Challenged by Disbelief

Habakkuk 1:12 CSB

Are you not from eternity, Lord my God? My Holy One, you will not die. Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment; my Rock, you destined them to punish us.

INTRO—

Challenges…not everybody likes them! BUT…we all need them.

Faith Challenged...

James 1:2–3 CSB

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

[A faith challenged is a faith examined & proved.] (Ok, now sign me up for the proven faith!)

…by Dismay. (Oh, wait…)

“How long?”

Psalm 13:1–6 CSB

1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me? 3 Consider me and answer, Lord my God. Restore brightness to my eyes; otherwise, I will sleep in death. 4 My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,” and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in your deliverance. 6 I will sing to the Lord because he has treated me generously.

… God’s answer—I am already doing—opens a new challenge to Habakkuk...

[HABAKKUK 1.12-2.1] Prophet: DISBELIEF!

“So why?” (or… ‘Say what?’ : ‘or What’chu talkin’ bout, Willis?’)

Habakkuk 1:13 CSB

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are you silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?

…iniquity…injustice…idolatry (Hab. 1.13-17)

And yet...

Habakkuk testifies to the truth about God!

GOD IS… Eternal, Holy, Judge, a Rock, Sovereign, Pure. (Hab. 1.12-13)

Habakkuk, like all of us, is a work in progress!

------[HABAKKUK 2.1] …& even amid his questions, Habakkuk will wait on and watch for God (to answer).------

[HABAKKUK 2.2-5] God: TRUST ME.

“The righteous one will live by his faith” (Hab. 2.4)

Write this down.

God knows all about the iniquities of the Babylonians, too (even contrasting them against the righteous standard of The Law [namely, Ten Commandments]… ‘tablets’).

God has a plan to ultimately judge the sin of Babylon/Nebuchadnezzar, too.

That last part of Habakkuk 2.4 is not an afterthought. One, possibly two, NT writer(s) was/were significantly impacted by the truth—The Just Shall Live by Faith...

Romans 1:17 CSB

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

Galatians 3:11 CSB

Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.

Since this is not an afterthought—either NT-ly or OT-ly—what should this look like in our lives?

Pandemic faithfulness…Personal faithfulness…all the stuff we talk about (or often do not talk about) regularly.

Hebrews 10:37–38 CSB

For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him.

CONCL—

To trust God in the midst of his patient delay(s)...

We find frustrating in relation to the inequities (unrighteousness) around us, BUT...

We describe as a blessing when directed our way, understanding...

Romans 2:4 CSB

Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

We must be found faithful…when others claiming Christ (Evangelical, SBC, etc) aren’t & won’t…when those with no claim to acknowledge or honor God seem to be gaining the favored hand…when we simply don‘t know what else to do…WE MUST BE FOUND FAITHFUL.

Habakkuk 2:5 CSB

Moreover, wine betrays; an arrogant man is never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself; he collects all the peoples for himself.