God Is Workin'

God Is Workin’ - Habakkuk 1:1-11

Play Habakkuk video......

If God is love.... Where is the love??

Does he care??

Why isn’t he doing something???

Prayer....

Lord we look around our world and we see violence and injustice. We see suffering and evil, apathy and disillusionment.

Lord it sometimes seems that you’re absent - That you don’t care anymore. That you’ve washed your hands of humanity and left us to our own devices.

Lord it sometimes seems that our prayers fall on deaf ears or that you’ve just lost the will to intervene for us, yet again.

Lord we praise you and thank you that your word assures us that YOU ARE STILL WORKING!

Lord we praise you and thank you that, even though we can’t always see it – even though we don’t always understand things – you are still in control. You are still on the Throne!

Work in our hearts today, Lord. May we leave this place with praise and thanksgiving in our hearts, knowing that further along we’ll know all about it, and further along we’ll understand why.

May we leave this place today saying, just like Habakkuk, “I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on...” to new heights. Amen.

Intro

The Minor Prophets are a collection of short books tucked away, towards the end of the OT.

These little books are often overlooked and under preached, yet they contain very powerful messages – very relevant messages for us today & for our society.

Today I want us to take just a quick peek inside the front cover of the book of Habakkuk.

So turn with me in your Bibles to Habakkuk Ch 1:1-11. (Page 662)

This little book is really a written record of a conversation that was had between the prophet Habakkuk and God.

Habakkuk is thought to have been a Jewish priest, turned prophet, who lived in Jerusalem around 600BCE. He prophesied during the reign of the evil King Jehoiakim. He is also thought to have been a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, who prophesied around that time.

The nation of Judah was in rapid decline. Injustice, war, murder, drunkenness, immorality and violence were just part of everyday life – and increasingly so. Picking up a newspaper then, would read pretty much the same as our newspapers today.

The name ‘Habakkuk’ means to ‘embrace’ and, I think, even just a casual read though this little book, will show you just how Habakkuk embraced God!

Despite the wickedness around him - Despite the evilness,

Despite the injustice - Despite the arrogance

Despite his own frustration - Despite his own questioning

Habakkuk had faith in God!! - Habakkuk embraced God!

Body

Right in the 1st verse we read how Habakkuk was a man with open eyes! He was observant! He looked out at his nation and saw their wickedness and sin. The king had rejected the Word of the Lord – In other words the Government had forsaken biblical principles (sound familiar, does it??) The cost of this rejection was political, economic, moral, social and spiritual decline. (Again I ask, does it sound familiar??)

Not only was there corruption and decline within the nation, but there was also a growing threat from outside the nation too. The Chaldeans, better known as the Babylonians, were on the move. These ruthless, warlike people were uncomfortably close to Judah’s boarders. What was there to stop them sweeping over the borders and taking the land?? All the Temple prophets were predicting peace and safety – but the Spirit of God was making Habakkuk uneasy!

Habakkuk was seeing all of this – he was a man with his eyes open – therefore he was a man with a burden! A troubled man!

Habakkuk was puzzled – He didn’t understand what God was doing – so he was worried!

So what did he do??? He did what most of us do when we have worries – he prayed.

Isn’t it true that when we talk to God - We sometimes question Him? We sometimes throw our hands in the air and ask, “What are you doing?” Sometimes we even look at our situation and make accusations against God!!!

This is exactly what Habakkuk did.

In our portion of scripture for today we see that Habakkuk had 2 accusations against God. Indifference & Inactivity!!

1. Indifference

V2 – “How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out... but you do not save?”

Habakkuk was living in a time when everything around him seemed to be falling apart. Not only was Judah his nation, but Judah was also the Church of that day – they were the people of God.