No Time to Doubt

Are you worried and wondering where God is? Do not doubt. God is a very present help and He will take care of you.

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Habakka chapter one verses one through five and today I'm reading from the New Living Translation And this is what it says This is the message that the prophet Habakka received in a vision And this is Habakka talking How long O Lord must I call for help but you do not listen? Violence is everywhere I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? When wherever I look I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted. And this is the Lord's reply. The Lord replied Look around at the nations, look and be amazed, for I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe, even if someone told you about it. So that's Habakka chapter three verses one through five from the New Living Translation. So the title of this sermon for today is No Time to Doubt. No time to doubt. We see here that Habakkuh, who is the prophet in Judah during the reign of Jehoiakim, is concerned because he looks around and he sees the evil nation of Babylon becoming a dominant world power. But what's even more distressing is that his own people have turned away from God and are doing all manner of evil. And so it almost seems like if we were talking about things of today, when we read this, it gives you a good feel that the Bible is always relevant. It's always relevant. And the back is looking around and he's concerned and he's saying, God, when are you going to do something about this? You know, I'm looking out and I'm seeing destruction and violence before me, and the law seems to be paralyzed, and justice is not prevailing. How long, Lord? How long must I endure this? How long will it be before you come to the rescue? He even says, but you you don't seem to be listening. And so many of us are feeling that same way today. We're feeling like, God, where are you? Where are you? All of this stuff is going on around us. I know you must be concerned. And so I want to point out three things that this passage says to us today. It says that bad things happen. Bad things happen. God never promised us a bed of roses. He says that we would be, life would be short and it would be difficult. And even in our own time, things can get worse. Times may get harder. That's not unusual. That's the way it's always been. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, we live in a fallen world and evil is all around us. So the first thing to realize is that bad things happen and gonna and they are going to keep happening. The second thing is that we are dealing with struggle and sacrifice all the time. But that does not, should not negate our joy and our faith in God. It should not. We should still be faithful, still believe in God's faith, God's ability to take care of us. And we should still be joyful. And then the third thing is that God is going to make a way. And basically he said, He's saying to Habakkuk, I got you. I'm taking care of this. I got everything under control. I'm working it out. You may not see it, and even if I told you, you probably would not even understand it. It's too complex for you. But I'm working it out, and you should be willing to not doubt but believe that I'm here and stay in faith. And so those are the three things that we get from Habakkuk. But I also want to point out that God has given us a strategy. In every situation, he gives us a strategy to overcome. And this is the strategy he's given us for this season. He's saying, listen, pray, and obey. Listen, listen for me, listen to me, listen to me, not to the talking heads that you see and hear all about you that seem to know the answer. Some are preaching only doom and gloom. Some are preaching that things are going to be great again. Some are just seem to be silent and in fear. But God says, listen to me. Listen to what my word says. Listen to the promises that I have already given you. And then pray. That means communicate with me so that you can get clarity and understanding about what's your role and what you should be doing. Because I guarantee you, God is not saying sit down and twiddle your thumbs and wait and see what's gonna happen. No, because the third thing is obey. Listen, pray, obey. And his word to us is always be just like Jesus said, I must be about my father's business. I must be about my father's business. And that's what our word should be. That's what God is telling us. This is no time to doubt, but this is a time to be about God's work in the world, shining the light so that others can see God. Even when we don't see all that he's doing, we know that he's working. And we have the testimony of what he's already done in our lives to share with others. So if you read chapter one of Habakkuk, you'll see that Habakkuk is asking God questions, questioning him, and complaining to him. And God is giving him answers. In chapter two, he answers him, he says, Write down this revelation that I'm giving you. Make it plain. It's for an appointed time. Wait for it, because it will certainly come. And he tells Habakkuk all that will happen, and he talks to him, and in the end, Habakkuk gives a prayer of triumph. And I want to read Habakkuk chapter three, verses seventeen through nineteen. Because once he has this dialogue with God and God gives him these answers, this is what he says. Habakkuk says in faith, he says, even though the fig trees have no fruit, and no grapes grow on the vines, even though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no grain, even though the sheep all die, and the cattle stalls are empty, I will still be joyful and glad because the Lord God is my Savior. The sovereign Lord gives me strength. He makes me sure footed as a deer and keeps me safe on the mountains. So even though things look bad, God is right there with me, and I will be on the mountaintop, and he makes me sure footed. God is not going anywhere. He knows exactly what is going on and he is right here right now working it all out. Now is not the time to fear and be doubtful, but to cling to your faith like a drowning man to a lifeline. Keep hope alive. And finally I want to leave you with this verse. Isaiah fifty and seven. It says, Because the sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I set my face like a stone. Some versions of the Bible say like a flint, determined to do his will, and I know that I will not be put to shame. That's our word for today. We've got to be committed to the Lord God. Let me read that one more time. It says, Because the sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will, and I know that I will not be put to shame. God bless you. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this word that encourages us today, that reminds us that this isn't the first time things have been bad and people have wondered about where God is in all of it. It's happened before many times, but God has never left his people, and he's not gonna leave us now. So Lord help us to stop looking around, stop gazing upon the the government, upon the lawmakers, upon the the warring factions out there, the enemies. But Lord, help us to put on the armor that you've given us. Help us to be peacemakers before because the children of God who are peacemakers will that's what we will be called. Lord, help us to love one another and respect each other and show your love to the world. We thank you for your word that encourages us today. Help us to be steadfast in our faith. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen on today, everybody. Thank you for being with us. I know some of you were late, no fear. This will be recorded and I will send it out to you. But I have a big announcement today, and that is that today will end the noonday sermons. We are trans, we're we're we're transitioning to a new day and a new time. This season of the weekly Wednesday noonday service has now come to an end. Um for several reasons. Um the time has become problematic to me, and I've heard from others that it's a little problematic for some of you. It has worked for four years and we have really been blessed. But I believe God is transitioning us now to a new day and time. So we're gonna be going to Tuesdays. It will be two box Tuesday inspirations at four o'clock. We're gonna take a few weeks off, and beginning August 5th, we will be doing not on Wednesdays at 12, but Tuesdays at 4. Now that might be problematic to some of you, but we can always send you the recording. Another thing that will happen is that we're transitioning to a new platform because it the number that we've been using for the last four years has become glitchy and inconsistent and uh not as reliable as it once was. There are newer platforms out there, newer technologies, and so we will be using a different number and one that does not require a passcode. So all you'll have to do is type the number in. The number will be 857-799-9977. I don't expect you to remember that. You know, get involved with prayer calls that are going on and some other things that you may or may not be interested in, but it will give you an opportunity if you would like to. So I'm gonna send a text out with all of this information for you, but the prayer is that you will be blessed by all that we are doing, and that um you will continue in ministry yourselves to get the word out to you and your family to be able to cover your loved ones with the blood of Jesus. And so I want to thank you all for being so supportive to me for this many years. Um I've enjoyed working with you, and I am committed to bringing you good sermons and um inspiration that will uplift you and that will continue your growth. But like I said, we're gonna um partner with to the point uh theological media, and um lots of things will be available to you. If you don't want to get involved in any of those or all of those, that's certainly fine, but they will be at your disposal if you so desire. So I'm gonna summarize everything for you and send it out to you. We have your full Armor of God medallions. We had to order some and we had some difficulty getting enough. So we didn't want to send them out until we made sure that we had enough for everybody. So we do have them. We are in the process of mailing them out this week. Um, I think uh I wanted to hold off and send all of the other information with it. So when you get your medallion, you will also get information about the new number, the new day, and other things that will be available to you. I thank you so much for joining us, and I'm hoping that um as we transition to this new thing, that it will be bigger and better. And so we'll still be on the phone, we'll still be bringing you sermons, you'll still be able to get them recorded and texted out to you, so none of that will change. Thank you so much, and at this time I'm gonna pronounce our benediction so that you can enjoy the rest of your day. Now, unto him who's able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our Savior. Be glory, majesty, dominion, and power both now and forevermore. Let us all say, Amen. I love you and you can't do a thing about it. Now go and be great for God.