WHEN GOD DOESN’T PART 3

INTRODUCTION — BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

For the first two weeks of this series, Habakkuk has been asking God to do something.

Week 1:

“How long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?”

God seems silent.

Week 2:

“I cry to you, ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?”

God doesn't seem to be stepping in.

And Habakkuk has essentially been praying:

“God, do something!”

“God, intervene.”

“God, stop the wickedness.”

“God, bring justice.”

“God, change this.”

And then we arrive at verse 5.

God finally answers.

And you would think this would be the moment Habakkuk has been waiting for.

Finally!

God speaks.

God is going to act.

God is going to do something.

Except there's a problem.

Habakkuk doesn't like God's answer.

Have you ever been there?

You prayed for God to open a door...

and He opened one you didn't want to walk through.

You prayed for God to change something...

and He started by changing you.

You prayed for direction...

and His direction wasn't the direction you had planned.

You prayed:

“God, fix this.”

And God's answer seemed to make things harder before they got better.

Sometimes our struggle isn't that God doesn't answer.

Sometimes our struggle is:

GOD ANSWERED DIFFERENTLY THAN I WANTED HIM TO.

That's where Habakkuk is today.

READ HABAKKUK 1:5–6

Habakkuk 1:5–11 ESV

5 “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. 6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. 8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. 9 They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. 10 At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. 11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!”

Habakkuk says:

“God, why aren't You doing anything?”

God says:

“I AM.”

Habakkuk says:

“God, I can't see You working.”

God says:

“That's because you're looking at too small a picture.”

And then God tells Habakkuk what He's doing.

And that's where the real problem begins.

1. GOD IS WORKING EVEN WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE IT

Verse 5:

“For I am doing a work in your days...”

I want you to notice the tense.

God doesn't say:

“I might do something.”

He doesn't say:

“Eventually I'll get around to it.”

He says:

“I AM DOING A WORK.”

Right now.

Present tense.

Habakkuk has interpreted God's silence as God's inactivity.

But God says:

“Habakkuk, while you've been praying...

I've been working.”

While Habakkuk was saying:

“Where are You?”

God was working.

While Habakkuk was saying:

“Why haven't You stepped in?”

God was working.

While Habakkuk was watching injustice and thinking heaven had gone silent...

God was working.

That doesn't mean Habakkuk could see it.

He couldn't.

And that's important.

God's activity is not limited to what you can presently see.

That is incredibly difficult for us.

Because we tend to measure God's activity by visible results.

If the circumstances changed:

“God is working!”

If the door opened:

“God is working!”

If the diagnosis improved:

“God is working!”

If the relationship was restored:

“God is working!”

But what about when you can't see anything?

Is God still working?

Yes.

Jesus said in John 5:

“My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

God never clocks out.

God never goes off duty.

God is never pacing heaven wondering what He's going to do next.

He is working.

LOOK AGAIN

Notice God's first word:

“Look...”

Habakkuk has already been looking.

That's part of his problem.

In verse 3 he said:

“Why do You make me see all this injustice?”

God essentially says:

“Habakkuk, you're looking...

but you're not seeing the whole picture.”

“Look again.”

And specifically:

“Look among the nations...”

Habakkuk's vision had become consumed with Judah.

His problems.

His nation.

His immediate circumstances.

God widens the lens.

“Habakkuk, I'm doing something bigger than what you can presently see.”

We do this too.

We become consumed with the immediate.

My family.

My circumstances.

My job.

My problem.

My diagnosis.

My disappointment.

And understandably so.

But sometimes God needs to remind us:

Your present circumstances are not the entire story.

There is a bigger story.

God is working across generations.

Across nations.

Across circumstances.

Across things we know about and things we don't.

And one of the limitations of being human is that we almost never have the whole picture.

We see loose threads.

God sees the finished picture.

We see the moment.

God sees the story.

We see today.

God sees eternity.

That's why faith requires humility.

We have to be willing to admit:

“There may be more happening than I can presently understand.”

2. GOD'S WORK MAY SURPRISE YOU

God tells Habakkuk:

“I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.”

What a statement.

In other words:

“Habakkuk, if I told you what I'm doing, you wouldn't believe Me.”

And then God tells him.

Verse 6:

“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans...”

The Babylonians.

And I can imagine Habakkuk saying:

“Excuse me?”

“The Babylonians?”

“Those Babylonians?”

This is not the answer Habakkuk wanted.

Babylon was ruthless.

Violent.

Powerful.

Arrogant.

God describes them that way Himself.

They sweep across nations.

They take what doesn't belong to them.

They are feared.

They make their own rules.

They glorify themselves.

They come intent on violence.

And verse 11 says:

“Their own might is their god.”

This is a wicked nation.

And God says:

“I'm raising them up.”

Now we need to be clear.

God isn't approving of Babylon's wickedness.

Chapter 2 will make that unmistakable.

God will judge Babylon too.

But God is sovereign enough to use even a wicked empire without becoming wicked Himself.

And that stretches Habakkuk's theology.

Because Habakkuk wanted justice.

But not like this.

SOMETIMES GOD'S ANSWER CREATES ANOTHER QUESTION

Have you noticed that?

You pray:

“God, show me what to do.”

Then He shows you.

Now you're praying:

“Are You sure?”

You pray:

“God, open a door.”

Then the door opens.

“But God, not that door.”

You pray:

“God, use me.”

Then He puts you in a difficult situation where you actually have to depend on Him.

“God, I meant use me comfortably.”

We often want God's will...

as long as God's will resembles our will.

We want God's answer...

provided God's answer matches the answer we already decided would be best.

Habakkuk wanted God to work.

But Habakkuk had expectations about how God should work.

And this is where faith gets tested.

Do I trust God only when His ways make sense to me?

3. OUR GREATEST DISAPPOINTMENTS WITH GOD OFTEN BEGIN WITH OUR EXPECTATIONS OF GOD

Some of our deepest spiritual disappointments are connected to sentences that begin:

“I thought God would...”

“I thought God would heal them.”

“I thought God would save this marriage.”

“I thought God would give me that opportunity.”

“I thought God would protect me from this.”

“I thought if I obeyed God, this would work out.”

“I thought if I prayed enough, things would change.”

“I thought God would answer differently.”

And sometimes the thing we're angry with God about isn't something God promised.

It's something we expected.

There's a difference between:

God's promises

and

my expectations.

God is always faithful to His promises.

He is not obligated to fulfill my expectations.

Isaiah 55 says:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”

And then:

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

We quote that verse.

Habakkuk lived it.

JOHN THE BAPTIST

We see something similar in Matthew 11.

John the Baptist had devoted his entire life to preparing the way for Jesus.

He preached about the coming Messiah.

He baptized Jesus.

He watched the Spirit descend upon Him.

And then John ends up in prison.

And Jesus doesn't rescue him.

Eventually John sends messengers asking:

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

That's remarkable.

John knew Jesus.

John had proclaimed Jesus.

But Jesus wasn't doing what John expected the Messiah to do.

Jesus responds by pointing to His works.

The blind see.

The lame walk.

The poor hear good news.

And then Jesus says:

“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

In other words:

Blessed is the person who continues trusting Me when I don't fit their expectations.

That's Habakkuk.

And sometimes that's us.

4. WHEN GOD'S WAYS CONFUSE YOU, GO BACK TO WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT GOD

Look at Habakkuk 1:12.

After hearing God's shocking answer, Habakkuk says:

“Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One?”

And then he calls God:

“my Rock.”

I love this.

Before Habakkuk asks another question...

he plants his feet.

He goes back to what he knows.

God, I don't understand Your plan.

But You are everlasting.

God, I don't understand Your method.

But You are holy.

God, I don't understand why Babylon.

But You are my God.

God, everything around me feels unstable.

But You are my Rock.

This is incredibly important.

Never build your theology primarily from your circumstances.

Circumstances change.

God doesn't.

Emotions change.

God doesn't.

Our understanding changes.

God doesn't.

So when circumstances make you question what you know about God...

start with what God has already revealed about Himself.

“MY GOD”

Notice how personal Habakkuk gets.

“My God.”

“My Holy One.”

“My Rock.”

His theology is becoming relational.

He doesn't merely say:

“God is eternal.”

He says:

“My God is eternal.”

Not merely:

“God is holy.”

“My Holy One.”

Not merely:

“God is dependable.”

“My Rock.”

Sometimes when life becomes difficult, you have to preach truth to yourself.

“My God is faithful.”

“My God is good.”

“My God is sovereign.”

“My God has not changed.”

“My God is still my Rock.”

That doesn't answer every question.

But it gives you somewhere solid to stand while asking them.

5. FAITH CAN HAVE QUESTIONS WITHOUT ABANDONING GOD

Habakkuk still has questions.

Verse 13:

“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?”

Habakkuk says:

“God, this still doesn't make sense.”

“You're holy.”

“Babylon is wicked.”

“So why would You use them?”

And notice:

Habakkuk's question comes after his confession of faith.

That's the pattern.

He plants his feet on the Rock...

then asks his question.

There is a difference between:

“God, I don't understand You, so I won't believe.”

and:

“God, I believe You, and that's why I'm trying to understand.”

Faith doesn't mean we never wrestle.

Faith determines where we wrestle from.

Habakkuk wrestles from a foundation:

“God, You are holy.”

“God, You are eternal.”

“God, You are my Rock.”

“I don't understand this...

but I'm not walking away.”

WE LIKE TO RANK SIN

Habakkuk's argument becomes:

“God, Judah is bad...

but Babylon is worse!”

Habakkuk 1:13 ESV

13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

Verse 13:

“Why are you silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?”

Notice:

more righteous.

Habakkuk is creating categories.

Bad guys.

Worse guys.

“God, couldn't You find somebody more respectable to use?”

But God is reminding Habakkuk that He is the Judge.

Not Habakkuk.

We do the same thing.

“God, I know I'm not perfect...

but I'm better than them.”

Dangerous prayer.

Because the gospel tells us:

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

That does not mean every sin has identical earthly consequences.

It does mean none of us stands before God because we're better than somebody else.

We stand by grace.

6. SURRENDER MEANS TRUSTING GOD WITH THE METHOD, NOT JUST THE OUTCOME

Habakkuk wants God to bring justice.

God says:

“I will.”

Habakkuk says:

“Not like that.”

That's where surrender becomes real.

We often pray:

“Your will be done.”

But deep down we mean:

“Your will be done...

using my method...

according to my schedule...

producing my desired outcome.”

Jesus taught us differently.

In Gethsemane:

“Not my will, but yours, be done.”

That's surrender.

It doesn't mean the situation isn't painful.

Jesus sweat drops like blood.

It doesn't mean you necessarily want what is coming.

Jesus prayed for the cup to pass.

Surrender means:

“Father, I trust Your wisdom more than mine.”

THE CROSS — GOD'S MOST UNEXPECTED ANSWER

And nowhere is this clearer than the cross.

Israel had waited for the Messiah.

They wanted deliverance.

They wanted victory.

They wanted the kingdom.

And God sent Jesus.

But then Jesus was arrested.

Beaten.

Mocked.

Crucified.

Imagine watching Jesus die on Friday without knowing what happens Sunday.

It would seem as though God's plan had completely failed.

Peter certainly didn't expect a crucified Messiah.

That's why when Jesus talked about going to the cross, Peter rebuked Him.

“This shall never happen to You!”

Peter had a plan for Jesus.

Jesus had a plan for Peter.

The cross looked like defeat.

It became victory.

The cross looked like weakness.

It became the power of God unto salvation.

The cross looked like God's plan had gone wrong.

It was God's plan unfolding.

Which teaches us:

God's strangest methods can accomplish God's greatest purposes.

7. WHEN YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, WAIT AND LISTEN

Habakkuk ends this section in 2:1:

“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me...”

I love the posture.

Habakkuk has spoken.

Now he's going to listen.

He has complained.

He has questioned.

He has argued.

Now:

“I'll wait.”

Picture a watchman on a city wall.

He's alert.

He's watching the horizon.

He doesn't know exactly when something is coming.

But he is positioned to see it when it does.

That's biblical waiting.

It isn't:

“I give up.”

It's:

“God, I'm going to keep watching for You.”

SOME OF US NEED TO STOP DEMANDING AND START LISTENING

Sometimes our prayer life becomes one long explanation to God of what He needs to do.

“God, here's the problem.”

“Here's the solution.”

“Here's the timing.”

“Here's the person You need to change.”

“Here's how You should fix it.”

And then:

“Amen.”

Habakkuk finally says:

“I've said my part.”

“Now I'll listen.”

Maybe there are moments when the most spiritual thing we can do is stop explaining the plan to God.

And say:

“Speak, Lord.”

WHAT DO WE DO WHEN GOD'S ANSWER ISN'T WHAT WE EXPECTED?

1. Remember that God is working even when you cannot see it.

Your inability to see God working is not proof that He isn't.

2. Release your expectations.

Don't confuse what you wanted with what God promised.

3. Anchor yourself in God's character.

He is eternal.

He is holy.

He is your Rock.

4. Keep bringing your questions from a place of faith.

Wrestle, but wrestle while standing on the Rock.

5. Surrender the method to God.

You are not wise enough to write the whole story.

Neither am I.

6. Wait and listen.

God isn't finished speaking.

CLOSING

There may be somebody here today saying:

“This isn't how I thought my life would look.”

Maybe you thought you'd be married by now.

Maybe you thought the marriage would be different.

Maybe you thought your kids would make different choices.

Maybe you thought you would be further ahead financially.

Maybe you thought the diagnosis would change.

Maybe you thought the door would open.

Maybe you thought God would answer differently.

And somewhere inside you is the question:

“God, what are You doing?”

Habakkuk reminds us:

You may not understand what God is doing.

But that doesn't mean God isn't working.

So here's the prayer:

“God, I release my expectations.”

“I trust Your character.”

“I trust Your wisdom.”

“I trust Your timing.”

“And even when Your answer isn't what I would have written...

You are still my God.”

FINAL TRUTH

Habakkuk says:

“God, do something.”

God says:

“I am.”

Habakkuk says:

“Not like that!”

And God begins teaching Habakkuk the lesson every disciple eventually has to learn:

GOD DOES NOT HAVE TO MEET MY EXPECTATIONS IN ORDER TO REMAIN FAITHFUL.

So when God's answer isn't the answer you wanted:

Don't abandon Him.

Don't assume He's made a mistake.

Don't let disappointment turn into unbelief.

Go back to what you know.

He is eternal.

He is holy.

He is your Rock.

And then take your place on the wall.

Watch.

Wait.

Listen.

Because God isn't finished yet.