WHEN GOD SEEMS SILENT - Habakkuk 1:1-4

Well, amen. Hey, if you have a Bible or

an app, meet me in the book of Habachok.

Everyone say that five times really

fast. The book of Habachok, we're going

to be looking at chapter 1:es 1-4. It's

in the Old Testament. And it is

absolutely okay if you turn to your

table of contents in order to find where

that book is. So, we're kicking off a

series over the book of Habach. I've

titled this series Faith in the Waiting.

Uh, and the reason is because oftent

times in life, and many of us can

testify to this, life seems like nothing

more than a waiting room for something

to shift and go our way. And maybe

you've walked a path where things have

not always gone your way. It's been one

trial after another, one season of

darkness after another, one valley after

another. And even if you're not there,

even if you are experiencing a moment of

mountaintop blessings, and praise the

Lord for that, you can testify to a

moment in your life where you've kind of

gone through the thick of it. Well, we

enter into a point in the history of the

nation of Israel. It's been split in

two. If you're familiar with the history

of the Old Testament kings, uh at one

point civil war erupted and you had the

nation of Israel, God's people who were

set apart to be a united people to look

different from the world, split into two

different kingdoms. You had um the

kingdom of Israel and then you had the

kingdom of Judah. Bonus point if someone

can tell me why it was referred to as a

kingdom of Judah.

because it was the tribe of Judah that

remained faithful to that king. Uh and

so Israel, the northern king, Israel has

has been invaded. They've been taken

into exile. And so you have the southern

kingdom of Judah basically just on the

fray of being invaded. They know that

that the Babylonian enemy, this this

pagan nation that really has their

number is just waiting for an

opportunity to invade.

You have political leaders, you have

religious leaders, you have people that

have forgotten the law. They they have

access to it. And what's interesting is

is people are still going to synagogues.

They're they're still honoring the

Sabbath. the word of God is being taught

to them, but they're not paying

attention.

They're not following through with it.

It's so relevant for us today, is it

not? Here's the challenge. Some of you

won't like this. You come and you sit

here on a Sunday morning and you know

the word of God and it's proclaimed to

you. It's proclaimed over you and and

for a moment you you give into it and

you shout, "Yes and amen. That's my

life." But then none of it impacts you.

throughout the rest of the week. Your

Monday through Saturday is not

indicative of someone who would open

God's truth and be transformed by it.

This is the culture. This is the context

by which Habach is living. And Habach

feels the burden of this.

And so he prays to God

and God doesn't answer. Or so Habach

thinks.

He pleads with the Lord. He looks at

everything that is wrong and and broken

around him. The the righteous

seem to get stepped on and and the evil

ones seem to prosper.

Injustices prevail. And Habach has

questions.

We'll get into this in just a moment.

Habach opens this letter

in conflict.

He doesn't open it in praise. He doesn't

open it in what we would perceive as

language of worship, though it is.

Habach is conflicted. The same way you

and I are conflicted. The same way you

and I would feel the burden of praying

to God. And I'm not talking about some

random happen stance laxidasical type of

prayers. I'm talking about this this

cast white knuckle grip type of prayer.

These these desperate prayers that we

take before the Lord and yet we feel

that God is silent.

And like so many of us, we look at the

world around us and we see evil upon

evil from all levels. From the evil that

takes place in our own home, from the

evil that we see in our friends group,

the evil that we see in our community,

in our state, in our nation, from

religious to political leaders, and we

know it's not supposed to be this way.

And maybe like me, you've gone before

the Lord and you have just asked why.

Why does evil prevail?

Why does darkness seem to get the last

word? This is where Habach speaks.

He goes before the Lord with this

burden,

this weight that he's bearing for the

people of God,

and he calls upon the name of the Lord.

Has anybody ever been there before?

Yeah, I think I think we all have.

It's a place in our life that creates

tension

as we feel the weight of this reality.

and and what we're going to do over the

next couple of weeks as we prepare our

hearts for Easter

because Habach is waiting for a movement

of God.

When we celebrate Easter, we're we're

we're waiting like the disciples. They

were waiting for a movement of God. Post

resurrection, post ascension,

between that and the return of Christ,

we're we're waiting. And oftent times in

our waiting, it can be burdensome

because we don't see God or we don't

perceive God moving the way that we

hope. But but but here's here's what I

want to challenge us before we dive into

uh our passage.

When God seems silent, I I want y'all to

hear this. When God seems silent, that

silence creates a holy tension.

And that holy tension that we feel, that

weight, that burden is designed to draw

us closer to God. And here's the mistake

that so many of us make. We feel that

tension. We feel the weight. We know the

truth of God. And yet, we don't perceive

the truth of God in the reality in which

we live. And so, that tension, if we're

not careful, and you've been there

before, it'll cause us to move away from

God.

rather than to pursue and seek him with

greater intimacy, with greater faith,

with deeper devotion. This is what the

entire book in three chapters of Habach

teaches us

that we're to pursue the Lord even in

these silent

moments. So, Habach chapter 1, we'll

focus on the first four uh verses this

morning.

Here's how it reads.

the pronouncement

that the prophet Habach saw. Let me hit

the pause button. Some of you, your

translations might read. The burden that

the prophet Habach saw. That's what that

word pronouncement is indicating in the

Hebrew language.

It wasn't just something that Habach

recognized with his eyes. It was

something that he felt in his soul

and what he saw and what he felt became

the catalyst that drew him closer to

God. So think about some areas in your

life

where you're feeling the weight and the

burden of things and ask yourself this

question. How is it drawing me closer to

the Lord?

Because that's the point.

That's why we can boldly with resounding

voice declare the anthem. It is well

with my soul

because this allows me to experience a

sweeter part of the Lord. And and let me

just add this as well that to bring this

into some greater context of what's

happening with Habach. Habach is one of

the only prophets that is not speaking

to the people of God.

His entire letter is this back and

forth, this prayer dialogue that he has

with God.

And it's beautiful that that that in

this moment where he feels God is silent

and not moving. Watch this. He

experiences deeper wisdom and knowledge

of God.

And often times if we're not careful, we

can miss it. Verse two,

how long

Lord must I call for help and you do not

listen. How many of us can relate with

that? This is a prayer of lament.

Let me clarify this much like we did

over this last summer when we went

through several psalms of lament. It's

not wrong. Hear me. It's not wrong to

take your complaint before the Lord.

God knows our complaint.

What we don't want is our complaint to

keep us from the Lord. When we take our

complaint before the Lord filtered

through an avenue of worship, even

through a question like this, God, where

are you? I'm confused. I'm I'm angry.

I I don't feel like you're responding,

God. Do you even care?

It's not wrong to lament that way to the

Lord so long as it's filtered through a

desire for deeper worship, deeper

devotion, and deeper connection. This is

the point of what we're looking at here

in these first four verses.

What do we do when God seems silent?

What does that do for our walk? What

does that do for our devotion?

And Habach opens up this way. How long

Lord will must I call for help and you

do not listen or cry out to you about

violence and you do not save.

We pray for healing. We pray

that evil people would receive justice.

And we're confused when there is this

perception that nothing is happening

that that nothing is is moving in the

direction that that that we desire. Did

you know

that there is an unseen realm in

operation right now?

This is the realm of of of holiness

versus evil. Good versus bad. And let me

just let me just lay it out here for us.

It's it's really not a battle

in terms of oh, evil gains the upper

hand and then and holiness has to draw

back or or evil seems to be winning and

and holiness has to retreat and and

regroup. It's it's not that sort of

battle because at the end of the day,

church, we've been given the victory.

Amen.

>> Like it's already there. The victory has

been attained.

We're living in fulfilled prophecy

between the ascension of Jesus and and

his return. We're we're living in a

moment not where we're fighting for the

victory. The victory's already been

done. What we are doing is we are moving

towards what the scripture calls the BMA

seat

to the moment or think of the Olympics

this way where the champion sits upon

the BMA seat sits upon the podium first

place and receives their reward. This is

the picture that we're moving to. We're

we're moving towards that that crowning

achievements of glory not because of you

and I but because of Christ and Christ

alone.

And so this unseen realm that that is

taking place, God is moving and working

within it. Um I I

a story one time

about this farmer who bought some land

and behind his house was this humongous

bul boulder. Boulder. Yeah. this

humongous boulder

and it was just keeping him from having

the best view of his property. So he

decided he wanted to break that boulder

apart until every day he'd take the

sledgehammer and he would just go. He

would hit and hit and hit and hit and

nothing would happen. There was no

visible sign of anything that was going

on. He did this for a number of years.

And then one day after work, he goes

out. He figures, I'm going to hit this

thing again. He grabs a sledgehammer. He

hits the boulder and that thing splits

in half. He didn't hit it any stronger

than than he did previously. It was the

same thing. Well, what happened

with every single hit? Something on the

inside was taking place. something he

couldn't perceive, something he couldn't

see, but something was happening until

the moment it broke open and he

experienced the overflow

of everything he had invested in.

Roland, what are you saying? You You may

see the world around you and you may

feel that prayers are unanswered, that

God isn't moving, but the more you press

in, the more things begin to work and

stir. Even if you don't see it, right

now in the unseen realm, angels are

fighting on your behalf. They're praying

on your behalf. You have the son of God,

Christ Jesus, who is interceding on your

behalf

until the day that you experience

overflow. And let me just say this, some

of us might not experience that until

the day we draw our last breath and open

up our eyes in glory.

Some of us, we experience that multiple

times on this side of heaven.

The point is that our hearts are drawn

closer to the Lord. Let's go to verse

three. Why do you force me to look at

injustice?

Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Oppression and violence are right in

front of me. Strife is ongoing and

conflict escalates.

This is why the law is ineffective and

justice never emerges.

For the wicked restrict the righteous.

Therefore, justice comes out perverted.

And all God's people said,

>> Lord, would you bless your word? Holy

Spirit, would you stir our hearts this

morning?

Now, now mind you, remember this is from

Habach's perspective.

And so from his perspective, he's

wrestling with God.

And again, wrestling with God is is not

wrong so long as it's done in faith. As

as a matter of fact, we see a picture of

this in Genesis.

What individual in Genesis wrestled with

God

and he was changed? Jacob, he was

different after that encounter.

And maybe if if you're if you're a

skeptic or if you're cynical, you would

say, "Well, he was different, but but

God disabled him. God gave him a bum hip

and he was different."

But how how did that difference that God

brought into his life make him more

dependent on God?

Make him a better follower of God.

God when we wrestle with him is not

wrong so long as it's done in faith. And

then Habach, what is Habach? What does

he see? He sees the law is being

ignored. No one turns to the truth.

Therefore, injustice is everywhere.

So what do we do with this? When God

seems silent, tensions rise.

And the question the question is not

whether that tension will come. The

question is, what will we do with it

in your situation, in your life? What

will you do with that tension?

And maybe for some of us, you're not

feeling that tension right now because

you're in a season where you're able to

recognize God move and God work and and

God's just, man, let's go. Let's let's

get after it. Praise God for those

moments. Let this serve as an

affirmation of what you are already

doing and an equipping and empowering so

that when you come alongside people who

are going through the thick of it, you

have an opportunity to speak truth. So

here's what I want to do. Let's go back

through the passage. Let's draw out some

movements, some scenes, some truths that

I believe, though took place several

centuries removed from now, continue to

be relevant for us today. Okay, if

you're taking notes, here's the first

one. When God seems silent, keep

seeking. I believe that's already been

made clear, but if it hasn't, let's dive

into this a little bit more. Go back to

verse two.

How long, Lord, Habach says, must I call

for help and you do not listen? Or cry

out to you about violence and you do not

save. Now, here's here is what's

incredibly interesting. What are two

things that we immediately recognize

from Habach's perspective?

Number one, he's feeling the weight of

impatience.

So, he goes before the Lord and he says,

"How long?" Number two, he's feeling

like God doesn't listen and he's feeling

like God doesn't move and work. How long

you do not listen, you do not save. And

yet, this is what makes it incredibly

interesting. Habach from his

perspective, God, you don't listen and

you're not working. And yet, what does

he do? He takes his burden before the

Lord.

This isn't anti-faith on Habach's part.

This is incredible faith on Habach's

part. It reminds me of the gentleman in

the Gospel of Mark who's before the Lord

and he says, "I don't have belief.

help my unbelief.

Some of the most greatest,

God moving, God orchestrating prayers

are these sort of prayers where we don't

get it. We don't UNDERSTAND IT. BUT

DESPITE THAT, we still go before the

Lord. And so from Habach's perspective,

God seems silent. But but what is he

doing? He's continuing to seek. He's

continuing to press in. He's continuing

to pursue the Lord. And here's what

makes it all the more incredible. How

does he refer to God

through his personal name,

Yahweh? Your translations will have Lord

all capitalized, Lor D. And whenever you

see the name Lord all capitalized,

that's the covenant name of God.

that Habachok knowing that this is the

God of the covenant and the God of the

covenant will see his covenant come to

fulfillment.

Habach no doubt knew the covenant that

he had made with Moses, he had made with

Adam, he had made with Abraham. Habach

knows these things. The covenant he had

made with David. And so what does he do?

How do we know this? Because he refers

to God through his covenant name. He's

not doubting God.

He's struggling with what seems to be

inaction.

What seems to be like he's unseen and

he's unheard. And I I want us to know

this. Silence in scripture never means

absence in regards to God. God is never

absent.

But often times, God will purposefully

hit the pause button in our life. What

we perceive to be delay.

And delay, I mean, if we're honest, can

sometimes feel personal.

What's wrong with me? What do I need to

do different?

Why is it working out for them and not

for us? And here's what I love. Also the

verb here, the verb tense in this

particular verse suggests ongoing

action. In other words, Habach when he

says, "How long, Lord, must I call for

help?" It's not a one-time prayer. What

he is essentially saying is, "How long

must I keep calling for help?" So, we're

getting a small window into an ongoing

prayer that was happening in Habach's

life.

What ongoing prayers are going on in

your life?

>> What are we continually bringing before

the Lord and trusting him with

even when it doesn't seem like we're

being heard or like God is moving? Do

you keep seeking?

The very fact that Habach is crying out

to God proves he still believes that God

is the only one who can respond.

But here's

here's the application for us.

When you're in this situation, do you

press into God or do you pull away from

God?

Because silence, silence on our end will

reveal what we truly believe about God.

Do you believe God can work? Do you

believe God can move? And if you do,

then why is there silence on your part?

Why is there inactivity on your part?

Why have you quit pursuing the Lord?

If we suspect that God is indifferent

and if we think that God never hears us,

then we fall into the trap of the enemy,

we fall into his hands and what

eventually happens, we slowly begin to

drift away.

But what does Habac do? Let's go to the

second truth that we see in this

passage.

When the world feels corrupt, stay

obedient.

When the world feels corrupt, stay

obedient. Let's go to verses three and

four.

Why do you force me to look at

injustice?

Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Remember, this is Habach's perspective.

Oppression and violence are right in

front of me. Strife is ongoing and

conflict escalates. This is why the law

is ineffective and justice never

emerges. He sees it from the top down

everywhere he looks. No one obeys the

Lord.

No one follows after him. He sees the

corruption. But here in the rest of the

story, this is what we'll discover and

this is important. And this is what's

important for us today, church. He stays

obedient.

He doesn't let the lack of obedience

from others determine whether he's

obedient to the Lord. And this is where

so many of us struggle.

We're so busy looking at the

disobedience of other people, we neglect

to form our own obedience before the

Lord.

And so we begin to make excuses. Well,

look at them. Look at their life. Look

at their family. Look at their marriage.

Look at what he does. Look at what she

does.

>> Well, what about you?

What are you doing?

>> When we spend so much time worried about

what others are doing are not doing,

then that's wasted energy when we

ourselves should be pursuing the Lord in

obedience. Now, I am not saying it isn't

important to hold people accountable.

I'm not saying it isn't important to

come alongside people in their walk with

the Lord and say, "Hey, we're getting

off path. We need to repent and course

correct here."

But the thing is, we're so busy looking

at the opposing side that we neglect to

serve on our own side.

We're so busy worried about the

polarization that takes place in our

WORLD TODAY. AND THIS HAPPENS

EVERYWHERE. So many of us, we're really

good complainers. We're really good

critiquers and we're poor contributors

because all we ever do is point out what

everyone else is doing wrong without

focusing on ourselves.

And when we spend so much time worried

about the world around us rather than

spending time and energy

to focus on where our heart is, we miss

out.

And so what's happening here? Habach is

grieving. He's grieving the corruption.

He's he's grieving the disobedience.

But what does he do? He goes before the

Lord.

And so we have to examine our own

faithfulness before we critique. We have

to examine.

It's easy to lament the moral decay of

the world. It's a harder question to

ask.

Have I grown numb to it?

Have I become desensitized

to it? Because what God desires from

your life is a passion and an obedience

and a deep desire to pursue him more and

more every single day. to not be

distracted by what's going on around us,

but to stay locked in and plugged in

right here.

To stay locked in and plugged in. Lord's

showing you an illustration.

You need to get with it.

To stay locked in and stay plugged in.

And so Habach sits in this unresolved

tension

and God is still moving and he's still

working. And let me just say this before

we move on. Let me say this.

God does his best work. Listen, I know

your stories. I know my story.

And I can say this boldly. God does his

best work in unresolved tension.

This is what's happening with a backup.

There's no resolution here. Not yet.

And I'm jumping way ahead in the story,

but do you know what's going to happen

in here?

God's going to respond to Habach. He's

going to say, "I hear you. Judgment's

coming."

Habach's going to say, "How is judgment

coming? The Babylonians are going to

come and conquer you."

And Habach says, "You're going to let

our enemies overpower us." God says,

"Yes,

judgment is coming for the disobedience

of the people.

But I love this. I love this.

Anyone ever heard of a kayastic

structure?

So a kayastic structure is is a method

of writing in the Bible

that bookends

some truth.

And so while Habach is is is not your

traditional kayastic structure, what you

have here is some incredible bookends.

Think of a sandwich,

right? Two slices of bread and in the

middle you have the glory. And this is

what Habach is doing. Watch this verse

two. He says, "How long, Lord, must I

call for help? You do not listen or cry

out about violence and you do not save."

We feel the tension. We're living it in

the world today.

We sent missiles to Iran over the

weekend.

And maybe some of us, we have questions.

Is World War II happening?

Are we going to send soldiers to invade?

Is this is this just a political move?

Is this to distract us from some other

things that we need to be dealing with

here in our own country? We have all

these questions

which I think even in the context of

Habach should make its truth be felt all

the more.

And he says, "How long?" Now go with me

to the end of verse three

or in the end of chapter three and I

want us to see something amazing.

He's asking how long.

And then in verse 17, what does he say

in chapter 3? Though the fig tree does

not bud and there is no fruit on the

vine. Though the olive crop fails and

the fields produce no food, though the

flocks disappear from the pen and there

are no herds in the stall. Life seems

horrible.

We don't have no rain. We don't have no

harvest, no crops. The people hate you.

Yet, yet, church, let this be our cry.

Yet, I will celebrate in the Lord. I

will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

What do we do when God seems silent? We

pursue. We press in and we celebrate.

Well, Roland, what is there to

celebrate? Habach's looking ahead.

He's received the call for judgment.

Judah's going to go into exile.

They're essentially going to be stripped

of their identity as a people. Their

land's going to be conquered.

And yet their celebration, it is well

with my soul.

Let me close with this. The last one.

When tensions rise, let it form your

faith. Verse four says, "For the wicked

restrict the righteous, therefore,

justice comes out perverted." You see,

Roland, what does it have to do with

being formed in your faith? Notice

there's no resolution here.

Not yet.

There may never be. Hear me. Hear me.

I say this as pastorally as I can.

And as a brother who wants to come

alongside you in your pain and your

struggle, you may never find resolution

this side of heaven.

That's hard.

That's a difficult truth to live out.

Some of you are living that out right

now. And I know some of your stories. I

know you're behind the scenes faith

and you are living in unresolved tension

in a way that honors God. God bless you

for that.

There are some of us

this morning is a challenge for us to

pursue the Lord.

God might bring you the resolution and

amen. Let us glorify his name together.

But even if

even if he doesn't,

the focus is not resolution now.

The focus is on the eternal glory that

every son and daughter of God will

receive the moment we draw our last

breath or should before then the Lord

return in glory and majesty. That's the

resolution.

That's the victory. And that's why when

our eyes are focused on the prize, we

can still have faith in the silence.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your

word. We thank you for the opportunity

to gather this morning.

Lord, I pray that in everything and

through everything, you would continue

to be glorified.

Bless us during this response time

that we may be a people focused on you

with a heart to pursue you in Christ

Jesus name. All God's people said,

>> amen.

>> Amen. Hey, let's stand together. We're

going to sing. We're going to lift up

the name of the Lord. Let this be the

prayer of our heart. Our altar is going

to be open. This is an opportunity for

you to come have some one-on-one time

with the Lord.

If you need prayer, Pastor Eric and

myself will be available. We'd love to

pray with you. Lift up your need before

the Lord together to say yes and amen to

a victory or a blessing you've

experienced.

Maybe there's some things you need to

get right with God.

This is an opportunity for you to do

that. Dads, if you want to bring your

family before the altar, have some

prayer time together. This is just so

that you can respond to how the Holy

Spirit's moving. I love you, church.