Habakkuk’s conversation with God:
• Habakkuk: “How long before You judge the sin of Judah?” God: “I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even in you were told” (1:5). The problem: IMPATIENCE.
• God: “I am raising up the Babylonians [to judge Judah]” (1:6). Habakkuk: “Are you sure?” The problem: CONFUSION. The “cure” is worse than the “illness.”
To Habakkuk, there is a contradiction between who God is and what He is doing (1:12-13):
• “From everlasting” – He is timeless, eternal, the Creator, the One who controls history. “If You are in control, why don’t You do something else?”
• “Holy One” – “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (1:13). “If You are holy, why are You using the wicked Babylonians to execute judgment?”
• “Rock” – He is a refuge for His people. “My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge” (Ps. 62:7-8). “If You are our Rock, why are you going to allow the Babylonians to destroy us?”
The Big Idea: When God confuses us, He asks us to TRUST Him.
“The righteous will live by his faith” (2:4). This little statement (only three words in Hebrew) is quoted three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). It has been said that it summarizes the message of the whole Bible. “The righteous will live by his faith” became the slogan of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.
A righteous person is not “puffed up”; he relies on the Lord—to receive eternal life (see Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3) and strength and courage for day-to-day living.
Isaiah 40:28-31
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (3:17-18).
What should I do when God doesn’t make sense?
1. Trust that God’s PLAN is best.
“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8-9).
God’s plan is often confusing but, in the end, always good:
• The suffering of JOSEPH (Gen. 50:19-20)
• The CRUCIFIXION of Jesus (Acts 2:22-24)
2. Trust that God’s TIMING is best.
“For the revelation waits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait, for it; it will certainly come and will not delay” (2:3).
God’s timing often seems slow but, in the end, always perfect.
• The birth of ISAAC (Gen. 18:10-14)
• The birth of JESUS (Gal. 4:4)
• The SECONG COMING (2 Peter 3:4-10)
“For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that hast just gone by, or like a watch in the night” (Ps. 90:4).
Babylon would be judged seventy years after its destruction of Jerusalem (Dan. 5). And one day the wickedness in our world will be judged (see the fall of “Babylon” in Rev. 18).
Application:
“But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (2:20). There is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecc. 3:7; cf. Rev. 8:1). “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). Is there something that is causing you to be confused by God? After you have prayed and searched for answers, God asks you to quietly rest in His promises.
CONFUSED BY GOD
What to Do When God Doesn’t Make Sense
Text: Habakkuk 1:12-2:20
Habakkuk’s conversation with God:
• Habakkuk: “How long before You judge the sin of Judah?” God: “I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even in you were told” (1:5). The problem: ____________________.
• God: “I am raising up the Babylonians [to judge Judah]” (1:6). Habakkuk: “Are you sure?” The problem: ____________________.
The Big Idea: When God confuses us, He asks us to _____________ Him.
“The righteous will live by his faith” (2:4). This statement is quoted three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). It has been said that it summarizes the message of the whole Bible.
What should I do when God doesn’t make sense?
1. Trust that God’s _______________ is best.
God’s plan is often confusing; but, in the end, it’s always good:
• The suffering of _______________ (Genesis 50:19-20)
• The ____________________ of Jesus (Acts 2:22-24)
2. Trust that God’s _______________ is best.
“For the revelation waits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait, for it; it will certainly come and will not delay” (2:3).
God’s timing often seems slow; but, in the end, it’s always perfect.
• The birth of ________________ (Genesis 18:10-14)
• The birth of ________________ (Galatians 4:4)
• The ______________________________ (2 Peter 3:4-10)
“But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (2:20). “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Is there something in your life that is causing you to be confused? After you have prayed and searched for answers, God asks you to quietly rest in His promises.
