1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,080 Welcome to Common Ground One book. 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:04,720 We are so glad you've joined us for today's message. 3 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,760 Whether you're tuning in from home or catching up on another 4 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,360 go, we pray that this word encourages you, strengthens your 5 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:13,320 faith, and draws you closer to God. 6 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,079 If you'd like to learn more about our church, connect with 7 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,080 us or get involved, you will find all the details in the 8 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:21,760 description. Now let's dive into today's 9 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,000 message. Faces that I that I don't 10 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:29,000 recognise and some faces that I do recognise. 11 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:32,320 Yeah. And, and, and maybe some of you 12 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,760 think like who is this guy? Because I haven't really been 13 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:44,160 around for the last 4-4 weeks. My wife and I recently welcomed 14 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:52,280 a new boy into our family. So. 15 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,640 So I'm not some stranger coming to to preach here. 16 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,000 I serve on the eldership team and I'm happy to do so. 17 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,560 So hope to meet some of you soon that I that I haven't made yet. 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:06,680 But that's us. Well, that's me a little bit at 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,440 least. We are starting a new series 20 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,840 today out of the book of Habakkuk. 21 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,840 And I'm like almost, I'm hesitant to, to say a book. 22 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:18,720 I guess we always refer to it as a book. 23 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,480 It's a, it's a small prophecy. And Habakkuk is, is considered 1 24 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,440 of what they call the minor prophets. 25 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:30,240 And I think as Colin said this morning, you know, he's they 26 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,240 refer to it as minor prophets, but they speak about major 27 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,400 things. I don't think the minor prophets 28 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,000 has anything to do with the credibility of the message. 29 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,320 I think it's just because it really is shorter. 30 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,360 And the series really speaks to this idea of a nation being 31 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,160 under God's judgement and nation being under God's judgement. 32 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,840 And although my message won't really speak to that today, the 33 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,240 the prophecy as a whole really speaks to that. 34 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,280 Now if you think of one of the biggest objections to the 35 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:09,039 existence of God, you will most certainly hear how can a loving 36 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:12,480 God allow all the evil we see in our world today? 37 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:18,120 Sickness, death, murder, and suffering are all seen to be 38 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:23,440 reasons to doubt God's existence or against his existence. 39 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,600 And most people would add to that objection that they may be 40 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,880 willing to accept that there is a God that possibly created the 41 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,680 universe, that there is some being that is higher than than a 42 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:41,600 human, but that God is not loving and kind and just that 43 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,560 cannot. That God cannot care for people, 44 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:48,320 Not if you look at the world around you. 45 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,080 Is that true? Is it not possible to have a 46 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,680 loving God and evil in the world? 47 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,480 Must it be 1 or the other? Should we just accept that this 48 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,800 is what the world is and just get on with life? 49 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,840 As we look at Habakkuk, we see this person of Habakkuk having a 50 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,360 person, a very personal struggle with a very similar question, 51 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,120 but in a very different way and come to a very different 52 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,200 conclusion. Over the next couple of weeks 53 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,400 that we'll spend in this book. We will see. 54 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,080 He's not content with what he sees in in the world around him. 55 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,080 He's not OK with what he sees in the world around him. 56 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,440 And what he does is he takes this discontentment, these 57 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,360 questions that he has directly to God. 58 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,360 We will also see how God responds and how he receives 59 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,880 God's response. So the scripture we're going to 60 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,400 look at is literally just the first 4 verses out of Habakkuk 61 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,360 1. So if you have your Bibles here, 62 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,840 you can open to Habakkuk chapter one, verse one to four. 63 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:53,520 I find that I have to go to the to the index because if you just 64 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,600 page, it's not a lot of pages, so you often miss it. 65 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,800 So Habakkuk, one verse one to four. 66 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:03,440 I am Habakkuk the prophet, and this is the message that the 67 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,760 Lord gave me. Our Lord, how long must I beg 68 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:11,880 for your help before you listen? How long before you save us from 69 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,800 all this violence? Why do you make me watch such 70 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,880 terrible injustice? Why do you allow violence, 71 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:21,720 lawlessness, crime and cruelty to spread everywhere? 72 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,520 Laws cannot be enforced. Justice is always the loser. 73 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,280 Criminals crowd out honest people and twist the laws 74 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:32,680 around. Let's pray. 75 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,160 Lord Jesus, thank you that we can gather this morning. 76 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,840 Oh, I just want to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 77 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:42,120 Now, Lord, pray that the Holy Spirit would. 78 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,560 Holy Spirit, that you would guide me in in what I say, that 79 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,840 I would be true to your word, that I would say what you want 80 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:51,560 me to say. I pray that you would. 81 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:53,760 Yeah. Open each of our hearts, Lord, 82 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,960 to what it is you want us to hear and see this morning. 83 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,120 Will you be with us? Amen. 84 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:07,280 OK, so maybe just some context. And this is directly quoted from 85 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:09,720 the Bible Project. How many of you guys know the 86 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,880 Bible Project? So they have, they do these 87 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,960 short, very cool videos to give an overview of biblical books 88 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,800 and and then they also have like transcripts of that. 89 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,680 So just a little bit of context on Habakkuk. 90 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,800 So Habakkuk lived in the final decades of Judah, which was 91 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:32,200 Israel's southern Kingdom. It was a time of injustice and 92 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,960 idolatry, and he saw the rising threat of the Babylonian Empire 93 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,000 on the horizon. Unlike the other Hebrew 94 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:45,200 prophets, Habakkuk doesn't accuse Israel or even speak to 95 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,600 the people on God's behalf. Instead, all of his words are 96 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,600 addressed to God. The book of Habakkuk tells us 97 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,520 about Habakkuk's personal struggle to believe that God is 98 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:01,800 good when there's so much tragedy and evil in the world. 99 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,120 So like I said, that's from the Bible Project. 100 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,400 So like many of us today and many other people in the world, 101 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:18,040 Habakkuk looked around him and saw that things are not the way 102 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,720 they should be. He speaks specifically in this 103 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:27,840 these 4 verses to the violence that he must witness, the 104 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:30,560 terrible injustices that he must witness. 105 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,760 He speaks about the the increase of lawlessness, crime and 106 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,640 cruelty. And he states, as a matter of 107 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:46,160 fact, that justice always loses and that honest people almost 108 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,480 come off second best. He speaks about how the law 109 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,320 cannot be enforced and our laws are being twisted around. 110 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:58,320 I think if we read this, it's almost hard to believe that it 111 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:03,520 was 2600 years ago because I think it's very similar to what 112 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,160 we would feel about our world today, many of us at least. 113 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:13,120 So you're welcome to take these stats with a little pinch of 114 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,200 salt. I did get them from Google, but 115 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,200 they are apparently from the the latest crime stats. 116 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,680 So if you take the average number of people murdered in 117 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:30,480 Cape Town annually, it works out to 8 people a day being murdered 118 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:33,960 in Cape Town. So that's the annual number of 119 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,480 murders that are recorded in Cape Town worked out to an 120 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:43,960 average of eight people a day. The average number of people 121 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:50,000 dying of cancer in the Cape Town area, again, taking the annual 122 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:55,880 number of people dying of cancer works out to around 30 people a 123 00:07:55,880 --> 00:08:04,720 day that die from cancer alone. 22% of people in Cape Town are 124 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,440 unemployed and therefore struggle to care for themselves 125 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,520 and for their families. Farther from home, but quite 126 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,720 close to our hearts and to our beliefs. 127 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:20,000 I'm sure you all know that Christians are being killed and 128 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,880 persecuted all over the world for their faith. 129 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:30,160 So when we look at what Habakkuk saw and what we are seeing in 130 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,559 our world today, it's very similar. 131 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:38,960 And we must be able to look at that and say that is terrible, 132 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:44,159 that is not how it should be. These evil things that are 133 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:46,120 happening in our world is not OK. 134 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:52,240 Just like ABBA Cook thought and felt and saw in his time. 135 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,960 But why is it like this? Why? 136 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:02,640 Why is it that over the last thousands of years, things have 137 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,360 changed, but they haven't really changed? 138 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,080 We still see a lot of what he saw today. 139 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,560 We still have to witness this. Like we can see from those stats 140 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:14,560 this violence every day. We still see the corruption and 141 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:20,160 see how injustice or justice never seems to come for a lot of 142 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,480 people. And we still see laws being 143 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,200 perverted and twisted for personal gain. 144 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:34,360 Why is it that way? And the short answer is, it's 145 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:39,960 because of sin. The way the world is now is not 146 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,960 the way that God intended it. And if we go and read in 147 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:50,640 Genesis, we can see a glimpse, a short black portal into what 148 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:54,200 life could have been like if not for sin. 149 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,040 Walking with God in the garden in the cool of the day, they 150 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:04,600 seem to be peace between God and man, and also between man and 151 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,320 the surroundings. Obviously at the start doesn't 152 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,520 speak really about other people except for Adam and Eve, but 153 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:14,760 there's no mention of pain and suffering and even the 154 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,760 possibility of pain and suffering at the beginning. 155 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,920 However, as we know, or as many of us know, Adam and Eve choose 156 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,280 to disobey God before we judge them too harshly. 157 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:27,760 And I know I've said this before. 158 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:31,880 I'm pretty sure that each of us here would have done the same 159 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,520 thing. I think when I was growing up, I 160 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:38,320 thought like, sheesh, Adam, Eve, you guys, you've made such a 161 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,920 poor decision. I saw a meme the other day, 162 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:46,080 someone giving someone like this eye and then it says you looking 163 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,120 at Adam when you get to heaven. It's like you messed up. 164 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:52,800 The truth is maybe, maybe it would have been something else. 165 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,800 Maybe we would would have chosen to not eat the fruit, but maybe 166 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:57,920 it would have been something else. 167 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:03,800 So really Adam and Eve, they are responsible, but I don't think 168 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,480 we would have done much better. And we can see that we can see 169 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,760 that in our own lives and we can see that in the lies and in the 170 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,000 world around us. So that moment is what is 171 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,120 referred to commonly as the fall. 172 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,400 OK, So in in Afrikaans, it's, it's very it's so much better, 173 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:25,200 so much more descriptive. It's speaks of dishunder fall 174 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,320 and if I have to translate that that directly, it's the sin 175 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,320 fall. So but in English we say it's 176 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:39,840 the fall. And after that, in the Bible, we 177 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:46,280 see the spiral of how sin causes suffering, people choosing 178 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:50,720 themselves, choosing for themselves what is good and what 179 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:55,400 is right, and ultimately what it ends up as is in death and 180 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,320 suffering for the people around them, for themselves. 181 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:00,720 And then obviously the question comes up, but what about the 182 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,200 devil you know? Isn't it actually all his fault? 183 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:05,000 Isn't it? Can't we just blame him? 184 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,360 It's not us, we're just, we're just human. 185 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,080 I'm only human after all. And we must give him some 186 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,120 credit. Always think that people say 187 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,920 like the devil, you mustn't over credit him, but you must also 188 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,840 not underestimate him. And if we read the, the the 189 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,240 story in Genesis, we can see that he does play a role. 190 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:24,800 And the way that I see this is he kind of gets the conditions 191 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,000 right for us to make the wrong decisions. 192 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,920 No, man, God didn't say that. That's not that's not what he 193 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,520 meant. Surely God, surely God wants you 194 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,120 to be happy, you know, like he just gets the conditions right 195 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,360 for us, but we still make the decision. 196 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:49,440 The point is this, the suffering we see in the world is very much 197 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,960 caused by people. It's caused by our sinful 198 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,320 nature. It's caused by us wanting to 199 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,960 choose what is right for ourselves or just by pure 200 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:03,160 selfishness and greed because we live in this fallen world. 201 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,640 But it also speaks that because of that, so on the fall, because 202 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,600 of the the, the fall, the world is just broken. 203 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,760 So, so some of the things you're not going to be able to say, oh, 204 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,720 it's because Stefan made that bad decision and that's why this 205 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,800 person is now in the situation that they're in. 206 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,120 Some of it is just because we are now in a fallen and broken 207 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,280 world. It even speaks about creation 208 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,160 not really being what it was, what it was meant to be. 209 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,400 But the point is it all comes down to the fall. 210 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:42,320 And it is quite a hopeless situation. 211 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,560 If we, if we look at our world and the fact that we're going to 212 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:48,840 see all of this and a lot of people are going to face a lot 213 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:50,720 of this suffering and then we're going to die. 214 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,240 And then it's the end. And if you believe in afterlife, 215 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,200 you're going to die and it's the end. 216 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,040 And then you stand guilty before God. 217 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,120 Then it is quite a hopeless situation. 218 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:08,160 But through Jesus, God makes a way for us to escape that 219 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:14,360 hopeless situation, to escape that cycle of sin and death and 220 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,600 suffering. Romans 3/20/25. 221 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:22,800 This always comes to mind when you just think of how we all 222 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:26,680 fall short. It says for all have sinned and 223 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,320 fall short of the glory of God, everyone. 224 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,720 And that's why I say that we stand before God, guilty, each 225 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:38,400 one of us, None of us sitting here, standing here, none of us 226 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,400 are good. Each of us, if we die today, we 227 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:50,080 are guilty in front of God. But all are justified freely by 228 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,240 his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 229 00:14:55,360 --> 00:15:00,080 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement. 230 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:06,760 Atonement means it's like in in our place or in someone's place. 231 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,000 So Jesus was sacrificed in our place. 232 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,560 They call it substitutional atonement. 233 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:18,920 So substitute means he takes my place through the shedding of 234 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,520 his blood to be received by faith. 235 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:27,200 So through the work of Jesus, through the sacrifice of Jesus, 236 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:32,680 we can be freed from that sin and become a new creation, not 237 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:38,040 only free from the power of sin, but we can become agents for 238 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,520 good. Bible speaks that not only are 239 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:44,000 we are we a new creation and freed from the power of sin, we 240 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,560 actually are now called children of God. 241 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,320 We are welcomed into the family because of what Jesus did. 242 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:56,600 We become what the Bible speaks of as salt, salt and light in a 243 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:00,160 fallen and Dark World. We spoke about the suffering and 244 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,720 the evil in this world. By the power of the Holy Spirit, 245 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:11,000 and Despite that evil world, we can look forward to a day when 246 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,880 we will be with Jesus where there will be no more of this 247 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:17,440 for the thousands of years that we were speaking about. 248 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,840 There will be no more pain and there will be no more suffering. 249 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,840 So I want to take a moment here and say that if you have not 250 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:30,400 believed the good news that Jesus died for you, was raised 251 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:35,160 to life, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and that you 252 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:39,160 can be free from the power of sin, and that you can be 253 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:45,000 reconciled to God and called not only a saved person but a child 254 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,840 of God. I would say that if you have not 255 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:54,520 believed and put your trust in Him, then today is the day. 256 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,320 And I know that many of us, like I did for a long time, would 257 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,400 call ourselves Christians. But I want you to understand 258 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:07,800 that there's a difference between being a traditional 259 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,240 Christian. What I mean by that is you grew 260 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,359 up Christian. It's like you're churched. 261 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:16,960 We are churched. There's a difference between 262 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:22,680 that and putting our trust and our faith in Jesus for 263 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,280 salvation. So I want to encourage you. 264 00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:29,520 Nothing is stopping you from doing it even now. 265 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:31,720 Praying to God, praying to Jesus. 266 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,360 Lord, I need you. Yeah, I come before you. 267 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:37,720 Please. Will you accept me into your 268 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:38,720 household? Please. 269 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,040 Will you make me a son? Will you make me a daughter? 270 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,920 Today's the day. And if you want to chat some 271 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,400 more, if you want some pray afterwards, please. 272 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,080 I encourage you to come and speak to me or or one of the 273 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,960 other leaders that will be around and part of being made 274 00:17:54,960 --> 00:18:01,160 new is that we like have a cook cannot look at the world around 275 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,880 us and be OK with what we see. We our response actually cannot 276 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:08,360 be. It's just what it is. 277 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:15,840 People die, people are sick. So as Christ followers, how 278 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,280 should we respond to what we see in the world? 279 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,760 Or how should we respond to when we look at Habakkuk, what he 280 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:28,240 also saw in the world? Do we respond as many people do 281 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,720 and conclude that they cannot be a God? 282 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:33,480 Not if you look at the world around you? 283 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:38,560 Do we respond that by thinking if there is a God, he really 284 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,640 doesn't care much for us? Or maybe he just doesn't like 285 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:44,760 us. Can we? 286 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:50,720 And what I mean by can is are we allowed to pray to God and to 287 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:56,160 ask God why? Why Lord as Habakkuk did? 288 00:18:57,120 --> 00:19:01,240 Is it OK to ask God why? And I'm going to start off by 289 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:06,240 saying the short answer but not the full answer is yes. 290 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:15,400 I think from what I see in the Bible, it is OK to ask why and 291 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:17,240 I'm going to with these scriptures won't be up on the 292 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,440 screen. So if you would like to have 293 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,160 them the references, you can write them down or take them 294 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,640 down South. First one, Philippians 4 verse 6 295 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:31,240 says this. Don't worry about anything, but 296 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:35,240 pray about everything with thankful hearts. 297 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,080 Offer up your prayers and requests to God. 298 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:43,480 Now I know that we read that not in the context of asking God why 299 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,840 do we see the suffering in the world, but the way that I see 300 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:51,240 the last bit of that verse is also a request I can make a 301 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,000 request to God. God help me. 302 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:57,600 Help me understand why I see what I see in this world. 303 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,760 Matthew 7 verse 7 says ask and it'll be given to you. 304 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:08,080 Again, one that often gets used. For material things, I think 305 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,800 when I think of that, my most prayer in terms of that context 306 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,520 has been for for wisdom and for guidance. 307 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,560 Going to that first and saying, Oh God, you say if I ask, you'll 308 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:22,920 give it to me. If I seek, I will find and help 309 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,160 me, help me, help me with wisdom. 310 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,400 But again, I don't see why we can't say that that is the same 311 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,000 is true for asking God. God, why? 312 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:34,680 Why do we see the suffering? Why do we experience the 313 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:35,440 suffering? Why? 314 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,880 Why is it like this? Jeremiah 33 verse 3 says call to 315 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,840 me and I will answer you and it will tell you great and mighty 316 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:50,280 things which you have not known. Psalm 145 verse 18 says the Lord 317 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:55,960 is near to all call on him, to all who call I am in truth. 318 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:01,480 Psalm 34 verse 17 to 18 says when the righteous cry for help, 319 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,080 Lord, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their 320 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,520 troubles. The Lord is near to the broken 321 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,920 hearted and saves the crushed in spirit. 322 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,880 So these are just a couple of references, but the point I'm 323 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:19,200 trying to make is the Bible encourages us to speak to God, 324 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:25,520 to ask for help, to call on him, to make our requests known to 325 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,120 him. And some of the places it says 326 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:32,800 he will, he will answer us. But is that the same as what we 327 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:38,120 see Habakkuk doing? Is that the same as what seems 328 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:42,360 to be a questioning God or complaining to God? 329 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:48,640 It's important to note that Habukuk's posture, he's the way 330 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,640 that he's approaching God here, is what would be referred to as 331 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:57,440 a lament. So lament is like a passionate 332 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:02,080 expression of, of like sadness and grief and sorrow. 333 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,520 Habukuk looks at the world around him, looks at the, at 334 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:10,120 those things he mentions in those four verses and it saddens 335 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,920 him. It saddens him and his response 336 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:19,640 to this grief and this sorrow and this heartbreak is to turn 337 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,800 to God and ask God as we see why Lord, why? 338 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,720 Why are you? Why are you taking so long to 339 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:28,480 actually do something about this? 340 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,440 Why aren't, why aren't you doing something about this? 341 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,800 Other biblical examples of lamenting we see a lot of in the 342 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,480 Psalms. There's about 1/3 of the Psalms 343 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,840 that are psalms of lament and I'm just going to give a couple 344 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,080 of examples. So Psalm 13 verse one to two 345 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,880 goes like this. How long Lord, will you forget 346 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,240 me forever? How long will you hide your face 347 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,800 from me? How long must I take counsel in 348 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,680 my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? 349 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:02,920 How long Lord? There's the other one. 350 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,760 I'm not sure if it's in these ones where it says like how long 351 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,640 will you be silent? How long will you not answer my 352 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,440 pray these are that's out of the Psalms. 353 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:17,960 Here's another one, Psalm 74 verse 10 to forces how long, O 354 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:22,080 God is the foe to scoff? So how long is how long is the 355 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:24,080 enemy going to be bragging like this? 356 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,040 How long is the enemy going to revile your name? 357 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:29,920 Are they going to revile your name forever? 358 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,960 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand, take it from 359 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,280 the fold of your garment and destroy them? 360 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:41,640 Point of that is bring justice. Bring justice. 361 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:47,600 Psalm 89 verse 46 to 47 says how long, O Lord, will you hide 362 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,720 yourself forever? Now, I'm not sure about you, but 363 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:57,480 I have sometimes read these Psalms and thought that's so 364 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,280 very accurately describes how I feel sometimes. 365 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,720 So Lord, I've been, I've been praying to you forever. 366 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,800 How long before I'm going to hear from you? 367 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:10,960 How long before you're going to speak to me? 368 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:15,960 And we see quite a bit of that. As I said in the psalms, we see 369 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:21,760 Habakkuk asking God like why I've been praying so long. 370 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,240 We'll just go back to the to the Scripture quickly. 371 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,360 How long must I beg for your help before you listen? 372 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:33,920 How long before you save us from all this violence? 373 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:43,000 So we see quite a bit of this in the Bible, and I'm going to give 374 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:48,160 you 3 good reasons. I think they're good reasons why 375 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:54,080 we can conclude that we can bring our doubts and our 376 00:24:54,080 --> 00:25:00,160 heartbreak and our failure to understand things around us to 377 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:07,520 God and ask why the first one is it seems like the Bible 378 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,800 encourages that the Bible when when we see the writings in the 379 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:16,120 New Testament, the the apostles are encouraging guys to to speak 380 00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:18,960 to God. Make your requests known to Him, 381 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,280 reminding the people he keys for you. 382 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:23,840 He wants He wants to know what's going on. 383 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,640 You know like he knows, but he still wants you to to say. 384 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:36,880 The second is that the Bible has many examples of God's people 385 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:41,080 making their requests known to him, even if these requests in 386 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:45,680 the form of asking God why he is not doing something about the 387 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:50,600 evil in the world. As we see in Habakkuk's case and 388 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:54,920 as we see with many other examples in the Psalms. 2 389 00:25:54,920 --> 00:26:00,720 examples that I thought of here as well is Paul asking God to 390 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,760 take away the thorn in his flesh. 391 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,840 You know, like you might think that Oh well Paul, you know, 392 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,600 like just deal with it. You know, you, you've been 393 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:15,440 saved, so just deal with it. But Paul has the the boldness to 394 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,880 ask God, God, please, will you take this away? 395 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:23,960 But it also then has the the peace to accept God's answer 396 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:26,920 that my grace is sufficient for you. 397 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:32,560 The other example that I thought of was Jesus, Jesus in the in 398 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,880 the Garden of Gethsemane praying to God. 399 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:41,800 Please God, if possible, will you let this cup pass me by 400 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:50,360 having the, you know, not just Jesus knew his task, but he was 401 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,720 still at a point where he asked the Father, please, if possible, 402 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:58,400 let this cup pass me by. But not my will be done, but 403 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,360 your will be done. And the interesting thing that I 404 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:05,560 noted between those two examples is Paul, at least what we see, 405 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:09,000 got an answer. Paul got an answer to say my 406 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,840 grace is sufficient for you. I don't see Jesus really getting 407 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:14,480 an answer. Doesn't mean that God didn't 408 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:20,840 answer him, but we don't see it. Finally, the third reason is we 409 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:25,920 see that God actually answers some of the people publicly. 410 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:29,240 What we see, God answers some of the people, Paul being one of 411 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:35,000 the examples. And who was Habakkuk? 412 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:38,800 The other example, God actually answers him. 413 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:40,400 We're not going to get into it today. 414 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,440 And that's been quite challenging for me in my prep 415 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:46,600 is, is a lot of the context around the book only comes in 416 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:51,640 the later verses and chapters. But what I can tell you is that 417 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:56,880 God answers his question. He answers his lament, He 418 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:02,680 answers his complaint, which I'm sure you'll see next week. 419 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:12,160 So we can conclude that it is OK for us to approach God with our 420 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,840 questions. Why, Lord, do we see this evil 421 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,520 and suffering in the world? Why, Lord, this did this happen? 422 00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:21,400 Lord, why is this happening to me? 423 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,120 Lord, please take away this this thorn in my flesh. 424 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:33,240 However, when I was preparing for this, I thought about 425 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:42,480 another example about someone who complained to God, a man 426 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:46,600 called Job. Now, when I was growing up, the 427 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,880 only thing I remember of the book of Job was how amazing he 428 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:55,600 was, you know, because God did so let so many things happen to 429 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,600 him and he remained faithful. And that's kind of the story of 430 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:03,480 Job that I remember growing up and only when I was older, I, I 431 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:08,960 realized that there's a section in Job where God actually 432 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,800 rebukes Job. So, so if you don't know what 433 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:17,080 rebukes mean, it's like where God basically tells him, Who do 434 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:20,160 you think you are to ask me something like that? 435 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:27,400 So what's the difference then between Job asking these 436 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,960 questions of God and Habakkuk? So just for a little bit of 437 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:36,640 context, Job, after much suffering, I mean, he lost 438 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,880 everything and he was sick. He was full of sores. 439 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:44,840 His children died quite horribly. 440 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:48,320 A wall fell onto them. He lost all of his, like, 441 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,240 possessions and stuff, so cattle and all of that. 442 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:59,400 And then there's a section where he kind of says to God, I wish I 443 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:05,160 was never born. He says that he asked this 444 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,000 question of like, why does God even let me live? 445 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:13,280 Why does he even let me live? Why did I not just die at birth? 446 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:18,440 So this is Job in his suffering, in his very real and terrible 447 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:24,400 suffering, he asks these questions of God and Job 448 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:28,480 receives quite a strong rebuke. So you can go and read it. 449 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,960 I think it's around chapter 38. I think I might be very wrong 450 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:37,920 there, but but Job receives a strong rebuke from God. 451 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:43,920 And and just to give you some some idea of that is like God 452 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,680 saying to Job, like, where were you? 453 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:51,680 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth along 454 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:58,040 those lines. So when Habakkuk's case, God 455 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,880 gives him, we will see quite a nice answer. 456 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,120 He entertains this questioning of Habakkuk. 457 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,400 He's like, OK, now let me explain to you, this is what's 458 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:09,280 happening and this is what will happen. 459 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,440 And then Habakkuk will complain again. 460 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,040 And then God says, no, no, don't worry, this is what will happen. 461 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:16,320 And then this is what will happen. 462 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,760 But in Job's case, he gets a rebuke. 463 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,560 He basically says to him, who do you think you are? 464 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:25,920 Who do you think you are to question me? 465 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:35,320 So what is the difference? Job was rebuked and Habakkuk was 466 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,680 answered. So commentators argue that the 467 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:45,840 difference in God's response to these people comes not from the 468 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:52,000 fact that they were quish asking questions of God, but from what 469 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:56,320 was being asked and how it was being asked and the heart behind 470 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:02,520 it. Job was asking questions out of 471 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:06,120 bitterness. He was, he was upset with God. 472 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,960 He was upset with God. He was claiming that God is 473 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:15,800 treating him unjustly. In essence, he put God on trial, 474 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:21,440 attempting to judge God's ultimate wisdom and authority 475 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,120 over everything. Habakkuk. 476 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:30,760 Habakkuk's questions were rooted in a righteous feeling of what 477 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:36,000 they call indignation, a feeling of like, you know, like 478 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,240 discontent with how things are, like this shouldn't be how 479 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:45,480 things are, and a desire to see God's law vindicated. 480 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:53,680 He asked why, with intent to understand what is God's plan 481 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:59,320 not to question or condemn God's character and decisions. 482 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:05,600 In short, Job was rebuked for challenging God's wisdom in his 483 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:10,640 personal life, while Habakkuk was answered with a plan because 484 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:15,000 he wanted to align his righteous concerns with what he's seeing 485 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:19,480 around him to God's sovereign movement in history. 486 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,480 What is encouraging though, is even though I would not 487 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:30,640 recommend the way that Job approached God, both of these 488 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:40,040 people at the end end up in submission and in trust to God. 489 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:46,040 And if we think about Job's story, you know, after that and 490 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:50,840 after he acknowledges his kind of wrongdoing and sin, to 491 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,680 question God's wisdom and character, God actually does 492 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:59,440 also restore him. So a easy way to assess our own 493 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:04,200 hearts when we want to come with questions to God is are we 494 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:09,040 questioning God? Are we questioning His plan, His 495 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,880 wisdom, His character, or His ways? 496 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:20,480 Or are we asking God questions so that we can align with His 497 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,120 heart when we see evil in the world around us? 498 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:29,960 When we ask God why, we are not questioning His character, but 499 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:33,560 we are asking questions. Why, Lord, why are you taking so 500 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:38,000 long to do something about that? And that was the heart of 501 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,960 Habakkuk. He knew that God is a just God 502 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:44,719 and he saw this evil around him and he was asking. 503 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:50,480 He was, he was wanting clarity. I guess he wanted to know God, 504 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,719 why are you taking so long to bring justice on these people? 505 00:34:55,480 --> 00:35:01,600 So in conclusion, Habakkuk was not happy or content with what 506 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:05,760 he saw in the world around him and we shouldn't be either. 507 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:12,560 His response is to pray to God, to bring his requests to God, to 508 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:17,320 tell God how he feels about the injustice and the evil that he 509 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:21,280 sees in the world around him. And we can see in those verses, 510 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,080 the fact that he asks how long must I ask for help? 511 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:31,120 Implies that he has been asking for a long time, that this was 512 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:35,640 not the first time that he asked God how long and then God 513 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:38,320 answered him. When we are faced with doubts 514 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:41,400 and questions, we should take it to God first. 515 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:45,120 When we see the injustice and suffering in the world, we 516 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:50,280 should take it in to God first. And God in His divine wisdom may 517 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:54,840 give us an answer. He may give us guidance, He may 518 00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:59,400 do this through His word, the Bible, He may do this through 519 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:04,160 the Holy Spirit, He may do this through His people, the church, 520 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:10,280 or He may just give us peace when we bring our questions and 521 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:14,960 doubts and concerns to Him. Philippians 46 again says do not 522 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:19,320 worry about anything, but pray about everything with thankful 523 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:21,200 hearts. OfferUp your prayers and 524 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,720 requests to God. Then because you belong to 525 00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:29,600 Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can 526 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:33,680 completely understand. And this peace will control the 527 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,040 way you think and the way you feel. 528 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:46,440 Let's pray, Lord Jesus, thank you for your word. 529 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:52,400 Thank you that we can look at Habakkuk's story, you know, and 530 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,840 see, have some, some empathy, Lord. 531 00:36:55,840 --> 00:37:00,360 We, we see what he sees. We see pain and suffering in our 532 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:02,240 world. We see evil. 533 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:08,480 And we also come before you, Lord, and we ask, Lord, in 534 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:13,320 humility and in full trust of you, Lord, how long, Lord? 535 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:20,160 And we pray, Lord, that when we have these questions, we pray 536 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:24,000 that you would bless us, as you say, with peace, Lord. 537 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:27,080 We pray, Lord, that if it is your world that you would answer 538 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:34,400 us, Lord, speak into our doubts, speak into our concerns, speak 539 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:38,880 into our questions, Lord. We pray, Lord, that through the 540 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:45,080 Holy Spirit you would help us to have a posture like Habakkuk and 541 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:52,320 not a posture like Job. In that example, we pray for 542 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,880 your guidance, Lord. We pray that you would change 543 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:59,160 our hearts, Lord, if our hearts are hard, maybe our hearts are 544 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,280 hard towards church, to church people. 545 00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:06,160 Maybe our hearts are hard towards there are young people 546 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,720 outside of church. Maybe our heart is hard towards 547 00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:11,320 you, Lord. Maybe we have been praying for a 548 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:14,200 long time and we haven't heard anything. 549 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:18,560 We haven't received peace. I pray Lord that you would come 550 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:20,160 and soften that heart. Lord. 551 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:26,160 I pray, Lord, that there would be a confidence that you, the 552 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:32,120 creator of the universe, the creator of us, the sustainer of 553 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:35,880 everything, the one who has allowed us this morning to take 554 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,440 another breath, to stand on our feet. 555 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:45,720 That you see the injustice, that you see the evil, that you see 556 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:50,080 our doubts, Lord, and our, our failures, our Lord, and that one 557 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:54,200 day, maybe one day we may understand some of these things 558 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:59,640 through your through your grace, your honor, we also thank you, 559 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:01,880 Lord, we thank you for for Jesus. 560 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:05,800 We thank you with all these worries that we have hope. 561 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:10,880 We have hope past this life. We have a hope that we will see 562 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,520 a day where there will not be any more of this suffering and 563 00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:17,480 evil in our world. We praise you and we thank you 564 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:21,840 for that in Jesus name. Thank you for listening to 565 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:24,520 today's message. We hope you are encouraged and 566 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:26,600 challenged in your faith. If you're in the Southern 567 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:29,960 suburbs, would love to welcome you in person at one of our 568 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:32,080 serves. Don't forget to subscribe, share 569 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:35,280 this message with a friend, and stay connected with us on social 570 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,480 media for more inspiration throughout the week. 571 00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:40,840 Until next time, stay please and keep shining your light.