Knowing the God of Comfort

And I love Tom the Stephen Melody.

I don't know how you put up with him.

Well, the answer is you can see now she just leaves me about a month, every so often.

You know, my wife's out taking care of grandkids.

And she called me and said, I knew it.

She does this every time.

She goes for a couple of weeks.

Then she calls me.

And she says, I need to stay another week.

So I told her this morning early, I said, honey, why do you do that?

Are you trying to make me sad on Friend Day?

I said, couldn't you wait till this afternoon to call me and tell me this?

She just smiled.

FaceTime.

I don't like FaceTime.

Because she can see my face.

And I'm trying to see, I'm talking sweet, but I'm looking like this.

And when I'm on FaceTime, I can't do that.

So, uh, but anyway, she said to tell you, hey, and she loves you and so proud of you.

She really is.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book that I know you got up this past week excited about, doing your quiet time in, and you couldn't wait to turn to Habakkuk.

Hello?

Habakkuk?

Yes.

Well, where is Habakkuk?

Well, if you don't know where Habakkuk is, go to the book of Matthew.

Now that's the first gospel in the New Testament.

You ought to know where that is.

Little, not quite in the middle, but a little to the right of the middle.

And then back up five books.

Amen.

Back up five books, and you're going to be in Habakkuk.

Habakkuk chapter 1, three small chapters, and boy, it has been so rich as we've been looking at these little minor prophets and studying how these minor prophets had an intimate relationship with an awesome God.

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

And how knowing God, knowing the God that they loved, was able to take them through what God had called them to do.

And ladies and gentlemen, when God saves you, he doesn't save you.

Now listen to me.

He saves you to get involved.

He saves you to start using your gifts and your talents for the glory and honor of God.

Because one day, as a Christian, every knee's going to bow and every tongue's going to confess and give an account of how he's used what God has given him.

So, that's very important.

And we here at CCW believe in this book.

We believe that it's absolute truth.

Can I get an amen?

Do I really believe that?

In fact, he says that sanctify them through thy word.

Thy word is truth.

And we honor people on Friend Day by giving them two beautiful study Bibles.

Because we know that the truth, you shall know the truth and the what?

Shall set you free.

It shall set you free in John 8.

So, right now, before I start the message, I want to know who brought the most friends today.

So if you are here, all right, here we go.

If you are here, and I love this, if you're here and you brought at least 10 friends, raise your hand.

All right.

Wait, there's two.

We've got two, all right.

We got three.

Do we have three here?

Oh, that was Larry.

You're lit, all right.

Larry, Iris, and Brother Donald back there.

Okay, Iris, how many did you have do you have?

12.

12?

Brother Donald?

How many do you have?

11.

Does anybody have more than 10 and 11?

11 and 12.

I mean, what did I say?

10 and 11?

I told you I needed Susan.

11 and 12.

Anybody have more than 11 and 12?

All right, Brother Donald, Miss Iris, get on down here.

They won the two Bibles.

Give them a hand.

Woo! That's what I'm talking about.

That's what I'm talking about.

Amen, amen, amen.

All right, my brother.

There's yours, Iris, and here's yours.

Amen.

Love y'all.

I love the hat.

Habakkuk.

The word Habakka literally means to embrace.

It means to embrace something.

It's kind of like a mother hen when she has her little chicks.

She embraces her chicks by taking her wings and covering them and protecting them.

Habakkuh the prophet learned how to embrace, believing that God was who he said he was, and believing that God would do what he said he would do.

Now Habakkuk's an unbelievable book.

Because we see Habakkuk went from questions with God on your outline to confidence in God.

Because as we begin and look at Habakkuk 1, verses 1 through 4, we see that Habakkuk starts out with a lot of questions.

Habakkuk 1:1–4

He's got a lot of questions.

In fact, I really got serious a couple of weeks ago about thinking about there's a difference between doubt, and God gave me this as I was working on this message.

There's a difference between doubt and unbelief.

Big difference.

In fact, I wrote it out.

The doubter may question God and even debate with God, but the doubter never abandons God.

Now you may want to write this down because this is, I we've I've been there.

There's a difference between doubt and unbelief.

The doubter may question God or even debate with God, but the doubter never abandons God.

That statement has been with me a long time.

And let me tell you why.

Because I have doubted God even in the ministry of God.

I doubted God right at the very beginning of my ministry when, hey, my first wife died in my arms with asthma.

I doubted and I questioned God.

But one thing I never did was abandon God.

Amen.

I never abandoned God.

I never did.

I never did.

But see, unbelief is rebellion against God.

And it's a refusal to accept what God says.

That's unbelief.

If you don't accept what God says, or if you don't bother to even see what God says, then you are definitely an unbeliever.

Big difference.

Big difference.

A refusal to accept what he says and does is unbelief.

Now, what's this?

Unbelief is the act of a will.

While doubt is born out of a troubled mind or a broken heart.

Now that's good.

I'm going to repeat that because you want to write that down.

You might want to put it right in the corner of your Bible because you're going to need this the next time a major tragedy happens in your life.

Let me say it again.

Unbelief is an act of the will.

You choose to just not believe God.

While doubt is born out of trouble in the mind, a troubled mind, and a broken heart.

That's the difference.

Now, with that said, Habakkuk starts out with a lot of questions.

He takes over and he's preaching during the time that Babylon is about to take captivity, the nation Judah, Israel.

I mean, it looks like all the bad people are winning.

Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it?

Isn't it amazing what we're seeing going on in America today?

And you think, oh, it's never been this way before.

Oh, yeah, it has, and it's even been worse.

How could it get any worse?

I mean, hey, Israel is coming under captivity.

They don't have food.

They're in poverty.

They're being killed.

They're being tortured.

I mean, all these bad things are happening.

And Habakkuk's sitting there and he's preaching and he's saying, Lord, why is this happening?

Why are you allowing this to go on?

When are you going to do something?

We're going to be looking at that.

So Habakkuk went from questions with God to confidence in God.

How did he do that?

How did he go from questioning and doubting God to confidence in God?

And watch this now.

Here's the thing.

Here's the thing.

He starts out, and we're going to see this.

In fact, let's just look at it.

Look at the questions in verses 1 through 4 in Habakkuk 1.

The burden which Habakkuk, the prophet, did see, O Lord, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear, even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save?

In other words, all this violence is going on, and you're not doing anything.

Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance for spoiling and violence are before me, and there are they that raise up strife and contention.

Therefore, the law is slack.

In other words, there's no law enforcement, there's no judgment.

In other words, there's no penalty to those that are in high places doing wrong.

Sound familiar?

Talking about relevant for today.

For the wicked doth compass about the righteous.

Therefore, wrong judgment proceeds.

In other words, they're just making, they're they're they're calling the righteous the wrong.

Hello.

Now, go over to chapter 3.

Look at verse 17 to the end of the chapter.

We're gonna work through this pretty quickly.

Because you gotta see it.

It's unbelievable.

And I think these last three verses are three of the most powerful verses in the Old Testament.

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the foe, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hindsfeet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places to the chief singer on my string instruments.

In other words, he said, the sovereign Lord is my strength.

He makes me as a sure-footed as a deer, able to tread upon the heights for the choir director.

This prayer is to be accompanied by string instruments.

In other words, now watch.

Excuse me.

Nothing's changed.

There's no food, there's no fruit, there's no meat in the stalls.

He's catching it from all directions.

Nothing's changed from chapter one where he's questioning God, except he's made a choice.

He's made a choice to rejoice.

I will rejoice.

I will be glad.

I will joy in the Lord.

So how does he go?

From doubting God and questioning God, and we've all been there.

Some of us are there now.

Right now, you're questioning God.

The whys of God.

Three megathemes in Habakkuk that we're gonna look at.

Well, that set the stage for how we're gonna look at how Habakkuk goes from questions about God to confidence in God.

This is gonna be revolution.

Revolutionary.

Ready?

Number one, the megatheme number one, struggle and doubt.

Struggle and doubt.

Verse two, he says, Oh Lord, how long shall I cry?

And thou will not hear, even cry out unto thee and violence, and thou will not say.

No words, all this is happening, God and Habakkuk says, You're not doing anything.

Or why are you allowing this to happen?

Why don't you do something?

Have you ever asked God that?

Hello.

Oh my goodness.

I just, in fact, I just got a I just got a text this morning early.

From one of my closest friends.

Hadn't seen him in a while.

Just precious.

He takes groups to Israel every year.

He's taken a he's been to Israel about 45 times.

I won't call his name.

He didn't ask me to, so I won't.

But I found out this morning, his precious wife.

Now his first wife died with aneurysm in bed.

In fact, the way we met was his wife died very similar to mine.

My first wife.

And he went around preaching for years, sharing his testimony.

How to still trust God.

And he finally met this beautiful lady and remarried about uh 10 years ago, 12 years ago, I was one of the ministers that helped do the ceremony.

And I just found out that his wife starts treatment this week with a brain tumor that they think is probably cancer.

And if you would have seen the email he sent me, and the whole email was, Pastor Danny, I love you.

We're kindred spirits.

Would you please pray for me?

And then he gave me the whole outline of Ephesians 6 of putting on the armor of God.

Now there's a man that, yes, he may question God, but there is no doubt about God in his life.

So it's okay to struggle and doubt and ask questions.

There's nothing wrong with asking questions.

Can I get an amen?

And how can we not ask questions when you turn on the television and see the news?

Somebody asked, well, you've quit.

And I have.

I mean, I listen to radio, talk radio a little bit just to so I know a little, I do know what's going on.

And let me tell you why I know what's going on.

I read the Bible.

All right, come on, Pastor.

All right now.

Hello.

What's going on is what I'm preaching about this morning, and I didn't see it on Fox, and I didn't see it on NBC, and I didn't see it on CBS.

I saw it right here in the Word of God.

Evil, hey, it's one thing.

Listen, it's one thing for evil to exist, but there's another thing for evil to conquer.

And I've got good news.

Evil may exist and it will, but it'll never conquer God's agenda.

Never.

I read the last chapter, we win, bless God.

Amen.

The second megatheme: God's sovereignty.

God's sovereignty.

Look at what he says in verse 5 and chapter 1 again.

Behold, ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvelously, for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told to you.

In other words, God literally says, I've got this under control.

I'm gonna do a work, and in my time judgment will come.

We got to believe in the sovereignty of God.

And that's where Romans 8.28 comes in.

For we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.

Can I get an amen?

We know.

If God be for us, who can be against us?

That's the sovereignty of God.

Megath theme number three.

Our hope.

Our hope's not in the world's system, but is in God's system.

Can I get an amen?

Woo! Yes.

And that's where we see that we read a while ago in verses 17 through 19 in Habakkuk 3, where he changed his attitude and he chose to rejoice in the Lord, to be strong in the Lord.

Because his hope was in God's word, not the world's system.

Love not the world, neither the things of there in the world.

If any man love the world, love the Father's not in him.

Your adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of this world is enmity with God?

That means hostility with God?

James 4, 4.

Not only do we have questions, but I also don't have all the answers.

Don't you really love the people that have all the answers?

Hello.

Well, there's only one answer.

There's just sin in your life.

The reason you're poor and not healthy and all this is just sin in your life.

You don't know your Bible very well.

There's a lot of poor people and people that love God that were in problems and had problems and do have problems.

Just because you have problems doesn't mean there's sin in your life.

It may be a what?

Proving time in your life.

It can be a chastisement in your life, yes.

But it also, remember the three storms?

We talked about that with Jonah.

Storms of perfection, storms of correction, and storms of salvation.

Don't forget, all this ties together.

So, how do we get from questions about God to confidence in God?

Here we go.

Number one.

Honesty.

Honesty.

Verse chapter 1, verses 1 through 4.

We see, and I've already read them, in verse 2, God said, Why don't you answer my prayer?

Verse 3 says, Why is there so much sin around us?

Verse 4, why is justice not being done and upheld?

And then you go down to verse 12, and you look at verse 12.

Oh, this is awesome.

Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my holy one?

We shall not die, O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment, and O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

Verse 12, he says, don't, hey, he says, don't we Christians figure out in your plan?

Verse 13, why don't you let the wicked?

Why do you let the wicked prosper?

How many times have I asked that?

Hello.

God, why in the world are you allowing them to prosper?

Looks like we're being beat up every time we turn around.

God, why don't you just zap them?

Hello?

Don't look at me so s sacrimoniously.

You f you feel that way too.

Just take them out.

Don't look at me like that.

David, a man after God's own heart.

Hey, he said it too.

God kill him.

My wife says, that's not the way you're supposed to pray, preacher.

When she calls me preacher, I'm in trouble.

I know that's her way of lovingly correcting me.

Preacher.

Okay, honey.

Got it.

Honesty.

Look, hey, verse 15.

God, should your people be ridiculed by godless people?

Why is it that we always seem to be the blunt of every joke?

Huh?

And then verse 16 and 17, God, will you ever punish the godless?

Yes, yes, yes, he will.

But it'll be in his time.

Can I get an amen?

We're gonna see that.

And this is, oh, I needed this message.

Honesty.

Habakkuk's honesty.

Now was watch this.

Was questions?

Can I say something?

Questions do not bother God.

Dishonesty does.

Lying lips are an abomination unto God.

They will not go unpunish.

I'm telling you, all this lying that's going on.

It's going to be punished.

Proverbs 12.22.

It's coming.

He doesn't mind your questions.

In fact, he kind of likes them.

Because it's a part of growing in faith with God.

When doubt turns to belief, you've gotten somewhere.

Can I get an amen?

And when you see God, answer your questions, and he always will.

Now it may not be with your answer.

Hello.

But he will answer.

Every time.

Now, watch this.

Abaca's honesty, first of all, number one, was freely expressed.

Don't try to snow God.

God knows your heart.

Have you ever tried to reduce your sin before God?

Have you ever tried to make your sin feel, make you feel not so bad?

Reminds me of the drunk.

He came home drunk and his wife opened the front door and said, You're drunk again.

He said, Oh, I am, honey, and I'm so sorry and I'm feeling sick.

Would you pray for me?

She said, Sure.

She went up and put him in bed.

He helped him into the bedroom, put him in the bed.

He kind of laid there in a remorseful way, and his wife said, Sweetheart, I'm going to pray for you.

Would you like for him to pray?

Oh, yes, please do.

So she started her prayer by saying, Dear God, Jim lies before you've drunk.

And he stopped her and said, Honey, do you mind just tell him I'm sick?

Hello.

Been there?

You can't snow God.

He knows how dirty and rotten we are.

All my righteousness is as filthy rags, Isaiah 64, 6.

It's okay.

And not only did he freely express his concerns with God, hey, get watch number two, it was expressed to God and God alone.

He didn't go tell everybody else or talk to everybody else about it.

Can I tell you nobody else can do what God can do?

Nobody.

Reminds me of Peanuts Cartoon.

I love, I love the Peanuts cartoons.

I grew up on them.

Lucy is talking to Charlie Brown.

She says to Charlie Brown, life is a mystery.

Do you know the answer?

How many of you believe life is a mystery?

I don't even understand myself.

Hello?

I'm complicated.

Don't you amen that?

Listen to what Charlie Brown does.

Do you know the answer, Charlie Brown?

Oh Charlie Brown quickly replied, oh yes.

Be kind, don't smoke, be prompt, smile a lot, eat right, avoid cavities, mark your ballot carefully when we vote Tuesday.

Avoid, hey, avoid, don't get under too much sun, avoid too much sun.

Send overseas packages early.

Love all creatures above and below.

Ensure your belongings.

Try to keep the ball low.

That was his answer to all the problems.

The next frame you see, Lucy punching him in the face.

Been there.

Habakkuk's honesty was freely expressed.

He shared his heart and it was expressed to God.

Number two.

How do we go?

How did Habakkuk go from questions about God to confidence in God?

Number two, patience.

Go to chapter two.

And look at verses one through three.

I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower, and I will watch to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and make it plain upon tablets that he may run that readeth it.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie, though he tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come.

It will not tarry.

Wow.

Wow, wow, wow.

In other words, be patient.

Psalms 27, 14 literally says, wait upon the Lord, be of good courage, he will strengthen you.

Wait, I say, upon the Lord.

That is so important.

And another verse, Psalms 37:7, listen to what it says.

Psalms 37:7

Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for him.

Don't worry about evil.

People, hey, don't worry about evil, or people who prosper.

Or, hey, and he's talking about evil people prospering.

Or don't worry about the wicked schemes.

We see that going on right now in America.

I needed that verse.

Don't worry about it.

God's in control.

God's got it.

Can I hear an amen?

God's got it.

Isaiah 40, 31, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up wings as eagles.

They shall run and not be weary.

They shall walk and not faint, not quit.

That's why I love that song.

You can't quit.

Mark Lowry wrote a song, Don't Quit.

That's one of Eric's first little song he sang.

Don't quit.

Think about it, brother, but don't do it.

Why?

Because we know that God in his appointed time.

And let me give you another verse.

Psalms 31, 15.

My times, I love this.

Put this in your mind.

Psalms 31.15.

God says to us as his people, our times, my times are in his hands.

He's got a plan and a time for every one of us.

Can I get an amen?

He's got a job.

Hey, we're in his hands.

We are guided by his hands.

We're protected by his hands.

We are comforted by his hands.

And it's so important.

Patience.

Our behavior is influenced by our experiences and our expectations.

See, Habakkuk started out with his questioning and doubting being controlled by his experiences.

What he was going through.

See, when you're going through some tough times, those experiences can affect what you think and what you believe.

Amen.

Come on now.

It can start you to doubt God.

And Satan loves it when you begin to doubt God.

So his experiences was causing him to question God.

But by the time he gets to chapter three, now he has transferred his experiences to his expectations.

And now he knows he's read the, hey, he's read the last chapter, and he knows that God, and God in these three chapters, starts telling him what he had done in the past.

And if he has done that in the past, don't you think he can do it for you now in the present?

So now he goes from allowing his experiences to control his thinking to the expectations of God to control his thinking.

Now, folks, that's worth you being here.

Number three.

How to get from questions about God to confidence in God, how to have comfort in the uncomfortable times.

Number three, faith.

Look at verse 4 in chapter 2.

Behold, he said, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith.

He said, look at the proud.

They trust in themselves and their lives are crooked, but the righteous will live by the faithfulness to God.

Man, that's good.

He says, You got to have faith.

Believing God will do what he says he's will do.

Now there's two kinds of faith.

When you go to Romans 1.17, he talks about living from faith to faith.

Now, what does that mean?

That means there's two kinds of faith.

There's one, saving faith.

You get saved by faith.

Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God.

Can I get an amen?

Romans 5.1.

Amen.

But then in Romans 1.17, he says there's life, faith.

There's life sustaining faith.

2 Corinthians 5.7.

We walk by faith and not by sight.

So daily we walk by faith.

He sustains us daily by faith, by our believing and our expectations is set on God and not on circumstances.

Can I get an amen?

Man, that's good.

Faith and faithfulness in the Hebrew and Greek come from the same root word.

Let me tell you the word.

The root word is umona.

Emona.

Emona.

And it literally means faithful belief.

It means belief in assured fact.

Wow.

And that assured fact is God's word.

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10, 17.

His focus must be God-centered, not circumstance-centered.

Our focus must be God-centered and not circumstance centered.

Our focus must be upward and not outward.

Can I get an amen?

I love what Ruth Graham expressed in her poem My Turn.

Here's what she said.

I lay my whys before your cross in worship kneeling.

My mind too numb for thought, my heart beyond all feeling, and worshiping, realize that I in knowing you don't need a why.

Wow.

I in knowing you don't need a why.

Wow.

Wow.

We walk by faith.

You know the little word faith?

F-A-I-T-H stands for this.

You may already know it.

You've heard me say it several times.

F-A-I-T-H.

Forsaking all, I take him.

Forsaking all, I take him.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

You know what that really means?

Manly Beasley, one of the greatest Southern Baptist evangelists, made this statement.

Faith is believing something is something.

Faith is believing something is so when it's not so, so that it becomes so because God said so.

Amen?

That's it.

That's it.

Number four, how do we go from questioning God?

To having confidence in God?

Prayer.

Go to chapter 3, verses 1 and 2.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet.

O Lord, verse 2, I have heard thy speech and was afraid.

O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, and the midst of the years make known.

In wrath, remember mercy.

Wow.

Wow.

Prayer.

Isaiah 56, 7 and Matthew 21, 13, my house shall be called the house of prayer.

Folks, let me tell you something.

If we would pray as much as we gripe and complain, we could see a difference.

Hello.

I'm guilty.

That's two of us guilty.

The rest of us are not telling the truth.

Amen.

If we pray, how do you know?

You say, well, that's just a good statement.

No, that's a biblical statement.

If my people, which are called by my name, that's us, that's the church, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face.

Watch.

Turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.

We could stop this division overnight with our government against each other.

Overnight.

If we went to Matthew 7.12.

Do unto others as you have them do unto you.

Wow.

Wow, that's just too simple.

Let me ask you something.

People that you even disagree with or don't even like, now I know that's a strong term, don't like.

Matthew 5.44 says, love your enemies.

Hello.

Now notice that, oh, okay, I love them.

But you know how you know you love them?

See, he doesn't just leave it there.

Love your enemies.

He tells you the evidence of that love next.

Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you.

Hello?

When's the last time you knew somebody you didn't like and didn't like you and you went and did something good to them?

Hello! That's Gary and Elizabeth.

I didn't see y'all.

Amen are missionaries to Costa Rica.

Yeah! God bless you.

How'd you sneak in with by me?

You must have been a little late, but that's all right.

Time change.

I know.

Yeah.

No wonder we had so many people walking in here.

But anyway, listen to me.

Are you listening?

Do good to them that hate you.

Then pray for them.

I've had some enemies in my life, and I know you would not think I would.

They either love me or hate me, there's no in-between with me.

When was the last time you really did something good to somebody you didn't like?

Now, if we started doing that, folks, this whole America would change overnight.

Number five.

Meditation.

Now look at chapter three.

Look at chapter three.

Verses three.

Look at verse three.

God came, this is gonna be really good.

Some of you fix you you you're gonna understand something.

Have you ever seen that little one?

You've only seen it a few times.

God came, God I see God moving across the desert and stuff.

And the holy one from Mount Pharaoh.

The Holy One coming from Mount Terra.

The Lord covers the heavens and the earth full of the float.

All right.

Now look at verse 9.

Bo was made quite naked according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word.

Now notice the word again.

What is it?

Selah.

Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.

Alright?

Now look at verse 13.

Thou winst forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thy anointed.

Thou wouldest the head of thou house of the wicked by discovering the foundation unto the neck.

Notice the word, Selah.

Now, here's what the word selah means.

Very important.

It means to stop and think clearly what has been said.

Let me repeat that.

Selah means to, when you see the selah, in fact, it's only used 71 times.

In Psalms, it's used 71 times and three times in Hebakka.

That's the only place it's used.

So it's very important.

So when you see three times in Habakkuk, it says, Selah, stop.

Think clearly what has been said and what that means.

Not only do you stop and think clearly what has been said, you think clearly what's been said so that you can put it into practice.

You can act upon what's been said.

Now, real quickly, ooh, this is good.

Let me show you three things that were said.

Verses 1 through 3, verse 2, he says, Revive thy work.

He says, now here's where the changing, hey, hey, the changing of his thinking's starting to take place.

He's saying, wait a minute, Habakkuk, you've got all these questions.

You're doubting God.

You're doubting me.

Let me remind you.

Let me remind you.

Stop and think, Habakkuk.

When you're down and out and you've just had a major tragedy, and the Satan's telling you to quit.

Satan's telling you to give up.

God's, hey, Satan's telling you to walk out on your family.

Satan's telling you to walk out on your job.

Satan's telling you to walk out on your church.

Satan's telling you to just give up and tell the world to just go to Hades.

Stop.

Think.

Remember.

Remember this.

God will do it again.

He will revive you.

Oh, Psalms 85, 6.

Well, hey, will thou not revive us again, O Lord?

Then notice what else he says.

Verses 4 through 9.

Not only will he revive thy work, but remember what he did.

Then he goes in and he says, Don't you remember the plagues of Egypt?

Don't you remember how I delivered Moses?

Don't you remember how I used Gideon to deliver the people?

Don't you remember how I used Joshua to deliver the people?

Don't you remember?

Remember, remember, remember.

There's not one of us here as a Christian that we can't go back and remember when we got saved.

If you really got saved, because you changed.

There's not one of us here that's been saved and we've been walking in the likeness of Christ cannot remember when God did the miraculous in our lives.

How we circle the land seven times, He gave it to us.

We circle the land out here seven times, He gave it to us.

We just paid off everything, we're debt free.

Remember?

I can remember when I was about to walk out on my wife that died, and I was gonna give up and divorce her.

And God says, No, you're not.

Remember, I've got a plan for your life.

Your mother walked out on you.

You made a promise, you're not gonna do the same thing.

Remember.

And then verses 10 through 13.

It says, not only will remember I'll revive the work, I remember what I did, but now I will restore, I will restore unto you God's position, God's possessions, God's protection, God's power in your life.

Remember.

Restore.

Repive.

Well, one other thing.

How do we go from questioning to God to confidence in God?

Honesty, patience, faithfulness, prayer, meditation.

The book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but thou shalt meditate there in day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that's written there, and then shall I make the way prosperous?

Then shall you have good success.

Number six.

Verses yep, remember what I said?

Verses 17 through 19.

The greatest verses in the Old Testament.

Now remember, nothing's changed as far as outwardly, but something magnificently has changed inwardly.

Everything's still as bad as it ever was.

Hello.

But now his attitude's changed.

Can I tell you the greatest change is attitude?

Attitude determines altitude.

Outlook, oh hey, attitude always determines, hey, outlook.

Always.

It's so easy to be negative.

It takes spirit filledness to be positive.

Hello, just remember that.

Negative, Satan.

Positive, Holy Spirit.

Every time.

That'll help.

The devil.

The devil made me do it.

No.

He influenced you.

You did it.

Hello, you got a choice.

Hello.

You got a choice.

Keep your mouth shut.

Amen.

Oh well, I keep my mouth shut, yeah.

But don't do this either.

I keep my I don't say anything.

Body language a lot of times speaks louder than your words.

Hello?

Hello?

I meet Sister Fluffy Heads quite often.

They don't say, oh, I don't I don't talk about people.

Do you don't smile at them either, do you?

And deacon potato heads.

Number six, praise.

Praise.

All he did, he says, I will.

Notice what changes.

Attitude.

I will rejoice.

I will be joyful.

I will rejoice.

I will be joyful.

Say that with me.

I will rejoice.

I will be joyful.

Praise is not result of circumstances.

Praise is a result of joy.

That is awesome.

You say, Pastor, when my financial situation gets better, I will praise him.

Pastor, hey, when I get a better job, I will praise him.

Pastor, when my marriage gets better, I will praise him.

Pastor, when my health gets better, I will praise him.

Pastor, when I get a, hey, when I get a raise, I will praise him.

Pastor, when the world gets better, I will praise him.

How many of us have at least one problem in our life today?

At least one.

Every hand better go up, or you're going to have a problem today.

Amen.

I have problems.

You have problems.

All God's children have problems.

I'm going to interpret this verse.

Let me read.

Let me not interpret it, but let me paraphrase these last three verses.

Ready?

Watch this.

And I'm through.

Though my job goes, my health fails, and the forces of evil seem to have things going their way.

And even though the economy doesn't work the way I want it to, and the election doesn't work out the way I hope, and I am not accepted among my friends, and everything goes wrong.

Hey, I won't pull the plug on my God.

I won't resent you.

I will have my doubts and questions about how you are working, but there's one thing I won't stop doing.

I won't stop rejoicing in the Lord my God, my Jesus, who is awesome, for He is my strength.

He's my deliverer.

He's my everything.

Amen.

Amen, church.

He's my everything.

We got an election coming up.

Everybody needs to vote.

You need to vote your biblical convictions.

You didn't hear me back a party.

What party are you, Pastor?

Biblicus party.

That's right.

That's what I am.

I'm a Jesus party.

I'm a Biblicus.

And I'm going to vote for the ones that vote for what the Bible says to do.

I'm against abortion.

I'm against homosexuality.

I'm against the biblical truths that God's word says is wrong.

Now, does that mean I hate people that do that?

No, by no means.

If anything, I reach out with as much love as I can to show them the truth.

That's what I do.

There's no one's going to love anybody more than I love them, regardless of how their lifestyle is.

But the purpose of my love for them is to point them to the love of Christ for them.

Because when the love of Christ comes into their life and they take the word of God, which is his love letter to them, they will straighten their life out if they believe the truth.