Part 6: Responding to Bad News

INTRO

“I have good news and bad news…which do you want first?”

Don’t you just love that question… Which kind of person are you?

Good news first so it softens the blow of the bad news or Bad news first so we can end on a high note?

What makes bad news bad is that whatever the news is, it is not favorable to us…but what about when the bad news comes from God who is good?

This is exactly what Habakkuk has experienced:

God, Why don’t you do something…HERE IS WHAT I’M DOING…How can you do that…I REMAIN TRUE TO MY STANDARDS

HERE ARE THE SINS THAT ARE DESTRUCTIVE (These expose the guilt of Babylon and also everyone else who practices such things.)

Habakkuk 3:1–2 (ESV)

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth. 2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

1) Remember His Greatness (vs. 1-2)

God has made Himself known. History is His Story.

His greatness should lead us to trust and reverence.

His character should cause us to reshape our lives to His.

2) Recall His Grandeur (vs. 3-15)

Habakkuk 3:3–15 ESV

3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power. 5 Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels. 6 He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 8 Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? Was your anger against the rivers, or your indignation against the sea, when you rode on your horses, on your chariot of salvation? 9 You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows. Selah You split the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw you and writhed; the raging waters swept on; the deep gave forth its voice; it lifted its hands on high. 11 The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows as they sped, at the flash of your glittering spear. 12 You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger. 13 You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah 14 You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. 15 You trampled the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters.

God’s presence in the Exodus. (vs. 3-4)

God’s protection for His people. (vs. 6-7,12-14)

God’s power over nature. (5, 8-11, 15)

God is greater than we can handle! His grandeur is incomparable.

Therefore when He casts judgment it is righteous and just.

When He supplies mercy it is of His own will and desire.

When He gives promises they are steadfast and sure.

3) Rely on His Grace (vs. 16-19)

Habakkuk 3:16–19 ESV

16 I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

The grandeur and holiness of God should bring us into the reality of how vast our shortcomings are. (vs. 16)

His promises should lead us to depend on Him for everything (vs. 17)

Even in hardship, we must rely on His glory and His grace (vs. 18)

When we rely on Him, we find strength, sure footing, and closeness to the God who reigns on high! (vs. 19)

CLOSING

We are broken people who live in a broken world.

Bad news in inevitable.

When bad news comes, how do you respond?

Does your faith in God carry you or do you waiver?