FHBC Sermon Notes

We know that God is beautiful, that he is good, that he is omniscient, that he wise and righteous, and that he loves is people, yet sometimes circumstances are such that we are confused, when God's wait don't seem to make sense.
Habakkuk 1:12-2:5
How ought I to think when God's ways don't make sense?
1. The tension between God's ways and our expectations. (1:12-2:1)
Habakkuk is confused, after hearing in the beginning of chapter that God would use the Babylonians to bring judgement.
In v. 14-17 Habakkuk sums up the strangers of the idea of the babylonians as judge. They worship their pride and their strength. The babylonians literally put fish hooks in the mouths of the captives they took after conquering a nation.
Habakkuk has a problem, the Babylonians are brutal and deserve judgement, but so do the people of Israel, yet compared too the Babylonians...? Just like ourselves Habakkuk is judging by comparison, justifying our deeds in light of others.
If we held the expectations of God, then perhaps it would be o.k., but in honesty we more often hold our expectations. One of my favorite pieces of marriage advice was to "no expectations".
Anticipate the will of God, for His will to be done, but be wary to bring our expectations to bear.
What is notable in this passage is that Habakkuk does not lose faith, but holds a simple confidence that though confused he trusts in God, and waits on his will to be done.
2. A reminder of God's sovereignty and our responsibility. (2:2-5)
A. We need to wait patiently.
This is hard, how do we do this? We need to hold to his promises. He will see it through.
B. We need to act faithfully.
When we are impatient, then we do not act faithfully. Let us return to God's word, because for there we will get what we need to live faithfully.
This week I've been listening to a D.A. Carson sermon on suffering. He makes a point that the bible repeats over and over the statement that God is sovereign while at the same time by no means mitigating the responsibility of man. He speaks from the story of Joseph, who in suffering understood the tension between Gods sovereignty and mans free will. We still will to do evil, but even at that very moment, not as a reaction, God also means that thing for good.
I think in some ways we have it easier in accepting external circumstances this way, but what about when people are the result of our pain, what about when they are close, like Joseph and his brothers? This is the hardest test of faithfulness. Evil done to us is not personal to us alone, it is personal to God, and sometimes God wills mercy and grace for our enemies and our friends. Forgiveness, personal and real, it is what we have been given, it is what we must give as well.