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I’ve read these verses a hundred times before I realized what total devastation is being described. The entire economy of the nation Israel was dependent on agriculture. We are blessed today to be diverse in our economy and global in our accessibility of the staples of life. Not so the readers of Habakkuk.
We are a generation of the entitled. We naturally expect that if we are uncomfortable, someone is to blame and someone better fix it. If our marriage is unfulfilling we seek other partners; if our church isn’t entertaining enough, or doesn’t make me feel happy, I’ll go elsewhere; If you talk about sin, or point out my failings you are judgmental and I’m going to unfriend you.
We tend to make the same expectations of God. But the testimony of Habakkuk, Job, David, James, Peter and many others in scripture (including Jesus himself!) sends a message loud and clear to those of us who claim to love God and believe in his sovereignty.
The rest of the world can fall apart around me. My relationships my fail me. My job may not pay enough to meet my needs. I may not like the music at my church. My health my be faltering. I may be ashamed of my _____________ (fill this one in yourself). Yet, although I may not understand; although I may struggle to believe; although I may not see the evidence, YET I put my trust in you O God because I know, ultimately your way is best.
I love the infomercials that try to lure you with the ‘hidden deal’. “You think this is good? Wait until you see what is behind door number 2!”
I’m guessing this must work often enough to make it worth their while because they (whoever ‘they’ are) have been luring us for years.
Our human mind is unbelievably conscious of the sensual. We are sensual beings. Our lives are built on what we can see, what we can touch, what we can smell or hear or feel. Anything that goes beyond this is considered out of the ordinary.
This is yet another amazing dichotomy of Christianity. Our faith isn’t built on the sensory. We believe in a God we can not see, yet who reveals himself in a multitude of very real ways. We put our hope in a world we can not see and never ends. The concept of eternity boggles my mind!
When we focus on our senses, we are limited. When we put all our hope in the here and now, it gets discouraging. Paul writes in Colossians to never forget we are merely temporary sojourners in a foreign land. Homeless immigrants longing for the homeland, and what a homeland that must be.
Take a few moments and invite your mind to imagine what the world would be like if you could speak anything into existence. You got rid of prejudice. You destroyed every disease known to man. You made all food health food. You destroyed greed of every kind. Keep going. Let your mind go wild! Then realize that your wildest imagination doesn’t come close to what God has in store for you in eternity.
I can’t wait. While here, I’ll tell his story, but my heart is home with him. Thank you Jesus.
We live in a fast-paced world in which social media, the internet and rapidly changing cultural values are placed front row, and center in our lives. It seems like everything that those in my baby boomer generation counted as stable is falling away. Some of that, to be honest, is a good thing. I’m beginning to realize the ‘simple life’ I grew up in was often a cover-up for an undercurrent of things that never should have happened.
The trade off, however isn’t always positive. With all the ‘advancements’ our society has made, one thing that seems to have been left behind is hope. HOPE. Such a simple word, yet so complex. Wars have been fought in the name of hope; lives have been destroyed in the search for hope.
Hope is elusive on the human plane. We seek it in relationships. We seek it through political and social action. We seek it, or at least try to escape it’s evil twin– hopelessness — through chemicals. We may even try it through religion. But none of that really satisfies. People fail. Government fails. Gaining rights for one group rapes other groups of their ‘rights’. Religion only offers surface comfort for the pain.
There is only one thing that offers total hope and that is Jesus. He’s not about rules and religion. He has no expectations for you to measure up to who he is. When we place our focus on who he is, and what he has done; when we realize the hopelessness of this world is temporary and a better world awaits us; when we realize the pain we suffer now is nothing compared to the joy we have in him, we also find that elusive thing we’ve sought for: HOPE.
Wisdom isn’t dependent on your level of knowledge. Wisdom is using the knowledge you have to its fullest extent.
I have a friend who is my example of the American Dream. He’s well in his 70’s now, owner of over 50 banks, 5 corporations, and his worth is in the billions. One time he said to me, rather sheepishly, “I don’t really know how much money I have, but God has given it to me to bless others.”
The amazing thing to me, and the lesson I’m hoping to learn is that he didn’t operate on tons of knowledge to get him where he is today. He relied on hard work, wisdom and vision. His story starts out as a young man who cut wood and sold it to make a living. But he saw possibilities in what he did know, was wise in pursuing his vision, and along the way picked up the knowledge he needs today to manage his business empire.
What books haven’t you written? What calls need to be made? What is it that you haven’t pursued? (Yes, I have my list!) We serve the God of all wisdom. Seek him to guide you.
Wisdom isn’t dependent on your level of knowledge. Wisdom is using the knowledge you have to its fullest extent!
A lazy person is the professional victim of circumstance. Whether those circumstances were forced upon them or self-inflicted makes no difference. Rather than rising up from whatever lot life has drawn for them, they wallow is self-pity in the land of ‘if onlys’. Each setback becomes an insurmountable obstacle, not for lack of ability but because of lack of desire. Those who live in integrity see obstacles as stepping stones to success. Life is full of opportunities not obstacles because they know they live according to God’s power working through them. They become victors.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 