Being Thankful Beyond What We Can See

Habakkuk 1:12-17

As we close out this Thanksgiving week, I would like to touch on something that the Lord laid on my heart about being thankful. You have heard and said, all week what we are thankful for, this has gone on for years during this holiday.

I guess I think a little different or maybe I am crazy man, not sure, but I always think about what we say we are thankful for and compare it to some that do not have the things I have.

I have a wonderful family! There are some people that are all alone.

There are many things that I can declare that I am thankful for, yet there are some that do not have those things that we continually say we are thankful for.

You might say that some of those folks brought that life upon themselves, yes possibly, but some have not done anything, yet they have nothing of the flesh to be thankful for.

I am not saying this for us to feel guilty, quite the contrary, the heart of the thought is how can we get folks to see past the fleshly and see the true glory that will be revealed in all that believe in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior?

Scripture tells us where our true faith should go..... 2 Corinthians 4:18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (We will come back to this)

Let’s start with Habakkuk 1............Habakkuk had a dilemma within him, the Israelites were sinning to their hearts content, God chosen people making a mockery of a Holy God and nothing was being done to them.

Why was this allowed to continue?

Then the Lord used the Chaldeans (Babylon) to execute judgement on the Israelites.

Punishment would happen, but it is on God’s time.

This leads to the 2nd dilemma Habakkuk had, why does God allow the Chaldeans to continue to prosper as they continue to not believe in God?

At the end of verse 13, the 2nd question arises..... “why do you look upon those that deal treacherously and hold your tongue when the wicked devours the man more righteous than them?”

Why are you letting wicked people triumph over your people?

Habakkuk has gotten into a place most of us get into! In preparing for this, I though about some of the evil that is going on today. There is a lot of that right up under our noses! Politicians pushing abortion like it some righteous thing, telling us that it is in cases of rape or the mother’s health, but they continue to try and push to allow the babies to be aborted after they are born, and yet these people still get to have a say in our government. It is truly sad and I feel the way Habakkuk felt.

You ask why?

Have you ever been in a situation and wonder why? You might not of asked God, “what are you doing?”, but maybe you wondered about the purpose of it all?

Some of those that don’t have a lot to be thankful for, might have asked “Why?”

Habakkuk said in chapter 2 verse 1 that he was going to wait for the Lord’s answer and the Lord gave to Habakkuk what He was going to do with the Chaldeans.

However, I want to go back to chapter 1 verses 12-13, in which I believe we find our answer to all things.

These 2 verses turn the question marks to exclamation points!

Habakkuk asked God if He was these things, but he already knew God was everything!

How can I see past my situation? It is like figuring out a problem, you have to go back to what you know in order to complete the problem!

I will use a childish analogy, but it works for me…Ha, Ha, Ha.......I shot a deer in the woods several years ago, he ran. I found blood and began to trail that blood, until I didn’t see anymore, I was just wondering around not seeing anything. So, I went back to where I last saw blood, I went back to what I knew and eventually picked up another trail and found the deer.

We must go back to what we know!!!! Go back to what is our foundation, get our footing!

God is Everlasting, He is not a created being, He is self existence, and has given that to those who believe in His Son Jesus, we shall not die!

God is Holy, He is always right, He is never wrong

God is Mighty, nothing can overpower Him, nothing will win against God

God is the Judge, He will not allow this evil world to continue, He will make it right!

God is Pure, He cannot look upon iniquity!

All of these, Habakkuk used to question why God was allowing these people to prosper! I believe we can use these declarations of Habakkuk, to answer our “whys”!

We must go back to what we know, we must trust what we know!

It would be so easy to get confused by our surroundings, many people have! They have listened to voices and ended their own lives because of what they saw, instead of what they knew!

Listen to Paul about this very thing........ 2 Timothy 1:12 “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

Matter of fact, let’s go to Romans 1 and listen to Paul talking about folks that reject God and we will go back and listen to what he says about Jesus! Romans 1:16-21........

We will work back to verse 16, but Paul is speaking of the wrath revealed to all those that reject the Grace of Jesus Christ!

He states what is to be known about God is evident in creation, so much so, that if you reject what is presented by creation about God, you will be without excuse.

It is undeniable!

In verse 21, he says because when they knew God......they know but reject Him, because He is undeniable, when they knew Him, they didn’t glorify Him, nor were they thankful.

In God’s very existence, we should be thankful! Going back to what we know about Him as Habakkuk spoke of, we all should be thankful!! Matter of fact we all should be prostrate right now, because of God!

Knowing those attributes of God that Habakkuk spoke of, makes me so thankful of His Grace through Jesus Christ!

The very thought that God cannot look upon iniquity, because He is so pure, and yet I am still here and not only that He is allowed me into His family, through His Son’s life, death, and resurrection; that thought alone is breathtaking! So much so, it should cause a thankfulness beyond what we see!

Because they rejected what was undeniable, their thoughts were in vain and their hearts had no revelation within them.

Ok, let’s go back to what Paul knew and took confidence in........Verse 16.......He was not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in this Gospel is the Power of God, Paul believed beyond what he saw!

I am sure there were times, where Paul could of asked why? Sometimes, there is no answer as to why. God knows and if God knows then that is good enough for me! Let’s just go back to what we know!!!

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul had a thorn in the flesh that tormented him so much that he prayed 3 times for it to be removed. This thorn was given to him because he had went to or had a vision of Heaven, so that he would not be exalted beyond what he was called to do.

The answer to his prayer was from Jesus: 2 Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

He had to live with this thorn and with the knowledge that the power of Christ, he was glad to carry this thorn in the flesh, matter of fact Paul rejoiced in his infirmity.

He was thankful that the power of Christ, rested upon Him! Everything about God is revealed in Jesus Christ, also the Grace of God. Knowing what Paul knew about God and at this point what he knew about Jesus Christ, the thorn took a back seat to the Grace that is through Jesus Christ!

Let’s just say in our life (and this could be you right now) we go through a tough circumstance or multiple circumstance, what is our answer? We just don’t know why???

I had a young lady come to me a few years ago and was troubled about it all! She said that she had turned everything over to the Lord and was living for Him, giving to folks and the church. She was on fire for doing, but nothing in her life was getting better and she was troubled, might even say tormented by this!

This is why I despise the prosperity message so much: 1.) It is a false message, that teaches a false hope. 2.) It puts people in torment, when things do not go like they were told it was supposed to go. Then those are told it is there fault because they do not have enough faith.

I despise that teaching!

Anyway, this young lady was tormented by things not working out down here, she wasn’t believing in what is not seen, she was having faith in the temporary, maybe even being more thankful for the temporary than the eternal!

We must go back to what we know to be true, what we believe! If I believe that God is none of what Scripture says or even if I try to redefine God into what I feel like He is, then I certainly would be tormented!

2 Corinthians 4:5-18...........What Paul wrote here, pretty much speaks for itself. The whole of the matter, there were some that questioned Paul’s authenticity, thinking that he preached for his own benefit.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth, Paul’s life was threatened every day because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is not about us, this is about Jesus Christ, the Light shining in darkness!! Paul will go on to explain that counting on the temporary is darkness!

True Reality lies in what is not seen!

He uses 4 things that seem to cripple people in the flesh, but he uses them to show that those weaknesses did not cripple him but strengthened him.

I know some folks hate this message, but this is the Power of the Gospel, this is the truth that we convey whether we have or have not!

That way those that do not have the things we are thankful for, can truly be thankful! Or....when the things we are thankful for now are removed from us, we can be truly thankful for God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!

The Godhead revealed by Jesus Christ, the only True sustaining Power!

We go back to Habakkuk and list what we know about God, what we believe is true!

God is Everlasting, He is not a created being, He is self existence, and has given that to those who believe in His Son Jesus, we shall not die!

God is Holy, He is always right, He is never wrong

God is Mighty, nothing can overpower Him, nothing will win against God

God is the Judge, He will not allow this evil world to continue, He will make it right!

God is Pure, He cannot look upon iniquity!

Now, look in verse 13 and continuing......Paul believes and has spoken because of what He knows

All things are for our sakes, so that the grace that is through Jesus Christ, that is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the Glory of God!

That is where the truth is!

Because of this truth, do not lose heart when things don’t seem to be working out in your life!

A preacher told it to me this way: If it is something you have done to put yourself in that problem, turn away from what you have done in Godly sorrow and look to Jesus, if it you have done nothing to cause it turn anyway unto the Grace of God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus Christ there is refuge, in trouble!

Politicians can continue to be corrupt and lie, even if they continue to prosper and nothing is done, one thing is certain, God has always been, He is self existent, He is never wrong, He is mightier than anything, He is the judge, and nothing that is corrupt will ever into His presence!

Whatever it is it will be handled!

Because of this, we do not faint, we do not lose heart because we see the outward man perishing, though we see all the wrongs in our lives or in the world around us!

Because the inward man, what really matters is being renewed everyday!

Paul uses the word light in describing all our afflictions..... “the burden of earthly afflictions is light as a feather and does not last but a brief moment, in comparison to the eternal weight of Glory”

Though it seems the devils is getting ahead, he is really falling behind! If we trust in the temporary then we are falling behind with him.

We do not fix our attention to what will wither and die, we set our lives on what is eternal!

There is only One eternal One, that is God and He has given us a Way to the family of eternality and that is through the Person and Complete Work of Jesus Christ!

Lastly, Philippians 4:10-13...........Paul thanks the Philippians for caring for him.......but uses this to teach....he states that he wasn’t calling out for help, but they helped anyway.

Then he states that he has learned to be content in whatever state that he was in.

Whether he had plenty or was lacking, he knew how to live in either situation

Everywhere and in all things......I have passed through all these states; I know how to conduct myself in each, and how to extract good from all.

It was not a habit which he had acquired by frequent exercise, it was a nature which he had by grace; and he was enabled to do all by the power of an indwelling Christ!

This does not have anything to do with scoring a touchdown or achieving great success in this life, but it has everything to do with the sustaining power of God through Jesus Christ, in every situation of our lives, whether good or bad!

In this truth we can be thankful! If we get into a circumstance that seems more than we can bare, just go back to what we know about God and if we trust Him, we should be reassured in the Power of God through Jesus Christ, that I can go through all things through Christ, because I am weak but He is strong!