Desperate Suffering
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever had a time in your life, when you were just desperate for God to answer, desperate for God to move, desperate for God to do something?
There’s been a couple of times I have felt like that...and honestly, they woke me up that suffering is a part of life...
I have shared this before, but my wife Jamie and I got married in 2007, and a few years into our marriage, wanted to have a family, so my wife got pregnant with our first, and at our 12 week check-up at the doctor’s office, they get out the machine to hear the heartbeat—and they struggle to find it, so they get out the ultrasound, and we found out that we were having a miscarriage. we were shocked!
but we learned through it, this is pretty normal. a lot of couples face this—and many people in our church family told us about their miscarriages.
and then we got pregnant again, at our 12 week check-up at the doctor’s office, they get out the machine to hear the heartbeat, and they struggle to find it, so they get out the ultrasound, and...same result—miscarriage #2.
and we remember being so heartbroken—asking tough questions—-why God? and how long? is there an end? are we going to be able to have children or not? desperate for answers from God. we had thought this pregnancy thing and having kid thing would be smooth...
similarly about 9 to 10 years ago, I remember my dad going to hospital, getting checked in for pneumonia, and I was concerned, but then the next day my mom calls in tears, saying Dad is really sick, and they are worried about sepsis and may have to make some tough medical decisions, so I drove over from Lima, Ohio to the hospital and spent the day with them. and I remember thinking “Why?” he was only 59-60 at the time. I used to think that was so old, but that’s young.
isn’t life supposed to go smoother than this?
and I remember being desperate for God to answer, desperate for God to move...
what’s your story of desperation—when you were desperate for God to move and answer?
some of you have way harder, situations, situations that don’t seem to end, and are just so challenging! you have your PH d in suffering it’s been so difficult.
maybe you are living it right now...
Thankfully, God gives us lots and lots of guidance, and this is where our series comes in today.
Please turn to the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament.
and if you need a sermon handout—now’s the time to raise your hand.
and if you are not sure where Habakkuk—it’s between Nahum and Zephaniah...ha.
it’s towards the end of the Old Testament—the 5th book from the end.
Habakkuk is all about wrestling with God, questioning God in times of suffering, how to handle really tough suffering.
Habakkuk chapter 1, beginning at verse1.
Let me read it.
1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
by the way—prophecy can mean “burden”
and look at what Habakkuk says:
2 How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
Let me give you some facts about Habakkuk to set the context:
Fact #1 - we do not know much about him! other prophets in the OT, we get all kinds of details, about their job or what kings they ministered under in Israel, but not Habakkuk.
but he is unique—because most prophets represent God and talk to man. “thus saith the Lord...”
but Habakkuk is talking to God, representing man.
Fact #2 - he probably ministered between 612 BC - 587 BC in Israel. so this is a long time ago—2500 plus years ago in the middle east in Israel. why do we think that?
if you look at verse 6—it mentions that God is raising up the Babylonians.
it is hard for us today living in America, to wrap our brains around what was going on.
if you look at the map—Israel, God’s Chosen people in the OT, at one time, was a global superpower—under King David and King Solomon, but then quickly declined because they turned away from God. and God allowed others to reign.
so in this first map—Assyria—Assyria was the dominant empire ruling the world. And they were ruthless. Jonah the prophet was called to go there but didn’t want to, so he went the opposite way and got swallowed by a fish. but I can understand why—because the Assyrians were known for coming in—for hanging dead bodies, or skinning people and hanging their skins on city walls. It was barbaric. (read 2 Kings 17)
Israel—the northern kingdom had been taken captive about 100 years prior.
but vs. 6 gives us a clue—there is a new oppressor, a new empire in town—the Babylonians. We read about them in books like Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah.
and we know in 612 BC according to history—-Babylon defeated the Assyrian Empire. and we also know in 587 BC, God would use the Babylonians to come in and take captive the southern kingdom of Israel.
so Habakkuk was in that time period just prior to Babylon coming in. which takes me to point #3
Fact #3 - He ministered during a difficult time.
vs. 1 - the prophecy is a burden.
(look in your Bible)
Habakkuk uses the questions - How long? (vs. 2)
vs. 3 - why...why do you make me look at injustice? why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
vs. 4- the law, the OT law that God gave Moses is not being followed.
what is going on?
it would be tempting to read this and think Habakkuk is talking about the nations around him.
but no—he is talking about his people, the southern kingdom of Israel—Judah—the people of God. they are not following God. the leaders are tolerating injustice. the wicked are thriving! vs. 4—they are not following God’s law. this bothers Habakkuk-it’s a burden! vs. 2 there is violence… (it’s the Hebrew word “hamas). He is not pointing the finger out at the world or culture—but God’s own people.
so Habakkuk is a man crying out to God—concerned with God’s Word among God’s people, God’s justice among God’s people,
and the fact that God doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it!
so what do we do in desperate times of suffering? there is no linear answer—but some pieces that come together. think of it like pieces of a puzzle rather than steps.
Piece #1: Cry out to God...(vs. 2-4)
this is part of the reason I love this book—because this book is a dialogue, a conversation between Habakkuk crying out to God, and God answers in vs. 5-11), and then He cries out to God in vs. 12—and God answers in chapter 2:2.
so cry out to God—honestly, openly, raw-ly.
sometimes we think our prayers have to be polished or maybe perfect or religiousy sounding—but God can handle the passion here.
in fact, all through the book of Psalms—God handles it.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
even in the book of Revelation, in heaven, this question is asked.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
i mean if you are here asking God “how long” and “why?” you are in good company on earth and in heaven. God encourages it and is unphased by this.
I think as Christians we are uncomfortable with certain emotions—uncomfortable with doubts “I am supposed to have all the answers and have it all together.” No, you are not.
you and I desperately need God and to wrestle with God and our uncomfortable emotions.
Think of some normal things we do with these uncomfortable emotions:
e. some of us love to stuff it—just shove the emotions down. and hope they go away—but they never do and can come back in very troubling ways when we snap one day.
and related to that as Christians we think we should grit our teeth and hunker down and let’s just muscle through it.
sometimes as part of this we deny it and over-spiritualize— “how are you brother..” “Oh the Lord is good, brother...” which is true, but on the inside we are really struggling—it’s ok to express it to God.
f. another thing that is encouraged is just to express them—get them out there. I know one cultural way that this is expressed-this came out in 2009 was the invention of rage rooms. where some companies have it that you can rent a room filled with all kinds of objects, TVS, glass, jars, and just smash stuff with a hammer or sledge hammer. I am sure that is pretty fun; it’s also debated how much it helps you psychologically… but if all of us lived our life like in a rage room— “let’s just let the world have my emotions...” I don’t think any of would survive.
g. but the key here is not to stuff them or ignore them—but to bring them up—not in a rage room—but to God, asking all the hard and difficult questions.
we don’t do it saying “I won’t believe in a God who… ________________.” that’s not the way...but we do it—remembering who God is. we see here based on Habakkuk’s prayer that God loves the law; He is a God of justice.
what are you avoiding at bringing up to God? maybe you feel like it’s offensive or unholy. I don’t want anyone to dishonor or be rude to God, but if we do come to God with our raw emotions—I think He can handle it and really transform any of those.
I would rather our kids approach us with their raw emotions and express them rather than not. and as a parent, I can always talk with them about how to do it.
I will give you a chance to do this in just a minute...
but have you created space to do this with God?
You can even use vs. 2-4 as your template… “How long.… why?”
Piece #2: related closely to #1 and I almost put it as #1—but I want you to go to God first.
Piece #2: Discern what type of suffering you are experiencing. analyze it, discern it. what is really going?
because not all suffering is the same...
Think of some types of suffering we can experience that are found in the Bible:
one writer says there is at least 4 categories:
Category #1: suffering for sinful choices (Jonah) (we are suffering because of a bad or sinful choice we made)
think in Scripture of a character like Jonah. God called him to go to Nineveh...he did the opposite, and he suffered the consequences—swallowed and humbled by a big fish. and then he was angry that God would spare the wicked Ninevites.
sometimes our suffering is because we have made a really bad choice in life—and we have to face the consequences. it doesn’t mean God won’t forgive us—He does! Romans 8:1—there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus—so even as believers, when we sin, Jesus has already paid for that sin—praise God! However, as believers, those consequences in our life—can be used by God to shape us, discipline us, for our good to make us more like Jesus.
so this is one kind of suffering....and it will entail things like repentance, turning the other way.
suffering persecution as followers of Jesus (Jeremiah)
one of Habakkuk’s contemporaries was Jeremiah—and he was thrown in prison for being faithful to God; he was even thrown into an old, muddy, well, and it says his feet sank in the mud.
this kind of suffering is foreign to us—but many of our brothers and sisters around the world are facing that.
someone going through this suffering will be different than the first. and it’s not about repentance so much but about trusting God and forgiving and loving our enemies. b/c they are not the real enemy. Jesus said love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (that’s what Jesus did for us)
suffering loss (John 11)
this is when you lose something or especially someone close to you to death. all of us will wrestle with this. just look at John 11—Mary and Martha lost their dear brother Lazarus and were grieving.
and not all deaths are the same—they are painful—but if you lose someone young vs. someone who is 99—the funerals feel very different.
this kind of suffering is different too than the first too I mentioned. you really have to go through the stages of grief, and cling to hope in God through it. grieving honestly yet clinging to God for hope.
Kim Baer is currently leading a group called Griefshare that deals with this.
mysterious suffering.… (Job and Ecclesiastes)
it’s often the kind of very painful suffering that just comes out of nowhere.
maybe it is because we live in a fallen world—and nothing is right—so things like the flooding in Nepal that just washed away villages and thousands of people. (it’s horrible to see those pictures)
or I remember the devastating earthquake in the country of Haiti back in 2010, that killed over 220,000 people.
maybe it is like Job—he never knew why he suffered—we do....but it was very mysterious why God would allow Satan to bring so much pain on him. so this category may overlap with the others....
when believers go through this—we are knocked off our feet—and it just doesn’t make sense.
and the biggest thing we fight is not just grief or sadness, or resentment towards others, but anger towards God and life itself.
when I look at Habakkuk and his time—I would put him in category #4. this is the part that feels mysterious, unlooked for, and quite frankly horrendous.
he has suffering for his people—violence everywhere, full of injustice, the wicked are prospering...so God how long will you do this? why?
today, there are places just like that—and maybe we feel that way about our own situation or nation.
but also personally...we can feel this...
maybe it is the sudden death of a loved one...didn’t see it coming.
maybe it is the sudden diagnosis of a terminal disease or cancer—doesn’t make any sense
maybe it is a catastrophic natural disaster that just wipes out an area.
maybe it’s even a sudden job loss or change “I thought I would be there forever...and AI caused downsizing.”
maybe it’s a relational betrayal—didn’t expect that.
so before I keep going, I actually want to pause—and put this into practice.
Look at steps 1 and 2—I want to give you a moment to identify the suffering or it maybe multiple sufferings...and begin to cry out to God with raw honesty.
cry out to God
what is the next piece in this suffering journey...
this isn’t linear...
but look at verses 5-11. this is God talking....
5 “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people (a decision made quickly or rashly without thought or care for consequences)), who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9 they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand.
10 They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”
what is Piece #3
Know that God answers in surprising ways.
Know that God sees and answers, but His answer might be surprising, (unexpected, different than we want).
this is not the answer Habakkuk wanted.
if he could have gotten the answer he wanted—it might have been, “God see the righteous ones. rescue them. punish or take out the evil ones with your justice so Israel can flourish again.”
instead, God says, I am raising up the entire Babylonian empire, to come in and bring my justice to my people.
and to get that point across—God uses 20 descriptions to describe Babylon....
vs. 6 - they are ruthless
vs. 7 - they are a law to themselves. “You think Israel forsakes the law Babylon does)
vs. 8—the imagery of leopards, wolves, and eagles—Babylon is like a predator.
vs. 9 - violence
vs. 11— God admits—these people have a god—it’s their own power and might.
of course this is not the answer Habakkuk wants...
“our national enemy, the worst empire, is going to come in and destroy us and deal with all the violence and lawlessness and injustice you see among your people.”
IT would be like here in America if Iran or North Korea invaded us and destroyed us.
certainly sometimes God does answer how we want; that person is healed; God provides a job; God heals a relationship that needs mended. we get the job...
but sometimes it takes longer or it’s not quite the answer or way we would do it.
God has a way of doing this...of not meeting our expectations all through Scripture.
He told the Apostle Paul who had a mysterious thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, and Paul prayed 3x for God to remove it, and God said, “My power is made perfect in weakness...” Paul, God is going to use this situation in your life to help you depend on Him more.
so God does have a pattern of this. and certainly this will lead to more questions which we will address next week—like what do we do when God doesn’t give us the answer we want! because some of you are facing that right now...
but it is a reminder of this:
—God does answer us—God does see and hear, and even answers us—but it’s not always the answer we want.
but there are some encouraging parts—God at least answers; He recognizes and agrees with Habakkuk about the problem—God is just going to deal with it differently. “My ways are not always your ways, God says”
in vs. vs. 3- Habakkuk says “why do you make me look”
vs. 5- God says “let me tell you where to look...” look at me and what I am doing, even if it is not what you want.
in other words, look to God, even if we don’t understand yet.
now, I know this is very tough; it doesn’t solve Habakkuk’s situation or yours—but God invites us to look. “Look at what I am doing...even if you don’t understand.” “I am inviting you into this.”
and God even uses the imagery of poetry...the way this is written, is poetic...so God has Habakkuk write it down in some form of Hebrew poetry to remind us that he is not wrathful about this, but in poetic form—he takes the time to have it in poetry— like a lover who has been scorned by us. He wants to bring us back, so he writes down in poetry about the Babylonians
think of your own life for a second— “Has God ever given you an answer to a prayer—and you didn’t want that answer?”
maybe He is doing that right now?
Could today be a reminder that God is up to something...He will deal with it—just His way and in His timing.
I will admit—this is hard to hear when in suffering.
Piece 4: (I won’t get into much today...) but trust that God still is in control.
which is so hard.
but look at verse 6—the Babylonians are not in control.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.
He is...and we will talk more in the following weeks about God’s sovereignty amidst suffering.
one of the bad things of this is why would God allow this...
one of the good things that despite Babylon’s taking over—they aren’t in control. They go only as far as God says.
I want to end today by talking about Jesus Christ.
because one of the best things I have learned in studying the Bible is this:
Understanding Scripture:
we read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament.
Jesus is the key to interpreting the whole Bible
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
on screen, as I think about these points in relation to Jesus, consider this:
did Jesus ever cry out to God?
oh yes...Hebrews 5:7
7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
and we hear him cry out especially before he goes to the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane...
and even on the cross “My God My God why have you forsaken me.”
2. what kinds of suffering did Jesus experience...
he didn’t experience suffering for sin...but he was sinned against
but he did experience persecution—as his own people, the religious leaders had him crucified.
he experienced loss—as his friend Lazarus died—and even though Jesus would raise him from the dead—he wept in pain.
and he experienced the mystery of suffering—not that it was mysterious to Jesus—but He faced just the massive weight of suffering—especially spiritually—b/c when He was on the cross, he was bearing our spiritual weight and punishment of all human beings everywhere. it was hell on earth.
3. and did Jesus ever get answers that He didn’t necessarily want? in his humanity, I would say “yes.” because he asked the Father, If is it possible, take this cup from me (the cup of suffering), but not my will but yours be done.
4. was God in control, even of the cross?
23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Habakkuk could not look and see all this about Jesus. we can!
the biggest point is this—keep looking to Jesus...
let’s pray.
