God’s Grace in Stewarding Trials

Introduction: Good morning, Faith Church! It’s good to be with you once again under the banner of the Cross. Pastor Rod began our Stewardship Month with the book of James. He opened the book up and read a portion of light from chapter 1:2 in which James told his readers to

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials…” – James 1:2

James was the half-brother of Jesus. He was the pastor and leader of the church in Jerusalem. Why would he begin his letter to consider it joy when various trials come upon the shore of your Christian life?

Answer: Because he wrote this letter to Jews who had come to saving faith in Christ and were scattered as a result of persecution by virtue of their faith. That’s why James addressed his letter in the very first verse “to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad….”

And when he said to consider it joy, he employed the Greek word

hēgéomai –“to lead the way” or “to come before” (“a governor or official who leads others”)

So what did James have in mind for these believing Jews (or anyone under the banner of Christ) in light of their being persecuted for their faith in Christ? He had in mind that when various trials wash up upon the shores of your Christian life, the preeminent thought in our mind is to look at the cross of light at the end of the tunnel – look to the conclusion of James 1:3

“…testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” – James 1:3

In other words, the proving of your faith in Christ results in a stronger faith, a stable faith, a deeper and more rich faith, a maturing faith, growing into righteous character, able to withstand the dark nights of affliction when they do come…and they will come!

Thomas Watson Quote “Satan will be sure to besiege the weakest Christian; all his darts fly that way, and a strong temptation may overcome a weak faith. But a flourishing faith stands like a cedar, and it is nor blown down by the wind of temptation. A strong faith can stop the mouth of the devil, that roaring lion.” (1 Pet. 5:8)

The Bible is full of example after example of…

God’s Grace in Stewarding Trails

That’s what I want us to understand for this morning as a key to spiritual growth in Christ. The Lord has graced you with your life under the banner of the Cross. And if he has granted to you the grace of salvation, he has also granted to you his grace in stewarding the trails that will come your way.

I don’t say this as a possibility – I say this as a matter of fact,

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” – 2 Timothy 3:12

Now, I want you to imagine for a moment the destruction of The United States of America – is that a possibility? Yes! What if a foreign nation arrived on our shores and ripped you and your family away to a land that you are not familiar with, or who’s language you are not familiar with?

…what if a foreign separated you from your tribe or family, possibly never to see them again? What if you were isolated away from your church family, the Body of Christ. Are these possibilities that could take shape today?

Is there any sense of uneasiness in your heart about these possibilities which, by and large, have yet to happen in our country, I want to introduce to you a prophet called Habakkuk. Because it happened to him and his people Israel.

a statue of Habakkuk https://www.meisterdrucke.uk/kunstwerke/1200w/Donatello_-_The_Prophet_Habakkuk_%28Lo_Zuccone%29c1423-36_%28marble%29_-_%28MeisterDrucke-171208%29.jpg

He was a minor prophet. There were major prophets and minor prophets. This doesn’t mean that one prophet was better than the other. It just means that some prophets were given more supernatural revelation to write down what they saw than others. So then, Habakkuk is considered to be a minor prophet.

So this morning, we will be turning to the book of Habakkuk and see

God’s Grace in Stewarding Trials

3 Responses to God in Challenging Times

Before we jump into chapter 3, I need to frame a portrait for you to see what’s going on. After you’ve seen that, chapter 3 will be digestible for your mind to grasp. Here we go…

Chapers one and two are a back-and-forth between the God of Israel and his prophet Habakkuk. Habakkuk is in deep distress because he sees rampant sin running through the streets of Israel, as it were. Get this: He doesn’t understand why God has not yet done anything against Israel’s sin.

So Habakkuk sent his prayerful lament up to Yahweh and God responded to his prayer – and we have in our hands that prayer that God instructed Habakkuk to write down “so that the one reading it will run.” (Hab. 2:2). Whoa - wait: run away from what…? I’ll answer this in a few minutes…

Habakkuk sends to two laments to Yahweh that are framed this way:

FIRST COMPLAINT #1 “How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. ³ Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. ⁴ Therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore justice comes out perverted.” – Hab.1:1-4

In other words, I’ve prayed over and over again for you to answer my lament…but I’ve not received the answer to my prayer. Through the streets of Israel, runs

Violence…iniquity…wickedness…destruction

Against righteous people? Your law is not being upheld – in fact, in its place is the perversion of justice. Why have you not acted, Yahweh? Perhaps, this is similar to our laments to our Lord, is it not? God’s people are grieved by what is reflected in our culture. God’s people are grieved, to some degree or another, by the perversion of what is good and right and just.

God’s people are even grieved by some churches reflecting the values of an unregenerate world forgetting that “friendship with the world is hostility toward God?” (James 4:4)

The eb and flow of our society and culture reflects the spirit of the age in which an unregenerate world walks “in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸ being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; ¹⁹ and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” – Ephesians 4:17-19

This is essentially what Habakkuk bore witness to,

https://thewritelife.tech/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/prophet-hears-from-God.jpg

and Yahweh broke his silence and unexpectedly responded to the cry of Habakkuk’s lament…and he’s taken back by what Yahweh said. So he responded and said that he knows perfectly well what is going on in Israel and he said to Habakkuk,

the LORD’s Response in Hab. 1:5-7 “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days—You would not believe if you were told. ⁶ “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people who march throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs. ⁷ “They are dreaded and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves.”

In other words, the Lord is raising up the Babylonians,

This was a nation more wicked that Israel to judge them. They are described by Jeremiah the prophet as Yahweh’s “weapon of war; and with you I shatter nations, and with you I destroy kingdoms.” – Jer. 51:20

This nation was also described by Daniel the prophet as the Head of Gold

Babylon 605BC-538 BC https://lifehopeandtruth.com/cache/images/Daniel-2-nebuchadnezzars-dream_833_460_80_c1.jpg

They ruled with absolute authority. None could rival their power, and God described them as a nation whose “justice and authority originate with themselves.” That is to say, they were a law to themselves, and had no regard whatsoever for the God of Israel.

Habakkuk knew this…he was well aware of the rising power of the Chaldeans. He was well aware that they were a wicked people…and he’s confused. So he responds to the character of Yahweh, with good theology! That is,

COMPLAINT #2: Hab. 1:12-13 “Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die. You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge; and You, O Rock, have established them to correct.¹³ Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously?”

In other words, I don’t understand what you’re doing, Lord! You are just in all of your ways. How does it follow for you to use a more wicked nation to judge Israel? Habakkuk then goes on to describe the Chaldeans as giant net to capture Israel or any other nation that they please.

In other words, this nation does this for play, they do this to establish their power – this nation has defied itself…yet, Yahweh is using this nation to judge them? Help me to understand. And so Habakkuk would say at the beginning of chapter 2:1

“I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved.” – Habakkuk 2:1

And what happens? God responded! This now goes back to what I had previously said

Hab. 2:2-3 “Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. ³ “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.” – Habakkuk 2:2-3

The rest of the chapter goes on to describe that although Israel will be judged for their disobedience, they won’t be utterly destroyed, but the nation of Babylon, that mighty head of gold described by Daniel the prophet, will most certainly be judged for their wickedness at God’s appointed timetable, not ours, you see?

God would then go on to have Habakkuk to write down 5 woes against the Babylonians, because what they did they essentially did for sport while enriching themselves in the process (cf. 2:6-20).

So in the meantime, while judgement is coming,

Habakkuk 2:4 “But the righteous will live by his faith.”

In other words, Habakkuk – In other words, do you believe, Habakkuk? Do you have faith in me, Habakkuk? How deep is your faith in me, Habakkuk?

…So then, chapter 3 is the prayer of faith offered by the prophet Habakkuk.

I. See God’s Holiness as it Shines Forth in Hard Times (vv. 3:1-15)

A. God’s Splendor is Everywhere (vv. 3-4)

“God comes from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise.” – vv. 3-4 (stop)

Do you see what Habbakuk is doing? He’s going back through the chronicles of Israel’s history to remind himself why God’s righteous people live by faith. Verses 3-7 all talk about God’s past action. So, Habakkuk is going back through the memoirs of his mind (which is saturated with Scripture, by the way!) to God’s splendor in times past so as to gird up his mind for what is going happen to Israel and how God would remain faithful to his covenant people, even in days of disobedience!

Do you remember what God did at Teman over in Mount Paran? Do remember how the Lord displayed his splendor in the land of Canaan?^[1]

Christian, are you, perhaps, discouraged by your lot in life? And how have you responded to your circumstances in light of God’s grace in stewarding the kind of response you should have in light of God’s character?

Never be discouraged, trust the Father’s word,
In the time of trial let His voice be heard;
Trusting in His promise, tho’ the waiting long,
He will surely bless us—praise Him with a song.^[2]

If you want to hear God speak – go to His Word and remember…don’t worry – we will see him soon. God is his own interpreter – will make it plain – and we look forward to his soon return.

If there was one aspect of growth to focus on in this book called Habakkuk perhaps it would be this: if Israel’s circumstances do not change, Habakkuk response to his present circumstance can, you see! And how you respond to whatever circumstance the Lord allows in the testing of your life will either reflect a sinful behavior to said circumstance, or righteous behavior – but it all goes back to God’s grace in stewarding trials!

I want you to think through something else: There’s a sense in which Habakkuk came close to accusing God of wrongdoing – as though God were merely standing by, derelict of his duty! No, no, no – Habakkuk received the answers to his lament and his perspective changed such that he glorified God in light of the bleak circumstances and declared that Yahweh’s “splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise.”

Fight to See God’s Holiness as it Shines Forth in Hard Times.

B. God’s Glory is revealed even in times of discipline (vv. 5-12)

“Before Him goes pestilence, and plague comes after Him. ⁶ He stood and surveyed the earth; He looked and startled the nations. Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered, The ancient hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting. ⁷ I saw the tents of Cushan under distress, the tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling. ⁸ Did the Lord rage against the rivers, Or was Your anger against the rivers, Or was Your wrath against the sea, that You rode on Your horses, On Your chariots of salvation? ⁹ Your bow was made bare, the rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah. You cleaved the earth with rivers. ¹⁰ The mountains saw You and quaked; the downpour of waters swept by. The deep uttered forth its voice, it lifted high its hands. ¹¹ Sun and moon stood in their places; They went away at the light of Your arrows, at the radiance of Your gleaming spear. ¹² In indignation You marched through the earth; in anger You trampled the nations.” - vv. 5-12 (stop)

In other words,

God’s Destruction of Egypt https://i.swncdn.com/media/1200w/cms/GODTUBE/60762-plagues-of-egypt.1200w.tn.jpg

Do you remember how God manifested his power over Pharaoh of Egypt? Do you remember what he did to him and Egypt’s deities?

PLAGUES https://img.favpng.com/11/19/8/the-ten-plagues-of-egypt-book-of-exodus-bible-moses-and-the-ten-plagues-png-favpng-52S8m9q74hcxg97DHM6s5UCpk.jpg

Each plague represented one of their deities, and he turned them all on their heads and showed them that it wasn’t their gods that had power over the earth – it was Yahweh!

My wife and I were watching show called the Dog Whisperer. Cesar Milan has numerous experience with handling animals. In one of the shows, Cesar Milan was training a small dog. The owner of the dog was concerned that her dog would bite Cesar Milan, so she tried to grab her dog after Cesar said all was ok. She said to him, “I’m afraid my dog was going to bite you.”

Cesar Milan’s stared at her with a sneer and said, “Do you know who I am?” She sheepishly chuckled and said, “yes.”

What about the one who created your dog? Do you remember who he is? That’s essentially what’s going on here with Habakkuk recalling God’s glory – recalling who he is, even in times of discipline.

The fact that God’s will chasten his people is a bright reminder that his love rests upon you. Be worried if you received no chastening from the hand of God!

II. Acknowledge Your Sinfulness when Approaching God (vv. 16)

God’s wrath is something to fear (3:2, 12,16)

Verse 16 “I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered.
Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us.” – v. 16 (stop)

Habakkuk looked to the past to remember the splendor of his creator. Now, he’s looks ahead to see God’s wrath through the hand of the Babylonians – and he’s scared. That’s a normal response, isn’t it? You see a looming doom coming, and you’re scared.

For the unbeliever who is here, this morning – God’s wrath is upon you. His judgment will come and when it comes, it will be swift. John the Baptist described God’s judgment as a “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” – Matthew 3:12

God’s wrath is something to fear and he wants you repent and turn away from your sin and to surrender your life over to Christ. If you do that, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead – you will be saved.

But like Habakkuk – you have to come to the Lord by faith alone. And Christ will rescue you from the wrath to come. So then,

B. Our first response is to listen (2:20; 3:2, 16)

C. Cry out for God’s forgiveness (3:2) “in wrath remember mercy”

D. See God’s plan for the salvation of his people (3:13-14)

III. Respond in Worship No Matter How Challenging Life is (vv. 17-19)

verse 17-19 “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, ¹⁸ Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. ¹⁹ The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.” – vv. 17-19 (stop)

Did you see how Habakkuk has grown from chapters 1-2 to his closing thoughts? He said that if his life as a simple musician in the house of God fell apart because of the challenges of his life in Israel – he would remain faithful to his covenant keeping God.

Even when…

I have to wonder how we would react if we knew we were about to lose everything. Honestly, I’d be scared – wouldn’t you? But O to have the resolve to live by faith in the Son of God and to push through the fear, to push through the maladies of a fallen creation - to look back like to the Cross and to remember what was accomplished at the Cross, and to press on to live a redemptive life, granted to us as a love gift from the Father of lights in whom there is no shadow.

Oh may we have this resolve, Faith Church – why? Because righteous one will live by his faith.

I want to close with a precious video of a saint of light. Her name is Linda Philpott. In this video, she shares how her stand on faith in Christ has helped her through many a trial.

[1] Cf. Deuteronomy 33:2; Judges 5:4

[2] JH Fillmore, “Never Be Discouraged,” Hymnary.org, last modified, https://hymnary.org/text/never_be_discouraged_trust_the_fathers_w.