The Bible makes some compelling statements about our inability to understand God. For example, consider Job, whose story is recorded in the book of Job. In the first chapter of Job we learn that Job was a righteous man who was richly blessed. He was wealthy and in good health. He had a large family consisting of ten children. He feared God.
But inexplicably,Job loses all of his wealth. His oxen and donkeys are stolen. His sheep are consumed by fire. His servants are put to the sword. A mighty wind causes his eldest son’s house to collapse, killing all ten of his children inside. He is afflicted with a miserable illness that leaves him hanging onto life by a thread. Job’s fellow townspeople throw him out of the city. His own wife encourages him to curse God. His closest friends tell him that he is basically as good as dead.
Job inspired Daniel Powter’s hit song, "Bad Day"! In the story of Job, everyone around Job thinks they have all the answers. But as the story unfolds their wisdom is confounded. God proves mysterious and illusive. In Job 36:26 (NIV) Job says, "How great is God—beyond our understanding!" In Job 37:5 (NIV) he says, "God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding." At the end of the story in Job 42:3 (NIV) Job confesses, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know."
Throughout the Bible, thescriptures explain that God's ways are beyond our understanding.
God’s ways transcend our limited understanding. As you read your Bible, this simple truth is expressed in countless places. In Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV) the teacher says, "As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things."
In Isaiah 40:13-14 (NIV) Isaiah the prophet asks, "Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?"
In Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) God says, " 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' "
In the New Testament Paul likens our understanding of God to the level of children. In 1 Corinthians 13:11-12 (NIV) he says, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
We humans do not have all the answers. We do not have a complete understanding of God’s workings and ways. Our capacity to reason is woefully inadequate. This is why Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV) says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."
Habakkuk the prophet is someone who refused to lean on his own understanding. Instead of being wise in his own eyes and possibly drawing false conclusions about God, he looked to God himself for understanding. He wasn’t interested in the nice, safe Bible answers people toss out. He had the courage to ask God his toughest questions.
Habakkuk hada conquered spirit.
For example, in Habakkuk 1:2-4 he comes before God with a conquered spirit. He is devastated by what he sees among his own people, Judah. Her leaders are full of corruption. Selfishness dictates people’s moral choices. Covetousness, greed, and materialism are prevalent. A death of outrage has swept the land where even the most heinous and immoral acts no longer shock or offend anyone. People showed utter contempt for God’s holy nature and perfect law. He says to God in Habakkuk 1:2-4 (NIV), "How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted."
Have you ever questioned God?
Have you ever struggled with the same questions Habakkuk struggled with? When was the last time you came before God seeking understanding? Have you ever cried out to God for help but felt he wasn’t listening? Have you ever wrestled with God in prayer but have not received the answer you hoped for? "God, how long must I call for help but you do not listen?"
Have you ever questioned why God didn’t or isn’t saving you from a violent situation? Doesn’t God care? Doesn’t God see what you're going through? Is God indifferent? Have you ever questioned why God seems to tolerate evil and why he seems to let wrongdoing go unpunished? "God, why are letting them get away with that?"
Have you ever wondered why God allows conflict to multiply? Why he leaves you in such a troubled and difficult circumstance? Why there is so much anger, hate, litigation, divorce, racism, and bigotry? "God, why does peace seem so far off?"
Have you ever wondered why God’s law is so powerless to change people? Why there is so little concern for personal holiness? Why is there so much injustice in the world? Why the wicked seem to have an edge over the righteous? Why people are exploited? Why our notions of good and evil have gotten so perverted? "God, your law is paralyzed. It’s been knocked out cold! Where are you? Help!"
Prayer is an opportunity to explore God's nature and character.
You know, safe prayers make for a boring prayer life. Prayer is an opportunity to probe the depths of God’s nature and character. Prayer is an opportunity to wrestle the truths of heaven to the ground. Prayer is an occasion to be honest and transparent before the one true God who alone can give understanding. Prayer is a time to lean not on our own understanding, but instead to acknowledge God.
When you read Job, when you read Habakkuk, when you read the Psalms, you’ll notice that the writers leave nothing on the table. Every card is turned face up. And God is okay with that because in their heart of hearts they are seeking understanding. "God where are you? How long must I call for help but you do not listen?"
Judah is to become a conquered people.
In Habakkuk 1:5-11 God responds to Habakkuk’s complaint. To Habakkuk’s utter shock, God describes in vivid detail how he is raising up the Babylonians as his instrument to chasten and discipline the nation of Judah. Judah was about to be conquered! In Habakkuk 1:5-11 (NIV), God says, "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. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and they promote their own honor. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; they all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty men, whose own strength is their god."
Despite Habakkuk’s perceptions, God wasn’t going to allow his people Judah to live in a perpetual state of rebellion. The tables were about to be turned against God’s people. God was going to use a people less righteous than Judah to punish Judah! Of course, all of this perplexes Habakkuk. He senses contradiction in God’s response. And so, back to prayer he goes, seeking understanding.
In Habakkuk 1:12-13 (NIV) he comes before God a second time."O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?"
In Habakkuk 2:1 (NIV) he says, "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts (i.e. the tower walls); I will look to see what he (God) will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint." You will notice in Habakkuk how God’s answers only seem to prompt more questions.
Faith is having an ongoing conversation with God, like Habakkuk did.
Faith is not a destination, it is an ongoing journey. Faith isn’t a single answer, but rather it’s a series of answers. Faith isn’t a monologue, but it's an ongoing conversation with God in which he speaks and we listen and we respond, then he responds. Faith constantly seeks understanding. Faith never tires. It searches out the inexhaustible treasures of God’s wisdom. Faith never settles for the first, or even for the easiest.
You might think that the longer you walk with God, the fewer questions you’ll have. But I think just the opposite is true. The longer you walk with God, the more questions you’ll have. And those questions will spawn other questions, and so on.
But here is the good news. In James 1:5-6 (NIV) it says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
In Habakkuk 2:2-20 God describes how Babylon will reap what it sows. The nations they swallow up will turn around and devour them. Their wine will betray them. They will be ridiculed and scorned. The people they plundered will turn and plunder them. Their handmade idols will fail them. The Lord will stand in his holy temple and all the world will be silent before him. The Lord's people will prevail in the end.
Habakkuk describesa conquering God.
In Habakkuk 3:2-15 Habakkuk stands in awe of the vision God shows him. God is about to shake and conquer the whole earth. Habakkuk 3:2-15 (NIV) says, "LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots? You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers;the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters."
What joy it should bring us to know that when we call for help, God does listen. What joy it should bring us to know that when we cry out against violence, God saves. What joy it should bring us to know that God is just, that he does not tolerate wrong, and that destruction, violence, strife, and conflict never have the final say. What joy it should bring us to know that God’s law is always upheld, that justice prevails, that the righteous live forever, and that evil will be completely crushed.Our God is a mighty, conquering God!
A conquering faith- complete dependence on God.
Are your questions andyour pursuit of understanding bringing you to that place of deeper faith and trust and confidence in God? At the end of Habakkuk’s prayer, he makes a profound declaration of faith. In Habakkuk 3:16-19 (NIV) he says, "I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights."
If you don’t catch anything else in the entire book of Habakkuk, take in these final verses. Habakkuk’s heart is pounding, his lips are quivering and his legs are trembling at the thought of what God is about to do, first to Judah and then to the Babylonians. His bones have begun decaying. But notice what he says in verse 16, "I will wait patiently." Habakkuk looks throughout the countryside and the fig trees aren’t budding. There are no grapes on the vines. The olive crop is failing. The fields are empty. There are no sheep in the pens and no cattle in the stalls.
But notice what he says in verse 18. "I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." Our questions should bring us to our knees before God in prayer. In time, our prayers should lead us to a deeper understanding of God and his ways. That deeper understanding should lead us to deeper trust in God. That deeper trust in God should lead to deeper joy. That deeper joy should lead to deeper strength. So that in the end, the Lordis our strength.
Habakkuk kept asking God for direction. He prayed. And then, through faith, Habakkuk reached a point of complete dependence on God. That is where God wants to lead each of us this morning. Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV) says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."