Habakkuk,

but the funny thing

is that two things

are simultaneously true

that don't really

seem to fit together.

On the one hand,

would I wish that

on anyone?

Absolutely not.

Absolutely not.

It was a dark night

of the soul

for both of us.

And yet on the other hand,

when I ask her,

and this comes up

every now and then,

would you change anything?

If you could,

would you change it?

She says,

absolutely not.

And that's a weird

thing to say.

But when we look at that,

somehow that is a part

of who we are as people

and it's a part,

I think,

of why our marriage

is so strong now.

Now,

if you had tried

to tell me any of that

in 2002,

I would have laughed

you out of my house.

I don't even want

to hear that.

But now,

looking back,

God was somehow

mysteriously at work.

Now,

I don't understand

everything about it.

I certainly have

a lot of questions.

I can't wait

to ask God about it.

A lot of other stuff

in life.

But I can tell you

that we see

God's goodness in it.

In other words,

we're able to see

the promise in the pain.

God's will unfolding

in some amazing way

that we wouldn't even believe

even if he told us.

Right?

So the most amazing thing

about Habakkuk,

and this is where

we need to stop

for this week,

the most amazing thing

about Habakkuk

is that Habakkuk

doesn't have

any of this perspective

bear in mind.

He doesn't know

what's on the other

side of exile.

He doesn't know

anything about

the coming of Jesus.

He doesn't know

any of that.

All he knows

is he's staring exile

in the face

like looking down

the barrel of a gun.

And yet,

even without

that perspective,

he trusts God.

And he falls

into his arms.

So how much more

then can we

who have the

perspective of

Jesus Christ

trust God?

even if things

are hard

and don't make sense.

Because we're able

to look at the cross

and see the promise

in the pain

that the greatest

pain and suffering

ever experienced

by a human being

could produce

the greatest hope

the world has ever

known.

In the name of the

Father and the Son

and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.