In just a few days we will be celebrating a day of the year that many look forward to or just plain dread. It’s a day for eating and sleeping but most especially it’s a day to give Thanks. It’s a time of family dinners, and retail shopping. It’s a time for sleeping or relaxing reading etc. Especially in light of Covid-19 we should be even more thankful. We spent months, even years of self-isolation. Some today even does still. There’s reports of a new strain of said virus. Yet, still we can give thanks that God has seen us through. Several experienced hardships due to Covid-19, physical , medical, and financial; and I often think back to the first thanksgiving upon this country/colony.
A. Remembering the First Thanksgiving
1. The Pilgrims and their new land
The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting. Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest.
2. The good harvest…. And many since
3. But we must also remember the many hardships they faced. they lost a good bit of their number. Many people died from diseases, and sickness, starvation. Adjusting to a new land.
4. In spite of losing almost half of their number they gave thanks anyway for the blessings that God gave them.
B. Habakkuk: A Prophet Who Vowed to Be Thankful even in Hard Times
Illstration: I think about the Walt Disney movie Pollyanna, Haley Mills- she always was playing the “Glad Game” when things were bad she found something to be glad about. One scene in there was they just got back from church the preacher wasn’t very good he preached gloom and doom made everyone sick. The maid asked her what was there to be glad about on Sunday Pollyanna thought for a moment and said well it will be six whole days before you have to go back.
(Pause for effect)
That’s the girl I want my nieces to be. That’s the people I believe God wants us to be.
The Book of Habakkuk is the eighth book of the 12 minor prophets of the Bible.[1] It is attributed to the prophet Habakkuk, and was probably composed in the late 7th century BC. The prophet Habakkuk is generally believed to have written his book in the mid-to-late 7th century BC, not long before the Babylonians' siege and capture of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Habakkuk identifies himself as a prophet in the opening verse. Due to the liturgical nature of the book of Habakkuk, there have been some scholars who think that the author may have been a temple prophet. Temple prophets are described in 1 Chronicles 25:1 as using lyres, harps and cymbals. Some feel that this is echoed in Habakkuk 3:19b, and that Habakkuk may have been a Levite and singer in the Temple.[3] It is unknown when Habakkuk lived and preached, but the reference to the rise and advance of the Chaldeans in 1:6–11 places him in the middle to last quarter of the 7th century BC.[7][8] One possible period might be during the reign of Jehoiakim, from 609–598 BC. The reasoning for this date is that it is during his reign that the Neo-Babylonian Empire of the Chaldeans was growing in power. The Babylonians marched against Jerusalem in 598 BC. Jehoiakim died while the Babylonians were marching towards Jerusalem and Jehoiakim's eighteen-year-old son Jehoiachin assumed the throne. Upon the Babylonians' arrival, Jehoiachin and his advisors surrendered Jerusalem after a short time. With the transition of rulers and the young age and inexperience of Jehoiachin, they were not able to stand against Chaldean forces. There is a sense of an intimate knowledge of the Babylonian brutality in 1:12–17.
In spite of his current predicament Habakkuk was:
1. One who loved God enough to thank Him in distress
(Job comes to mind) Job lost everything in spite of it all he honored and worshiped God.
2. How can one be thankful when things are difficult? With the distresses of life, uncertainty of the future. Concern for the welfare of family and friends even self. No one has gone through this year unscathed. We all have had to make adjustments, and we continue to do so. Habakkuk knew this. He saw things change and they were not to his liking. We too have undergone change especially within the last year, months and weeks. However,
II. Body
A. When the provisions of God changes be thankful He is unchanged. (v.17)
1. Habakkuk envisions losing things vital to their economy.
? How many is familiar with farming? Many of us can relate to this passage of scripture. We have seen fields planted early and we have seen fields planted late due to weather or not ay all. Or what we thought would be a good crop just doesn’t pan out. Or its lost at the last minute. (Hay harvested one day and burned the next)
?
a. The fig (fruit) tree will not bloom
b. No fruit on the vines
c. Olive trees (gardens) do not produce
d. Field yield no harvest,
i. Anyone who has had or worked a garden knows this all too well, after all the work, money, and time. End up with less than hoped for.
e. Cattle and sheep are lost (run off/ die unexpectedly) or just does not produce offspring. Or doesn’t bring the price expected at market.
2. The prophet says he will be thankful anyhow
a. We can too. Be Pollyanna, we can play the Glad Game when life is at its worse. Will it make problems go away? No, but they will seem less when we forget about ourselves and focus on God.
3. Economic conditions change
a. They changed in Egypt (seven good years / seven poor years) they had Joseph to help them through
b. They changed for Job (he lost his wealth/ everything)
c. Changed during the great depression (1929, 2008) the last administrations we have had as a country.
d. May change due to loss of health or bad investments (Enron)
e. Covid-19 as of this year has cost between 8 and 16 trillion dollars.
i. The estimated cumulative financial costs of the COVID-19 pandemic related to the lost output and health reduction is shown in Table 1. The total cost is estimated at more than $16 trillion, or roughly 90% of annual GDP of the United States. For a family of 4, the estimated loss would be nearly $200,000
However, we can be sure that,
4. God does not change (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8) in spite of everything going on in the world God is still in control and God does not change.
Mal 3:6
6 "For I am the Lord, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
NKJV
Heb 13:8-9
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
NKJV
Hebrews 6:18
"That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation
Titus 1:2 This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
B. When suffering be thankful for His salvation (v.18)
1. We are never far from problems in this life (Man is born of woman and his days are short and full of trouble)
a. Everything about us is fragile (many of us had some close calls in our lives)
b. Life itself is uncertain
2. Salvation (IS SURE) it provides eternal life
a. Eternal life promised (John 3:15,16, 5:24, 1 John 5:11-13)
John 3:14-17
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
NIV
John 5:24
24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
NKJV
1 John 5:11-13
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
NKJV
b. We are not limited to these few years of tears
3. Heaven is ahead (John 14:1-6)
John 14:1-6
14 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know."
5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
NKJV
4. The best is yet to come (1 Peter 1:3-4)
1 Peter 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
NKJV
a. This isn’t all there is.
When we gather together and enjoy the blessings of God, and the company of our family, when we share a meal together the best thing after that is dessert. We know something better is coming after the meal. Amen?
C. When passing through trials we can triumph in Christ. (v.19)
1. The Lord is my strength (Ps. 27:1, Isa. 40:31, Phil. 4:13)
Ps 27:1
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
NKJV
Isa 40:31
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
NKJV
Phil 4:13
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
NKJV
2. He will make my feet like hind’s feet (swift and graceful)
3. He will make me walk on high places… Higher Ground
4. He is always up to the occasion (Jer. 32:27)
Jer 32:27-28
27 "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?
NKJV
III. Conclusion
A. The pulpit Commentary on this Text: “This passage contains the most beautiful exhibition of the power of true religion found in the Bible. The language is that of a mind weaned from earthly enjoyments, and habituated to the highest fruition of its desires in God? Have you started living off the meat of God’s word? Have you began to give God thanks for every blessing He has given you?
B. In everything Give Thanks: (1 Thess. 5:18)
1 Thess 5:16-18
Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
NKJV
freely use as God Leads
sermon taken from outline of Roger Campbell Preach of a year series
