Even If - Habakkuk 3:17-19

Event: Women’s Ministry 5th Anniversary

Purpose: Bring them together to Christ, and that they may see each other as part of family, a family that cherishes one another. They might see past beyond their differences. Their differences and unique characters is their strength.

Audience : Women’s of GCCC, struggling and growing in the faith, some are not mature yet, some are aloof.

Introduction:

Background:

Hope and Trust in God in the middle of trouble - is the theme of this passage.

They are living in dark days because of the invading nations that conquered them brought by God as part of God’s discipline for them.

Fig tree does not bud

No grapes on the vines

olive crops fail

no sheep in the pen

no cattles in the stalls

Lack of supply

Lack of food

For the faithless, this situations can be a caused for discouragement and of turning away from God. For the faithful in God, it is the opposite.

They don’t need to feel good to start trusting in God. In fact, the absence of everything good in their lives allowed them to see that their hope in life is God.

Hope and Trust in God is the theme of this passage.

Relevance for today:

You are now celebrating your 5th Anniversary. You know that this ministry is not problem-free, it is not all rainbows and butterflies - there were dark days, there were troubled days…but the Lord and His steadfast love and grace preserved you and He will continue to do so! Praise God for that!

Know that God is not yet done with the work that He started in your life - individually and as a spiritual family.

I believe that the passage we have read today is full of lessons that we can take and apply so that individually and as a group (Women’s Ministry) you will be grounded in love, so you will grow strong, mature, and caring to one another, until the Lord comes again.

I want to share 6 principles for the growth of Women’s Ministry - EVEN IF

E - express you grief and sorrow to God.

There are times when all of us wonder why God does, or allows, certain things. He invites us to bring such questions to him, but to listen as well as to speak.

Habakkuk 1:2 NASB95

2 How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save.

Let’s face it: we don’t always find God’s ways easy to understand. Why he does certain things, but doesn’t do other things, is often hard to grasp. And this has sometimes led people to question his ways, or even to doubt his existence.

God is big enough to cope with these sorts of questions, however; but the challenge to us is, are we big enough to listen to his answers?

V - View every crisis as an opportunity to grow in humility and dependence on God

Whether we like it or not, believers go through different crisis in life -either because of our actions and inactions.

Spiritual Crisis - situations where you doubt your faith - presence of sin, no desire for God’s word, no desire in joining fellowship.

Relational Crisis - believers quarreling, misunderstanding, presence of pride,

Health Crisis - deteriorating health..

What does this crisis do to believers?

It forces us to see our own limitations and it allows us to see our need for God’s help - it brings us to our knees and to have a heart of humility.

Crisis also allows us to see our inability to solve everything and so it points us to the one who can solve everything - God!

E - Express your trust in God - the Sovereign Lord is my strength (v.18)

Habakkuk 3:18 NASB95

18 Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

N - Never let the difficult situation muddy the clear water of God’s love (v.18)

Habakkuk 3:18 NASB95

18 Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

You can still be joyful in the loving arms of your Savior Jesus Christ. For your life is his hands, your salvation is secure, your future is already taken care of.

I - Inspire and encourage others to seek and Praise God even in their times of troubles. (v.18)

Habakkuk 3:18 NASB95

18 Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

Don’t just rejoice on your own! Share that joy! Share that peace that you have!

Our trials is not just for our own growth maturity. When you are strengthened, you can strengthen others.

Luke 22:31–32 NIV

31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

F- Focus on God again (v.19)

Habakkuk 3:19 (NASB95)

19 The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.

When we are depressed, we tend to focus on ourselves and on our strengths. The Bible encourages us to focus on God and see his greatness once again.

Habakkuk chooses to rejoice and trust God in spite of his circumstances, and that decision shapes his new perspective: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places” (Hab 3:18–19). Like Habakkuk, we are called to come before God in humility, waiting in faith on His timing and trusting in His goodness.

In closing, the Women’s Ministry is God’s gift to you - this is His means of strengthening your faith and it is where you practice the - “LOVE ONE ANOTHER COMMAND”.

This ministry is like a backbone that supports the body.

This is where the expressing of grief, expressing of trust, the focusing on God, the inspiring each other happens…so that everyone can grow in the faith....EVEN IF...

Let us pray.