“Faith & Joy in the face of fear.” Habakkuk 3:3-19. WBC 20/6/4am
INTRODUCTION
H= 6CBC prophet
Troubled by God’s apparent inactivity in history… against injustice.
- what we would call ‘unanswered prayer’
HAB 1:2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
but you do not save?
HAB 1:3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
When God DOES answer- he doesn’t like it (sound familiar?!)
- His answer perplexes H, MORALLY. “what, you’re going to use THEM?!” 1:12b (the Babylonians 587BC)
- And then he is troubled by the NATURE of God’s answer
o God says to him 2:4 “yes, they ARE arrogant- but You must live by faith”
But, understandably- he’s still fearful. Yes- he has faith,…
- … but the awareness that an invasion is going to happen in his lifetime fills him with bone shattering fear, as well
HAB 3:16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
And the last chapter deals with faith and joy in the face of this fear and threat
Is it relevant for us to address this? (isn’t fear just a lack of faith?)
- oh yes!
- This is such common experience- among Christians- but also in the Bible, as well
- And in the Bible it is confronted and dealt with honestly
o David: is filled with fear as he hides in the cave of Adullam.. but he has faith that can kick a giant’s but as well
o Paul- bore up well under pressure but also states honestly
o 2CO 1:8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life
Listen. Strong faith is NOT having no fleshly weaknesses… never getting frightened
- even when that weakness manifests itself in intense anxiety
- (H would have had to be in psychotic reality denial not to be frightened of what he knew!)
It may be that there are real things that you face that are genuine causes for concern and anxiety.
- Jobs, marriage probs, children, singleness, direction for the future. Putting bread on the table (in other parts of the world)
Don’t go asking yourself ‘should I or should I not be anxious about this?’- the question to ask is ‘how can I DEAL with this… and find joy at this time’
- and H’s example shows us
HABAKKUK’S EXAMPLE
Ch 3 is not the only confession of weakness and fear (and solution)
- earlier on he did fear… but also turned to God… and had victory
And in ch 3 and the whole book (a dark book with shafts of light)- fear doesn’t get the final say
- fear is mentioned… but it is surpassed by faith
- ch 3 particularly: he comes to a point of rejoicing!
HAB 3:17 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,
HAB 3:18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
- I will be joyful in God my Savior.
This can be our experience. However real the thing to be feared is
- our faith… and our Lord… are made for trials like this
The world responds to a threatening, fearful situation by:
1) resignation
“it’s going to happen, so I might as well accept it”. A kind of despondent yielding to kismet (fate).
- this is not the Christian response. It’s not H’s
OR
2) Denial
“I don’t want to think about it” “don’t talk to me about it”
- “that makes me depressed”, “I can’t bear it”, “that’ll bring it on”
- (do some Xians have this attitude?? Denial?)
- THIS is not the Christian response. Nor is it H’s
- Besides: like a ball that you try and force down in a swimming pool- it pushes up from your unconscious mind (where we’ve shoved it)..
o And manifests in focussed anxiety or free floating anxiety (depending on how honest we’ve been)
- AND the problem still remains
- “"Blind faith closes its mind to thinking issues through. It’s not honest and it’s not Biblical."
OR
3) Bravado
“pull yourself together”. “I’ll get through!”
okay! Not too bad an attitude: but if you’re terrified and your knees are knocking , a pep-talk might not help!
- and the thing this misses out on is EVOKING GOD’S HELP!
THE CHRISTIAN WAY
The Christian way is to rejoice in God. Focus on God while remaining in TRUTH (about the situation and God)
“hang on! If it’s not possible to overcome fear by mere courage- isn’t it impossible to rejoice in God by mere willpower”
- no. Xians are made for praising God. Rejoicing in God. And they’ve got someone inside them to help where THEIR ability fails: the HS
And doing this invokes God’s power
… besides it being the right way to deal with things psychologically
- (only way of calming your unconscious mind is to speak words of truth Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
Before, chs 1& 2, when H gets himself in a state he
1) Stops to think
2) Restates the basic principles & truths: God WAS there in the past
3) Applies those principles, and God’s faithfulness to the problem
(and when that doesn’t work he leaves the issue with God)
Here: (when faced with fear)
- he reminds himself of what he KNOWS. The truth
o He worships a might God
o God did powerful things in the past
o I can trust a God like THAT
… and this restores His joy and brings him victory over fear
God is mighty:
HAB 3:3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
HAB 3:4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
HAB 3:5 Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
HAB 3:6 He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal
He’s a big, big, God.
- there’s such power in Him… and in recognising this. Praising Him
God did powerful things in the past
- God came from Teman and mount Paran
o Mountain ranges on the Sinai/Israel border where God spoke to Moses… and where God delivered the people from Egypt
- Plague went before Him (when he delivered from Egypt)
Then, 3:8-10 : God split the sea to let the Israelites pass
Then, 3:11 : God made the suns stand still over Gibeon (Jos 10:12)
Then 3:13-15 : God came out to deliver the nation through a brave yet fearful teenager- David
These are the facts (not the fantasies) of God’s faithfulness in the past
- you need to settle in your mind whether these are fact or fiction
o and then you can draw strength by looking backward. Will give you strength to face forward
Habakkuk concludes: God was proven faithful in every situation and circumstance in the past- and He will be again. Therefore I will praise Him
This is so powerful: Habakkuk doesn’t run from reality, or his fear… or from faith in God
- he embraces all the realities he can imagine- and triumphs over them in God (Jesus)
Illustr: Pollyanna: Sweet film. Much to be learned about ‘attitude’! But the Christian has an even greater strength than Pollyanna’s attitude:
- Someone says ‘suppose this or that happens!”
- Pollyanna says “Suppose I should lose health… money and all the rest! When those supposings come knocking at your door- slam the door, bolt it, and don’t let any of them in!’
Good advice- but not the full picture, and useless as far as H was concerned as he knew those things WERE coming!
Habakkuk’s procedure was better. More Biblical. More realistic. H did not slam the door and bolt it, he opened the door and cried “Come in! Bring it on!”:
- suppose the fig tree does not bud
- suppose there are no grapes on the vines
- suppose the olive crop fails
- suppose the fields produce no food
- suppose there are no sheep in the pen
- suppose there are no cattle in the stalls
Well- Come in! bring it on!
- Because one greater than the supposings is here… in the room.
- Jesus is Lord! And He’ll give strength for the moment, when needed
HAB 3:18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
HAB 3:19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
(Don Fran: praise the Lord, hallelu.
Though the fig tree
The spirit of the Lord is here)
