”When God Doesn’t Do It My Way” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Habakkuk 1

the book of

Habach.

Continuing our study through the book of

Habach

and we've spent two sermons so far. This

is the third message from the book of

Habach and we've made it to verse five.

Okay, so we're making good progress.

We're moving along. Um, but tonight,

Lord willing, tonight we'll get through

the rest of chapter one

and then we'll be ready to start start

in chapter two. So, here's here's the

title of the thought tonight that we're

going to look at. When God doesn't do it

my way. When God doesn't do it my way.

Now, let's remind ourselves of where we

are in the book of Habach. What is the

book of Habach all about? Well, it's

it's a a somewhat obscure book. We don't

probably hear a lot of messages from the

book of Habach. Um, it's only three

chapters long. It's one of these minor

prophets. It's it's here towards the end

of the Old Testament. What is it all

about? Habach begins in fear as we'll

see here in just a moment very clearly.

But by the end of the book, by the end

of chapter 3, he is he has moved from

fear to faith.

I've given you these quotes in in our

previous lessons and I'll remind you of

them now. Scott Paulie says, "Habach

begins with a sob but ends with a song."

It's a great way to think of the

progression of the book. Chapter one,

he's sobbing, but when we get to the

end, he's singing.

Dean Miller, Pastor Dean Miller says

this. Habach begins perplexed, but he

ends in praise.

This chapter one really is a chapter of

perplexion. He is so confused and

perplexed, especially when we get to the

end of chapter one, as we'll see, Lord

willing, here in just a few moments. Uh

he's so confused at the end of chapter

one. He Habach, the book begins with

worry. Oh, but he ends in worship. And

so, how does he get there? Well, that's

what we're studying. That's what we're

figuring out. We want to find out what

was it in the life of Habach. What was

it in the crisis of Habachok that he

could go from fear to faith, from a sob

to a song, from perplexion to praise,

from worry to worship, what made the

difference? And what we're finding is

that really it was faith in a faithful

God. And we're going to get to that more

clearly when we get to God talking to

Habach in chapter 2. But we come to

chapter 1 and let me remind you of the

outline that we have given ourselves for

chapter 1. This will be the outline for

this evening. We see number one,

Habach's despair in verse 2 through

verse 4.

Then we see God's decision in verse 5

through verse 11.

And then we see Habach's disapproval in

verse 12-1 17. So that's what we're

going to look at this evening. When we

come to the first chapter of the book of

Habach, we find him on his knees before

God seeking an answer. He's begging.

He's pleading. He's praying.

And what the good news is is that we

find God immediately giving him an

answer. Habach prays and God answers.

Immediately after Habach ends his prayer

in verse four verse 5, God responds and

God begins to answer Habach. Isn't it

wonderful when God answers us right

away? Isn't it great news when we go

before God with a burden and with with a

a hurt or with a worry and we say, "God,

here it is. I'm giving it to you. I'm

seeking your face. I'm asking what we

can do about this." And immediately God

comes back and says, "I've got an answer

for you." Those are good times. But it's

not such a good time when the answer

that God gives is not at all what we

expected or what we wanted.

It's always pleasant when we pray, God,

here's the miracle I'm asking you for,

and then God shows up and there it is,

just as we prayed. Well, those are great

times. And we praise God for that when

that happens. And it does happen that

way sometimes, but sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes we pray and God says no.

Sometimes we pray and God says wait.

Sometimes we pray and say God I'm asking

for this miracle and God says well I'm

not going to do it that way or I'm not

going to do it in that timetable. I'm

not going to do it when you want me to

do it. I'm not going to do it the way

you want me to do it. And he's God. He's

sovereign. He's allowed to do that when

he so chooses. He sees things that we

cannot see. Jeremiah said his ways are

higher than our ways. His thoughts are

so far above our thoughts. So he has a

different perspective than us. When we

come to Habach in his case,

God gives the answer, but the answer

that God gives him is not what he wanted

to hear. In fact, the answer that God

gives him leaves him in a far worse

state than where he was at the

beginning. We've been talking about how

he begins this prayer in verse two

through verse four, and he's seeking

God's face. And we see in verse number

one that that second word of the book,

the burden of Habach. And so he begins

already broken, already burdened,

already upset, wailing and weeping. And

we talked about the tears of Habach. And

we find him just just in a mess, in a

puddle. And he he prays and says, "God,

here's the dilemma." And God answers.

And the answer that God gives this poor,

broken man leaves him in a far worse

state than where we found him at the

beginning.

The Habach we find at the end of chapter

1 is not only broken, but now he's

confused. The God he thought he knew has

not responded in the way he wanted. So

now we have an even more broken man. And

it leaves us with some questions.

It's honestly not the easiest of of

chapters to reconcile with God's nature.

That's where faith comes in. When we

don't understand what God is doing, when

we don't know the direction God is

going, when we can't figure out what God

is up to, we live by faith and we just

trust that God is big enough to know

exactly what he's doing and he's

sovereign enough to always do the right

thing. So, let's take a look at it this

evening. Let's walk through that little

outline. We're going to go through all

of chapter one

very quickly tonight. Number one, we see

in verse 2 through 4, Habach's despair.

And this is review for us because we've

already looked at these verses. But

let's read them again tonight and

consider them very quickly. We see the

burden which Habach the prophet did see.

Verse two. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry

and thou will not hear? Even cry out

unto thee of violence and thou will not

save. Why dust thou show me iniquity and

cause me to behold grievance? For

spoiling and violence are before me, and

there are that raise up strife and

contention. Therefore, the law is

slacked, and judgment doth never go

forth. For the wicked doth compass about

the righteous, therefore wrong judgment

proceedth. It's a mess that he's in.

He's looking around at his country. He's

looking around at his culture, and it is

a mess. It's a disaster. We saw his

attitude as he looks around. His

attitude is one of despair. His attitude

is one of desperation. He said, "We have

no hope outside of God. He is broken

over the spiritual state of his

culture." And by the way, he goes to the

right place. He starts with the right

action. And when you and I catch a

burden, truly catch a burden for the our

culture and the people around us, it

will be evidenced through prayer.

People who want change argue.

people who are burdened for God to move

pray.

So we see his attitude but then we see

his accusations and we noticed these

last week as we studied this verse in

verse four verse three and four rather

he gives these accusations against his

culture and they're accusations that fit

our culture. We see in verse three the

iniquity of his people. We see in verse

four the beginning of it the ignorance

of God's word. They have the the law is

slack. They don't understand. They don't

want to hear God's word. And then we see

at the end the immorality that that

proceeds from that. Anytime there's a

culture that is ignorant of God's word,

immorality is is soon to follow.

So verse 2 through 4, we see Habach's

despair. This broken man. And then

number two, the second section of

chapter 1, we see God's decision.

So Habach is broken and burdened and

weeping and crying out and praying and

saying, "God, what are you going to do?"

And God says, "Guess what? I've got an

answer, Habach. I've got an answer for

you." He's praying, "God, do something."

God answers Habach and tells Habach that

he has a plan. This is what he's going

to do. Look with me at verse number

five.

God speaking now. Behold you among the

heathen in regard and wonder marvelous

marvelously for I will work a work in

your days which you will not believe

though it be told you. For lo I raise up

the calaldanss

that bitter and hasty nation which shall

march through the breath of the land to

pres possess the dwelling places that

are not theirs. They are terrible and

dreadful. Their judgment and their

dignity shall proceed themselves. Their

horses also are swifter than the

leopards, and are more fierce than the

evening wolves. And their horsemen shall

spread themselves, and their horsemen

shall come from far. They shall fly as

the eagle that hasteth to eat. They

shall come up for violence. Their faces

shall suck up as the east wind, and they

shall gather the captivity of the sand,

as the sand, and they shall scoff at the

kings, and the princes shall be a scorn

unto them. They shall deride every

stronghold, for they shall heap dust and

take it. Then shall his mind change, and

he shall pass over and offend, imputing

this his power unto his God, little g.

What is God saying? Well, here's the

answer. He comes to Habach and he says,

"I've got a I've made a decision. You're

right. There is wickedness all through

the land. You're right. Your people my

people have have abandoned my word.

There's immorality everywhere. You're

right, Habach. There's a problem. and I

have decided how I'm going to take care

of it. I have pronounced the judgment

that I am going to do. What is that?

Well, we see in verse 5, God's work. He

gets Habach's attention. First of all,

he said, "Behold you among the heathen

and regard you wonder marvelously, for I

will work a work in your days which you

will not believe, though it be told you

God's work." God says, "I am getting

ready to do something." Now, I just want

you to think about this in Habach's

setting. Here is poor Habach. He's

broken. He's burdened. He's been

praying. He's been seeking God. He's

been weeping over this. And God said,

"Hey, Habach, I've got a plan. I've made

a decision. I'm going to do something in

your day that you are not going to

believe." And Habach, I can see the hope

beginning to rise, right? All right. God

has heard me. God has a plan. God is

going to come through. God's going to do

and perhaps he's thinking about some

great miracle, right? He's thinking

God's going to do some some amazing

miracle. God's going to send some great

revival. God's going to raise up some

amazing preacher. This is going to be

fantastic. God is going to do a great

work.

But that hope that perhaps is rising in

Habach will soon fade. Look at verse

six.

For lo,

I will raise up the Calaldanss.

And immediately Habach's heart sinks.

The Calaldanss.

That would be the Babylonians.

The Babylon is coming. Babylon was the

enemy. Babylon was the pagans. Babylon

was the world. Babylon was wickedness.

The Calaldanss. No. No. No. No. I

couldn't have heard that right. That

can't be what God is going to do. That

can't be the right move right now.

Surely God would not turn us over to the

pagans. Surely God would not turn us

over to the wicked.

In verse five, we see God's work. In

verse 6 through8, we see God's who who

is God going to use. Well, God's going

to describe who he's going to use. He's

going to use the Calaldanss. They are a

bitter and hasty nation.

They marched through the breadth of the

land and possessed dwelling places that

are not theirs. What is God saying?

They're going to come through your land

and they're going to take your houses

that do not belong to them and they're

going to make your houses their houses.

They're going to steal your homes.

Habach,

the enemy, the pagans, the world, the

wicked are going to come into the midst

of God's people and steal what God has

blessed his people with. How can that

possibly be just and righteous? They

were wicked, cruel, terrible, brutal

group of people. Verse seven describes

them, God describes this group of

people, the Calaldanss, as being

terrible and dreadful, and their

judgment and their dignity shall proceed

themselves.

In verse number eight, they are called

more fierce than the evening wolves, a

hungry wolf. They're they're more fierce

than a pack of hungry wolves. They're

coming in to destroy. They're coming in

to steal. They're coming in to ruin. And

God said, "This is my plan, Habach. This

is my decision. This is what I've

decided I'm going to do. You're praying

and you're seeking my face and now this

is what I'm planning to do."

Habach was looking for a preacher and

God was sending punishment. Habach was

looking for deliverance and God was

sending destruction. And Habach is

saying, "That can't possibly be right.

Surely I'm not hearing you right, God.

Surely this is not the answer. Not the

Calaldanss."

In verse 9 down through verse 11, we

read a moment ago, that's God's what?

What are they going to do?

Well, they're going to come in violence.

In verse 9, they shall come as violence.

Their faces shall suck up the east wind.

And they shall gather the captivity as

the sand. The number of captives that

they will gather throughout the land of

e Israel will be as the sand of the

seashore. They're going to take

everybody captive.

The Babylonians will gather captives

from Israel that will number the sand.

They they're not going to care what

anybody says. In verse 10, they shall

scoff at kings, and the princes shall be

to scorn them, and they shall deride

every stronghold, heap up dust, and take

it. They don't care what anybody says.

They don't care what other governments

say. They don't care what other kings

are doing. They will be the world power

at the time, and they're just going to

come into Israel and do what they want

and destroy the nation. Can you imagine

the heart of Habach in this moment? Here

is this poor broken man who is weeping

to God asking for help and God's answer

to it is yeah I'm going to destroy

everything Habach.

And then God even says at the end of

verse 11 that they're going to take the

the military success that they have in

overthrowing God's people and they're

going to give credit. They're going to

give glory to their gods. imputing his

uh in verse 11 imputing this his power

unto his god. Who's the his there? It's

the king of Babylon.

He's going to take all his power and

he's going to ascribe it to his god

little G God saying look at what our God

has done. Israel, you think your God is

big. Look at what our God has done to

your God.

Now, why in the world

would the one true God allow a little G

God to destroy his people and then take

the credit for it? It doesn't make

sense, does it?

That's exactly what Habach thinks, too.

Notice number three.

We've seen Habach's despair where he

begin. We begins in the beginning, we

see God's decision that he voices to

Habach. But then in verse 12 down

through the end of the chapter, we see

Habach's disapproval.

Habach now speaking in verse number 12,

he's answering God. He says, "Art thou

not from everlasting, oh Lord, my God,

my holy one? Are you not holy? Are you

not the God I thought you were?

We shall not die. Oh Lord, thou has

ordained them for judgment. Almighty

God, thou hast established them for

correction. Thou art of pure eyes than

to behold evil, and can not look on

iniquity.

Wherefore thou wherefore lookst thou

upon them that deal treacherously, and

holdest thy tongue, when the wicked,

devourth the man that is more righteous

than he,

and makest men as the fish of the sea,

as creeping things, have no ruler over

them. They take up all of them at the

angle. They catch them in their net and

gather them in their drag. Therefore

they rejoice and are glad. Therefore

they sacrifice under their net and burn

incense under their drag because by them

their portion is fat and their meat is

plenteous. Shall they therefore empty

their net and not spare continually to

slay the nations?

So Habach answers God and really his

answer is voicing his disapproval.

He's voicing some very bold things to

his God. He's going to speak his mind. I

wonder if we've ever been there, right?

In the middle of a situation or a

circumstance and we're confused and

we're upset and we don't understand why

God is allowing it to happen and so we

just go to God with a heart and and and

sometimes a mouthful of complaints,

right? And we just let God have it for a

minute and say, "How could you do this?

What are you thinking, God?

This is Habach's attitude. Habach the

prophet. Habach the preacher. He goes

before God broken and weeping and lays

it all out before God. And God comes

back and says, "Okay, Habach, you want

it. Here it is." And Habach said, "No,

don't do that. No, that's not a good

idea, God. That's not the way I had it

planned. That's not the picture I had in

my mind. That's not what I wanted to

happen.

It's not what Habach wanted to hear.

Truly, he was burdened over his country

and his culture. And he goes to God,

broken, crushed, and desperate.

God responds by revealing that he is

sending ruin. Habach said, "I've been

praying for revival, and now God is

sending ruin."

How carnal

are we sometimes

in that we demand God not only answer

our prayers, but we demand that God

answers our prayers the way we want him

to.

It's not enough that he simply answers

us.

But if he does not answer us exactly

like we want, then we begin to question

everything about God,

everything we know in the Bible. Well,

that's not how I had it planned. That's

not how I would have done it. So, are

you really the God you say you are?

That's what Habach is going to do.

Look at what he says in verse number 12.

Art thou not from everlasting, oh Lord,

my God, my holy one? In verse 12, he's

going to begin to ask some questions and

say some statements about the character

of God.

The the conduct of of what God is doing

doesn't seem to match with the character

of God. And so now, Habach is going to

ask some hard questions and say, "God,

are you really who you say you are?

Because I believe for you that you are

the eternal God, that you are from

everlasting, that you were before time,

that that you created everything, that

you were here before anything else was

here, and that you'll be here when

everything else is. I believe that you

are an eternal God. Is that not true?

He said, "Art thou not from everlasting,

oh Lord my God?" He said, "A personal

God." Not only is God eternal, but he

said he's personal.

And then he says this little ending to

his question, mine holy one.

God, are you not holy?

This does not seem righteous. This does

not seem just. This does not seem like

the way I would have done it. My holy

one, are you really holy?

And then he tries to answer his

question. And he projects in I we shall

not die. Now there is some truth in what

Habach says. Habach says we shall not

die. Okay, there's some truth in that.

The nation of Israel would survive the

Babylonian captivity barely.

They would never be really a nation

again

until the 1940s.

There would be instances and there would

be little little uh leaders that would

arise for a short period of time before

they would be conquered throughout

Israel's history. But really, though

they would survive the Babylonian

captivity, they were far from thriving.

They were far from even really being a

nation for years.

But there was some truth in what Habach

said. He said, "We shall not die." And

God said, "Well, that's that is true. I

made a promise to Abraham and I'm not

going to quit on my promise. You are

still my people and I am going to

preserve you. The nation will not die.

So there was some truth here. But notice

what else Habach says. We're not going

to die. He said, "Oh Lord, thou hast

ordained them for judgment and almighty

God, thou has established them for

correction."

Said, God, you're sovereign.

You are a sovereign God. And so you've

ordained them and you've established

them.

Then that little phrase, oh mighty God,

that means rock. He said, you're my

rock.

So you can you can you sense the

confusion of Habach?

He's stating these statements that have

always been true about God. And and then

in the next breath, he's asking

questions about the character of God.

And you can almost just sense and feel

Habach grappling within himself of what

in the world is going on here? Notice

what he does next in verse 13.

He said, "Thou art of purer eyes than to

behold evil."

He's He's almost like he's setting God

up for something here. He's he's setting

God up for this question that he's

getting ready to pose. He said, "Thou

art pure of eyes than to behold." God,

your eyes cannot look at wickedness.

Thou can't look upon them that deal

treacherously or lookst upon them that

deal treacherously or look on iniquity,

excuse me. He said, ' God, you can't

even look on iniquity. You can't even

look on sin. So why in the world are you

looking upon them that deal

treacherously? That is, why are you

looking upon the wicked? Why are you

looking upon the pagans and you're not

saying anything about them devouring the

man that is more righteous than them?

Who is the man that is more righteous

than the Calaldanss? In Habach's mind,

it's the nation of Israel. That's the

man that's more righteous than he. You

have the Calaldanss who are wicked and

vile and pagans and and gross and

brutal. And God, how is it that you say

you can't look on evil and yet you're

not doing anything about that wicked man

conquering a man more righteous than

him? Do you see the question Habach is

asking?

How can you be a holy God and allow the

wicked to overthrow the righteous?

Would not a holy God stop the

wickedness?

Would not a holy God allow his people

some grace and mercy?

And then he's he's going to describe

them in some interesting terms in verse

14 and 15 and 16.

He said, "You made makest and makest

men." These calaldanss, they make men as

fish of the sea.

Literally, the calaldanss, the

Babylonians view people as fish.

They're just fishing.

They see no value in life whatsoever.

And the argument of Habach is, "God, you

see value in life." And they see no

value in human life. To them, we're just

a bunch of fish and they're going to

bring their nets through and catch us

all up and kill us all and and act like

it never h it ain't going to bother them

at all. They don't care about anyone.

They're going to treat men like fish

from the sea.

They take up verse 15. They take all of

them up with their angle. They catch

them in their net, gather them in their

drag, and therefore they rejoice and are

glad. They're going to be happy. They're

going to be glad. They're going to be

rejoicing because they have murdered us

and destroyed your people. How can you

be okay with this, God? Verse number 16,

therefore they sacrifice under their

net.

God, they don't worship you. They

worship their immorality. They worship

what they catch. They worship their own

accomplishments. They worship their

greed. They burn incense to their their

success as their fishing as they're

conquering world kingdoms.

In verse number 17,

Habach ends his disapproval.

He said, "Shall they therefore empty

their net

and not spare continually to slay slay

the nations?

Lord,

are you ever going to stop them?"

You can hear the doubt in Habach's

voice.

I don't I don't think you're going to,

God.

I don't know if there is any hope, God.

They'll never empty that net. They'll

never quit conquering kingdoms. They'll

never quit killing people. They'll never

quit being immoral. They'll never quit

being unrighteous. They'll never quit

being brutal and wicked. They'll never

quit worshiping themselves. They'll

never quit being full of iniquity.

and you're never going to stop them.

And that's the end of chapter one.

That's where he ends his statement. In

fact, in chapter 2 and verse one, he

says, "I'm going to stand upon my watch

and set me upon the tower, and I will

watch and see what he will say unto me,

and what I shall answer him when I am

approved." He said, "I've stated my

peace. I've said what I need to say. I'm

going to stand here and wait and see

what God has to say next. see if he'll

answer me after all that. You ever open

your mouth so big at God that after

you're done, you're kind of like, "Okay,

well, I'm just going to sit still here

for a minute and see if he ever talks to

me again."

States his peace, tells God what he

thinks, and he ends on this really

hopeless terms. Says, "God, I don't

really think you're ever going to do

any. I don't think you're going to stop

them. I don't think you're ever going to

help them empty their net. They're going

to always be this wicked country and the

wicked will always overthrow the

righteous.

He's full of doubt and despair and

broken. He's upset and he's confused.

It's interesting that he begins chapter

one broken over the sin of his nation.

But then he ends chapter one arguing

with God about how righteous his nation

is compared to that nation. Right?

He begins by understanding that they are

sinners and they need repentance and God

needs to bring revival. But then he ends

chapter one by saying, "Oh, but we're

we're better than them, God. Surely not

the Calaldanss, not the Babylonians."

What do you do when you get to a place

where you are so confused by what God is

doing?

Perhaps even angry at what God is doing

that you don't know what else to say.

You don't know what else to do. You

don't you don't know where to go. You

don't know if it's worth it anymore. You

don't know if you should keep going

anymore. Is God ever going to show up?

Is God ever going to overthrow the

wicked? Is God ever going to bring

revival? Sometimes we can get so caught

up,

we begin to blame God, we become angry

and bitter at God.

What do you do when God doesn't do it

your way?

Where do you go when God doesn't do it

your way? What can you rely on and trust

when God doesn't do it your way?

I don't know.

I don't have the answer to that question

completely. I

I can't give you a three-step process.

When God doesn't do it your way, do

these three steps and you'll understand

perfectly. No,

you may never understand

what God is doing or why God is doing

it,

but we can have faith

and a faithful God.

And instead of blaming God and getting

bitter at God, we can go to a God who is

always there.

And we can say, 'Lord, I don't

understand why

and I don't understand what.

It doesn't make any sense to me right

now,

but in this moment, I commit to just

trust you.

I'm just going to turn it over to you

and whatever you want to do in this

situation.

I'll be okay with it.

Sometimes we act a little more like

Habach at the end of chapter 1, don't

we?

And we let God know exactly how we feel.

And God is gracious. And we're going to

see in chapter two as we look at God's

answer to Habach's accusations that God

answers in complete mercy and grace.

Oh, he loves us so much that even when

we bless him out, he comes back with

gentleness and longsufferingness.

But instead of blaming God,

why don't we just pray

and say, "Lord,

have thine own way.

have thine own way in our culture, in

our community, in our church, in my

family, in my finances, in my health.

Whatever it is that's got you confused

and upset and and perhaps even doubting

the character of your God, don't doubt

him. Trust him.

Trust in a God who is sovereign. David

said it like this and I'll conclude with

this verse from Psalm chapter 18 and

Psalms 18 · chapter mention

verse number six.

David said, "In my distress,

I called upon the Lord and I cried unto

my God."

What do you do when God doesn't do it

your way?

We can pray.

we can just keep praying and just keep

trusting that he is in control

and that what what we what looks like

evilness from our perspective

God can use to bring great glory to him.

So tonight as we conclude, let's do so

as we have the last couple of weeks. Can

we find somebody to pray with tonight?

And let's take a few moments this

evening and let's go before a God who

knows what he's doing. And though we may

not understand it, let's go before a God

who does understand all things and say,

"Lord,

tonight we recommmit ourselves as a

church to trust you. We understand you

know best." Would you find somebody to

pray with this evening and let's ask the

Lord or rather tell the Lord tonight we

trust you.