WAITING & TRUSTING - Habakkuk 1:12-2:1

Hey, if you have a Bible or an app, meet

me in the book of Habachok. We'll be

back in the book of Habachok. We're

going to be looking at verse 12 and

we're going to read all the way through

the first verse of chapter 2. Habach

chapter 1.

All the way through the first verse of

chapter 2. Now, at this point in the

story, Habach has prayed unto the Lord.

And do you remember how his book starts?

His book starts with a burden, a

complaint, something that he has been

carrying for quite a long time. And

that's indicative to us by this

dialogue, this conversation that he has

with God. And let me just encourage us

as as we continue throughout this series

over the book of Habach. My hope and my

prayer is that in your prayer life with

the Lord that you would understand that

it's not a monologue. It's not just you

ushering up your needs and your desires

and your pains and your burdens and your

complaints, but it's a dialogue where we

take the time to position ourselves to

intentionally listen from the Lord. For

so many of us, God is speaking into our

lives and he's speaking to our

situations, but we become so distracted

by what is our life that often times we

can miss out on the voice of God.

But I love as we dive into our passage

here in just a moment, we're going to

discover that Habach is intentionally

positioning himself in such a way where

not only he'll clearly hear the voice of

God, but here's what I love. I'm jumping

ahead, but I think this is worth

mentioning. He positions himself not

just to hear from God, but to be

corrected by God. I think that can be a

trap that so many of us fall into. We're

all about making our needs and our

requests known before the Lord. We're

all about lamenting and taking our

complaints for whatever season or

circumstance that we find ourselves in.

And we may even position ourselves,

praise God, to hear from the Lord. But

but here's where disciplehip really

makes a difference.

Here's where abiding and trusting and

remaining connected to Christ really

makes a difference is that we position

ourselves to be corrected by God. And

this is what Habach's going to do. He's

going to respond to the Lord. He's cried

out. He has asked the Lord, "How long

must I deal with an idolatrous people?

How long must I bear witness of your

truth to a people who will reject it and

refuse it? How long must I live within a

system of religious and organizational

and government structures that are set

on their own desires, on their own

preferences, that have pride that's not

rooted in your truth and your character,

but is rooted in self. How long God

will you remain silent?

And you remember last week when we

looked at the answer God gives Habach,

he says, "Look,

wonder, observe, be astounded." He's

inviting Habach into participate and

engage in what he's doing. And he's

calling Habach to recognize that God's

sovereign purpose is what comes to pass.

You know, the scripture says, "Many are

the plans in a man's heart." How many of

us have plans for our life? Parents, how

many of us have plans for the life of

our children that our children?

The scripture says, "Many are the plans

of a man's heart, but it's the purpose

of God that prevails."

Now, that doesn't mean that you don't

take steps to fulfill your goals and

your dreams, and you don't pray like

you've never prayed before to ensure

that your kids will be put on the path

where their hearts are aimed towards the

gospel. that at the end of the day, what

it means is that though we have prayed

our prayers, we submit to God's plan,

purpose, and will in our life. And this

is what Habach gets at. So God answers

Habach's prayer. He says, "Look, wonder,

observe, and be astounded. I've heard

your prayer and I have already been at

work."

And Habach is wondering, "Well, what are

you going to do, Lord? Are you finally

going to redeem and rescue your people?"

And God says, "Yes, that's always been

my plan." thematically throughout the

scriptures. That's always been God's aim

is to redeem and rescue his people. But

if you remember from last week,

there isn't that immediate resolution

because what God then continues to tell

Habach is, "I am raising up the

Calaldanss, the Babylonians,

and they are going to come and plunder

you. They will conquer you and over the

course of decades they will annihilate

generation after generation

until the day that temple is destroyed.

Could you imagine hearing that from God?

Because we can step into Habach's shoes

because this here is his response to the

Lord. Let's read it beginning in verse

12.

Are you not from eternity Lord my God,

my holy one? I love how Habach starts

with theology.

Where his first prayer began with a

question, how long? God answers. It

doesn't bring the immediate resolution

that any of us, Habach concluded, would

have wanted in regards to that prayer.

And yet his next question is not an

immediate why. His next question is not

an immediate how.

His next question to the Lord starts

with theology.

And notice the personalization here in

his prayer. It isn't some random or

generic words that he's lifting up

before the Lord.

Habach knows that there has been a

covenant that has been established

between himself and the Lord, his people

and the Lord. And church, I want to

remind you that through Jesus Christ,

there has been a covenant established

with you and I. A covenant that calls us

into personal relationship with the

father who is in heaven. So that the

father who is in heaven becomes the

father over your life. that the Savior

who was sent to redeem, rescue and

forgive, pours out his grace and calls

you his own,

that the Holy Spirit who was active in

creation,

he dwells within you, son of God. He

dwells within you, daughter of God, and

he calls you his own. Habach understands

this covenant and personal relationship

and that becomes a gamecher for what

continues in this response that Habach

has. And I often wonder

how different would it be in our life,

church,

if we genuinely and truly recognized

the personal nature that we have with

God.

this covenant relationship

that is not bound, watch this, that is

not bound by what you do or don't do.

And that doesn't excuse us from

obedience in a life of faithfulness,

but is bound in who Jesus Christ is.

>> The one who is the same yesterday,

today, and forever more, who in nature,

in character is unchanging.

This is why like Habachok, we can take

our burdens and complaints before the

Lord and in raw, transparent,

open and honest lament before the Lord

just bear it before his feet at his

throne and at the end of the day still

be okay

with what God decides.

That is the mark of genuine Christian

trust and faithfulness.

Will you be okay with what God's

decision is over your life even if it

doesn't match what you imagined or are

anticipating.

That's the marker of trust. So he

continues, "My holy one, you will not

die. Lord, you appointed them." He's

talking about the Babylonians, the

Caldanss, to execute judgment, my rock.

You destined them to punish us. Your

eyes are too pure to look on evil and

you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So,

Habach begins with theology. He knows

who God is. He knows what it means to be

in covenant with him. And so, he's

almost verbally trying to work out this

understanding of how God is moving and

working through this situation.

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil.

You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why

do you tolerate those who are

treacherous?

Why are you silent while one who is

wicked swallows up one who is more

righteous than himself?

Now Habach is not leaning on this idea

that he or the people of God are

perfect.

But what he is recognizing is that we

are your chosen people. We are the one

made righteous by you. So, so why would

you raise up a pagan, idolatrous, evil

nation to come and pass judgment on us?

Verse 14, you have made mankind like the

fish of the sea, like marine creatures

that have no ruler. We're helpless.

We're like fish at the mercy of the

fishermen.

The Calaldanss pull them all up with a

hook, catch them in their drag net, and

gather them in their fishing net. This

is why they are glad and rejoice. That

is why they sacrifice to their drag net,

and burn incense to their fishing net.

For by these things their portion is

rich, and their food is plentiful. Will

they therefore empty their net and

continually slaughter nations without

mercy? And so he's made his plea known.

He starts with theology. He's trying to

connect the dots.

And and if you understand the context

here within what is taking place in this

time period within the nation of Israel

and the southern kingdom of Judah, civil

war has erupted. They're no longer a

united people. The northern kingdom has

already been conquered and exiled. The

southern kingdom is next. All because

they are rebelling and living in

disobedience, not in trust or abiding or

connection, but choosing intentionally

to turn from the Lord. And so, he's

trying to connect the dots. And again,

there's no resolution here. Much like

our prayer life, we're not going to

discover often times immediate

resolution. So what does Habach do? I

love this. This is the meat. Verse one

of chapter 2.

I will stand

at my guard post and station myself on

the lookout tower.

I will watch and see.

When God responded to Habachok,

what did God tell Habach?

Look, observe,

be astounded.

And as Habach tries to connect the dots

and still doesn't find resolution, what

does he say? I will watch and see. Then

I may not understand it, but I'm going

to trust in you.

I may not see this clearly but I know

your plan, your purpose and your will is

better than anything I can imagine.

Any plan, purpose or will of my own

life, I will watch and see what he will

say to me and what I should reply about

my complaints. And all God's people

said,

>> Lord, would you bless your word? Holy

Spirit, would you stir our hearts this

morning?

What I want to do for the rest of our

time is I want to talk about what it

means to wait and trust in the Lord.

We live in a culture that thrives on

convenience. We've talked about this

many times before. And what we find not

just within this particular prayer and

story, but really throughout the

scriptures that there are two marks of

genuine biblical trust and faith. And it

is learning to wait. Well, waiting is

theatic throughout the scripture.

Abraham waited for the promised son in

Isaac.

We, the church today, are waiting for

the promised return of Jesus Christ. And

much like Habach, we see the idolatry

and evil that seems to pervade every

nook and cranny of society. And much

like Habach, we answer, Lord, we ask how

long. And we learned last week that

oftent times the judgment of God is that

he gives us up to the full course of our

rebellious hearts.

You know this just as well as I do, that

God doesn't bow at every whim of our

preferences. He doesn't move in

accordance with our timetable. So what

we find is that in our waiting,

trust is built

and waiting becomes the furnace so to

speak where our faith is solidified.

And so I want to ask you this morning,

what are you waiting for? What have you

been going to the Lord with? Maybe for

some of us, we're waiting for the return

of the Lord.

We're waiting for the moment that we

draw our last breath

because we're ready to be face to face

with our savior.

Maybe some of us, we're waiting for that

spouse to finally change and for things

to turn around in our marriage. Maybe

there's some parents in here waiting for

that weward or rebellious child to come

to their senses so you would know that

your prayers are not in vain.

Or maybe you've been waiting for test

results.

Or maybe you've been waiting for the

doctors to finally say, "Hey, it's gone.

There's no sign of disease. There's no

sign of infection." We all have

something that we are waiting for. The

question is, how is your faith being

forged in the furnace of waiting?

How are you being molded as you continue

in your walk and abiding and connecting

with the Lord? And here's where the

tension is. Here's what we discover.

Here's what we wrestle with at the heart

of this passage.

When the ways of God confuse us, the

life of faith calls us to wait and

trust.

To wait and trust on the Lord. So here's

what I want to do with our remaining

time. Let's go back through the passage.

Let's draw out some pictures here that

Habachok models before us that though we

are century and millennia remove from

this conversation between God and

Habachok, we can still apply in our

lives today. And not just in such a way

where we agree with what's being said or

we highlight something that is spoken to

us, but that we can apply these things

in our lives right now as soon as we

walk out these doors. If you're taking

notes, here's the first thing I want us

to see. Let's remember who God is.

It's very easy to forget how God moves

and how God works. If you've been

following our reading plan, remember we

entered into this year with a desire to

read the Bible again in 2026. We want to

always be the type of church and the

type of people that are actively

engaging and studying and reading God's

word more.

And so we are now in the book of what

book are we in? We just finished

Numbers. Leviticus.

No, Deuteronomy. Sorry. We're in the

We're in the book of Deuteronomy. Now,

Deuteronomy is really Moses's final

sermon to the nation of Israel. If

you've been keeping up, Moses is told by

God, "You cannot enter the promised

land." He had a lapse in faith. He had a

lapse in judgment. He didn't, one could

say, he didn't wait and trust well. And

as a result of that, God said, "You will

not enter the promised land." And so

Moses, he's on the cusp and he's with

the nation of Israel. He's with this

generation of children who have come out

of Egypt. Their parents and grandparents

are gone. They've gone to be with the

Lord. He's with this generation of

children that have been born during the

Exodus. They know nothing else. And

Moses knows these are his final words.

And so what does he do?

He tells them, "Remember.

Remember the God who heard our plea and

brought us out of Egypt. Remember the

God who when we were thirsty provided

water. Remember the God who when we were

hungry provided bread. Remember the God

who provides, the God who hears, and the

God who delivers." Because what happened

with the nation as they were coming out

of Egypt? They forgot the hand of God.

And when you forget the hand of God or

when you realize it takes discipline and

intentionality

to pursue the Lord and live a life under

the hand of God, it's very easy to want

to go back to where you came from.

We see this in the gospel ministry of

Jesus. Do you remember when Peter denied

Christ three times?

And what I love about this is

postresurrection, Jesus goes looking for

Peter. Do you remember how Peter felt

when he finally realized that what the

word declared, what the Lord declared

would happen happened? The scripture

says he wept bitterly. He recognized the

depth of his sin. He recognized that he

didn't wait, nor did he trust well. And

when the Lord resurrected, he went

searching for Peter. Here's what I want

you to know. The Lord is searching for

you.

Even if you have fallen, even if you

have made mistake, even if you've gone

back to your addiction, the Lord is

searching for you. Now, don't hear me

say that even though the Lord is

searching for you, you can stay in your

sin.

What I'm trying to do is magnify the

beauty of who God is.

So much so that in the big picture,

despite your sin yesterday, today, and

your sin tomorrow, he chooses to send

his son for you, to covenant with you,

to call you his own. And so where does

he find Peter? He finds Peter right back

where he called Peter from.

It's very easy when we forget who God is

and the work that he's done in our life

to go right back to where we were. Verse

12, let's read it again.

Are you not from eternity? Habach

says,"Lord,

my God, my holy one, you will not die,

Lord. You appointed them to execute

judgment. My rock, you destined them to

punish us."

And again, this is what I love about

this. Before Habach wrestles with God's

plan, hear this. before he wrestles with

God's plan, with God's answer, he

anchors himself in God's character.

Church, that's the only way that we can

wait. Well, that's the only way that

trust can be molded and faith can be

forged in the furnace of waiting is that

we anchor ourselves in God's character.

And so, what does he say? Lord. He's

referring to the Lord by his name, his

covenant name, his personal name. This

isn't random. He knows who God is and he

cries out to him. And not only that, he

says, "You are mine."

That's not selfish of him.

That's what a child who is in love with

their parents and find security and

worth and value and purpose. your mind.

Any parent knows this. When there's a

moment

when your children I hope for me it

never ends, but but for most people

there's a moment where where daddy

then becomes dad.

But that's a moment that's never lost on

Habach.

It's daddy. This is what Jesus declares

in the garden. It's daddy. He's crying

out to the Lord who he knows saves and

protects. And so prior to wrestling

with what God has decreed, he anchors

himself in God's character. So how do

you anchor yourself in God's character?

You remember what God has done and you

look to what he's doing.

We don't serve a distant God. We serve a

covenant God who reveals himself to us

and to his people since the beginning.

And we know the end here, which is

really no end at all. We know how this

continues for you and I where we will

one day, should we draw our last breath

or the Lord return prior, we will step

into the full final complete and

glorious revelation of our father who is

in heaven. This is what we hope in. This

is what Habach knows. Which is why he

refers to him as my God, Lord, my holy

one, my rock. And yet, and yet, what do

we see take place in the very next

breath here? Verse 13.

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,

and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So

why do you tolerate those who are

treacherous? Why are you silent while

one who is wicked and swallows up one

who is more righteous than himself?

This is what I love about this because

what Habach is doing is he's replacing

two realities side by side.

One reality is the holiness of God,

his goodness, his mercy, his peace. The

other reality is an evil nation, a more

pagan and evil nation is coming to

annihilate them. And so there's a

tension here. And the way we confront

this tension is we phrase it like this.

Why does a good holy God allow evil and

bad things to happen?

This is a tension that has been consumed

with people from the Old Testament into

the New Testament. It's a tension that

consumes

us.

And what Habach is saying is, God, I

know who you are. I know you are holy. I

know you are just. So, can you please

help me understand this

because I'm having a difficult time? How

many of us have ever been there?

So, he anchors himself in the character

of God. And so, what what does this do?

exposes the human heart

because this is still true today.

We want understanding

before we're willing to trust. And

that's just backwards.

We're called to trust. And it's through

deeper and greater trust that deeper and

greater connection grows. And the more

our connection in our roots seek deeper

into who God is, his plan and his

mission and in our relationship with

him, the more the veil of what keeps us

from fully seeing God slowly begins to

be pulled away.

And maybe maybe you think of it this way

just like me. God, if you would just

explain yourself and you would make it

absolutely clear, then I'll trust you.

But that's not biblical trust.

When you understand something fully

before engaging with it, you're simply

just agreeing with it. There's no active

trust that is being engaged. Because

understanding who God is, who he is,

anchoring yourself in his character

becomes a foundation for trusting what

God does.

And so, Habach remembers who God is,

but the tension still exists. And so he

continues to pray.

And in his prayer, he describes the

reality of what this invasion will mean,

which is where we see the second thing

take place. Not only does he remember

who God is,

he recognizes the brokenness of the

world.

Now, you and I recognize the brokenness

of the world. We're no strangers to it.

It's not a mystery to us.

There is evil that is so widespread.

There is evil that is received,

accepted, celebrated. And there is evil

that is so celebrated. It calls other

people in to celebrate with it. And so

why does recognizing the brokenness of

the world, what does this do for Habach?

What does it do for us? Well, it does

several things. Number one, it reminds

us that this is not all there is. The

brokenness of the world that we live in

should be the trigger that points our

gaze heavenward.

As we realize this is not God's plan.

This is not what he desires for his

people. And so God is actively working

even if I cannot perceive it. God is

actively working towards redemption and

rescue.

Now notice what Habach says in verse 16.

That is why he's referencing the

Calaldanss, the Babylonians. That is why

they sacrifice to their drag net and

burn incense to their fishing net. For

by these things their portion is rich

and their food plentiful.

Now, what is Habach doing? Do you

remember what God told Habach in last

week's sermon? In verse 11 of chapter 1,

God tells Habach that this nation sweeps

by like the wind and their God is their

strength.

And so Habach recognizes

that they are worshiping the very thing

that gives them power.

Now if if you play out the parallels

here, it's not very different.

The people of Israel were worshiping the

very thing that gave them power,

self-power, self satisfaction. How often

is that a reality in our own life?

We worship the things that bring us

value. We worship the things that give

us worth and give us a sense of

significance. And maybe we'll never

outright say it. I worship my job or I

worship my family or I worship my bank

account or I worship vacations,

entertainment, and leisure. Maybe we

will never say those things. What does

our life demonstrate about those things?

What do we worship? What are we giving

ourselves over to when success comes?

And the Babylonians, the Calaldanss,

were having worldly success. By every

definition of worldly success, when

success comes our way, here's you know

this just as well as I as I do. The

human heart then begins to idolize that

success

and we begin to worship the very things

that have brought that success in our

life.

This is an important reminder for us

that as we recognize the brokenness of

our world to realize this is not the

end- all beall of life

that if you are a child of God, you are

a citizen of a greater kingdom.

a kingdom that exists beyond what we

see, what we feel, and what we

experience. This side of heaven and one

day we will step into the fullness of

it. So here's the application for us.

This same temptation exists today. You

know it, I know it, we battle against

it, we suffer from it. The human heart

still worships the things that provide

its security.

Which is why we see the world in the

state that it is today. It all comes

down to devotion. It all comes down to

worship.

Wars have been started over things that

are worshiped.

And worship is always done in a

religious and spiritual nature. Now

there's nothing religious and spiritual

about some of the things people worship

but it's religious and spiritual in

nature because you are giving yourself

over to something that is not meant to

provide for you the satisfaction and

contentment that you so desire

and you sacrifice the very thing that

God has created for himself as you give

it to the world.

And so Habach recognizes the brokenness

of the world as he's remembering God.

And here's what's important because now

he begins to filter

the brokenness of the world through who

God is. So now he looks at the

brokenness of the world and he views it

through the lens of truth, through the

lens of God. And the trap and the danger

so many of us fall into is we look at

the character of God through the lens of

the brokenness of this world. And the

lens of brokenness is going to cloud and

distort the truth of God. But when it's

flipped, when it's on its biblical

correct path and paradigm, we're able to

see the brokenness through the lens of

truth.

And so we just don't see the brokenness

in and of itself as chaotic and evil as

it is. But we see it through the lens of

God's character. And so we're driven to

the mission. We're driven to prayer.

We're driven to worship because we know

there are people that we care about that

are lost in the brokenness of this

world. Which is why

we get to verse one of chapter 2. Here's

the third thing that we see.

Habach does this.

And by extension, God calls us to do

this. So, we need to you need to

position yourself to hear from God. Let

me read verse one and then we'll close

it up.

I will stand at my guard post

and station myself on the lookout tower.

I will watch and see what he will say to

me and what I should reply about my

complaints. In other words, Lord, I've

given you my words,

but you've told me to look, to wonder,

observe, and be astounded.

And so now, Habachok is using cultural

and contextual imagery to paint a

spiritual picture.

There were ro watchtowers around cities.

There was a wall around Jerusalem.

And there were watchmen who would

position themselves on that wall

so that if an enemy was approaching the

city gates, they would be able to warn

the city. Or if a royal figure or person

was approaching the city gates, they'd

be able to warn the city to get the

celebration started. This is what

beautiful. Here's what's beautiful. Let

me dive into this real quick. Are we

being watchmen for the Lord?

Where we are stationing ourselves

so that as we see what's happening

around us, we are ready for that day

that the trumpet sounds and the Lord

returns and we tell people or as we

await that moment, we're telling people,

dads, husbands, how are we doing that

for our family? How are we positioning

ourselves to hear from God? Habach

understands

that God will answer. But what I love

about this, we talked about this at the

beginning of the message. Habach

understands that God's answer might

reshape his perspective.

So, as he's given his words to the Lord,

what does he say here at the end of

verse one?

I will watch and see and he will say to

me and what I should reply about my

complaint. So Lord, I've given you my

words. Now put your words in my heart.

Put your truth in my heart. Put your

perspective in my heart and I am open to

correction if I need to be corrected.

Some of us are in the situation that

we're in because we refuse to be

corrected by the Lord.

We refuse for his truth, his standards,

his commands to shape and form our

lives, our family, our work, our health,

our marriage. We refuse it. And because

of that,

God perhaps

allows us to be set on the course of the

full the full consequence of our

rebellion.

So, Habach is teaching us something very

profound here about life and faith.

Faith doesn't mean that we pretend like

everything is okay. Faith acknowledges

when things don't make sense. This is

what Habach did. God, your character is

holy. There's some evil that's happening

in the world. Help me find the bridge

with the tension.

And faith is not just believing when

life is easy. Faith is trusting in the

Lord when the path and the road ahead is

unclear.

And I think so many of us, that's the

reality that we face. our path is

unclear.

Sometimes it's for seasons and moments.

Other times it feels like this has been

going on for years and decades. And and

and let me just let me just weigh into

this real quick. We talked about this uh

ever since the sermon series began. For

some of us, we will not find resolution

this side of heaven.

Habach will not live to see the

resolution.

Because Judah will be invaded. They'll

be conquered. They'll be taken into

exile. But Habach knows I will position

myself on the watchtowwer. Because when

I position myself on the watchtowwer, my

perspective shifts and I'm able to see

further to what's ahead rather than just

what's in front of me. Which is why the

scripture says, "Would you lift your

eyes and gaze upon where your help comes

from? Because my help, our help, church,

comes from the maker of heaven and

earth. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for

your word. Thank you for your guidance,

your direction.

Thank you that you are a God who listens

and you are a God who corrects. And so

Lord, I pray that as your spirit

continues to move in and through this

place,

Lord, that you would call people,

call people out of brokenness

and into your glorious light

that in you, through you, and by you, we

would recognize that your grace, as it's

poured over us, resurrects us out of

death and sin to life eternal.

>> Lord, we love you. We thank you. It's in

Christ's name we pray. All God's people

said, "Amen." Hey, would you stand to

your feet with me? Let's close our

service. We're going to worship. We're

going to sing to the Lord. And let's

make these words the prayer of our

hearts

as we trust,

as our faith is forged in the furnace of

waiting. Our altar is going to be open.

This is a response time. If you want to

have some time with the Lord,

you can come kneel before him. Lift up

your need, your prayer before the Lord.

Pastor Eric and myself will be

available. We'd love to pray with you.

If you'd like to intercede on behalf of

someone, you'd like to receive prayer,

we'd love to pray with you. If the Holy

Spirit stirred your heart today and

you've awakened out of death and sin to

faith in Jesus Christ, we'd love to

celebrate that with you. Come and tell

Pastor Eric or myself, I love you,

church.