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Habakkuk 1:1-11

April 26, 2015 Preacher: Series: Habakkuk: Living at the Intersection of Doubt & Faith

Scripture: Habakkuk 1:1–1:11

Key Truth: God’s works are often mysterious but always serve His redemptive purposes for His glory and our greatest good which allow us to wrestle with our questions and doubts in faith.

 

Introduction:

 

Q: Do you ever look around the world and wonder just what is going on and where is God in the midst of it all?

“Q. 11. What are God’s works of providence? A. God’s works of providence are,  his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.”

Shorter Catechism

 

Habakkuk’s Questioning and Doubt in Faith:

Habakkuk 1:1-4

“An idiom for evangelicalism in the West is that ‘It is a mile wide and an inch deep’! But the reality is that God wants thoughtful Christians- that is, the ones who are not simply borne along by the ways and whims of the world. He wants people to ponder and consider the eternal questions.”

John D. Currid, The Expectant Prophet

Q: Do you honor God by bringing Him your tough questions and doubts?

 

God’s Unexpected Response:

Habakkuk 1:5-11

“We all tend to prescribe the answers to our prayers. We think that God can come in only one way. But Scripture teaches us that God sometimes answers our prayers by allowing things to become much worse before they get better. He may sometimes do the opposite of what we anticipate. He may overwhelm us by confronting us with a Chaldean army. Yet it is a fundamental principle in the life and walk of faith that we must always be prepared for the unexpected when we are dealing with God.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, From Fear to Faith

 

Q: Do you recognize that there is a bigger story going on than just your own individual story? Do you have faith in God’s desire and ability to spread His glory through redemption among all the nations of the earth?

 

Application:

“Habakkuk shows us that instead of sweeping our issues under the carpet, storing up our intellectual objections, or silently seething over our unanswered prayers, it is in dialogue with God that we are most likely to find answers to our questions- ways to worship him through the paradoxes.”

Krish Kandiah, Paradoxology: Why Christianity Was Never Meant to Be Simple

 

From Habakkuk 1:1-11, we learn that:

  • God wants for us to care and be thoughtful about what is going on in the world
  • we honor God by bringing Him our tough questions and doubts
  • God works in mysterious ways that are always for His redemptive purposes for His glory and our greatest good

 

Benediction:

Psalm 75:6-10

More in Habakkuk: Living at the Intersection of Doubt & Faith

May 31, 2015

Habakkuk 3:17-19

May 24, 2015

Habakkuk 3:1-16

May 17, 2015

Habakkuk 2:6-20