Well, isn't it amazing/awesome/infuriating how real life has a way of interefering with the best laid plans?!! Here was I planning on posting everyday, and lok what happens - yet another work deadline prevents me. Well, it does of course, mean that you get two posts for the price of one, 'cos here is today's as well as yesterday's ;).
This chapter is such an example to me, of just how strong was the faith of Habakkuk. Here he is, knowing punishment is about to fall on Judah, and accepting that this is something that needs to take place, that it is right, that Judah be punished, and so he does not blame God, or try to plead for it not to take place. Instead, he asked for God's help, God's mercy so that in the midst of the disciplining, God would stay His hand.
The chapter is full of praise for God, which is not necessarily something that is easy to do when you are in the middle of being disciplined. I know when my children are grounded, they certainly don't look at me and give me thanks, far from it. I reckon if my youngest son turned to me and said "thanks, Mum, I really appreciate being grounded from the Wii like that, it’s doing me so much good" I would probably faint! It is not unknown for him to express his feelings far more forcibly, and in such a way that I am left in no doubt of what he thinks about me, which usually results in a further grounding, too!
But here, Habakkuk accepts that the nation has done wrong accepts that God is right to punish, to discipline and he rejoices in the amazing things God has done, how His splendour fills the whole earth, his coming is as brilliant as the sunrise, rays of light flashing from his hands where his awesome power is held. It is reminiscent of the film Prince Caspian (which we saw last night) and of how things happen when Aslan roars.
And I love the closing verses. No matter what happens, whether there is no blossom on the fig trees, the olive crop fails, the flocks die in the field, and the cattle barns are empty, still Habakkuk will rejoice in the Lord. Would I, do I, do that? When things get tough, when clients don't pay, when there is no money in the bank, bills aren't getting paid, the children play up, when there is illness in the family, do I sit and rejoice, lift my hands up in praise? It is easy to say what we would do in any given circumstance, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, or so the saying goes, and do our actions as Christians live up to our professions of faith?
Sometimes, it feels like the weight of the world is on our shoulders, but like Habakkuk, we too can rejoice because God is always there, He is our strength and He makes our feet like the feet of a deer and enables us to go on to the heights no matter what is going on around us. Just like Peter when he got out of the boat to walk on water with Jesus, as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he was able to walk on water. As soon as he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the wind, the waves, the storm all around him, he was overwhelmed and began to sink.
We too need to do likewise, keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, on God, and trust the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us, because the things of this world will pass away, and then we will be with God for eternity.
Showing posts with label Habakkuk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Habakkuk. Show all posts
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Habakkuk chapter 2
One day, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Some days, I look around and it is easy to see the glory of the Lord at work, and yet other days it seems He is so far away, when things go wrong , when it seems like no one cares, no one appreciates.
Yet God is always there, always with each one of us, seeing what we are doing, watching over us. We just need to look around, to see the glory of the Lord in even the small, everyday things that are going on around us. If you are genuinely on the look out for God, striving to see him at work, looking for His hand in the things going on, then you cannot fail to see Him at work. It may only be in watching the rain fall, seeing the petals on a flower opening, hearing the birds sing over the noise of the traffic, seeing the smile of your children, or it may be in really big things, like healing, God providing even when all the odds are against it and it seems impossible. As God once asked Moses, "is the arm of the Lord too short?" No, God's arm is not too short, for Him, nothing is impossible, absolutely nothing.
One day, all men will see this, even those who choose now to disregard God, to live their lives for themselves, caring only for riches, position, power, fame and recognition. One day, everyone will bow their knee before Jesus, even those who refuse to acknowledge there is a God. And the sad things is, the truly heartbreaking thing, is that for many, that will be a day too late. Their hearts will have become so hardened over the years that even though they know there is a God, that Jesus Christ is His only begotten Son, they will be unable to accept the free gift of salvation God is offering. Their sin will have gone too deep and the wound will be incurable, as Micah pointed out in Micah 1:9.
Yet God is always there, always with each one of us, seeing what we are doing, watching over us. We just need to look around, to see the glory of the Lord in even the small, everyday things that are going on around us. If you are genuinely on the look out for God, striving to see him at work, looking for His hand in the things going on, then you cannot fail to see Him at work. It may only be in watching the rain fall, seeing the petals on a flower opening, hearing the birds sing over the noise of the traffic, seeing the smile of your children, or it may be in really big things, like healing, God providing even when all the odds are against it and it seems impossible. As God once asked Moses, "is the arm of the Lord too short?" No, God's arm is not too short, for Him, nothing is impossible, absolutely nothing.
One day, all men will see this, even those who choose now to disregard God, to live their lives for themselves, caring only for riches, position, power, fame and recognition. One day, everyone will bow their knee before Jesus, even those who refuse to acknowledge there is a God. And the sad things is, the truly heartbreaking thing, is that for many, that will be a day too late. Their hearts will have become so hardened over the years that even though they know there is a God, that Jesus Christ is His only begotten Son, they will be unable to accept the free gift of salvation God is offering. Their sin will have gone too deep and the wound will be incurable, as Micah pointed out in Micah 1:9.
Monday, 14 July 2008
Habakkul chapter 1
These verses could have been written today. I look around and read of 18 young people who have been killed through violence this year alone, their parents left in sorrow. There is gun crime, vandalism, people are afraid to go into certain areas, others are feared because of their race, colour, age. There is famine, war, the wicked succeed and the good fail. How long, O Lord, must we wait for your return?
And then I remember that God is El Shaddai, He is the Lord, the King of Kings, the Almighty one, a God who never changes, is full of unceasing love, grace and mercy, slow to anger and quick to forgive. He is not willing that any should be lost, not one, so is waiting until such time as all who have the heart will come to Him.
In this chapter, Habakkuk asks the same things I ask myself today - where is God in the midst of all this violence and oppression? Where is God when the nations try to agree global warming targets and set 2050 as the deadline (42 years' time! Way to go - obviously they are really keen to get this one sorted….)? Where is God in the famines, in the earthquakes, the wars, the genocides?
And God answers me the same as He has answered Habakkuk, that He is doing something in this day that we wouldn't believe even if we were told about it, something so surprising, so unexpected. Because God is at work, even though it may not seem that way.
Take a look around and see what God is doing. He is at work every hour of the day. I hear Him at work in the mornings, when the sun is about to rise and the birds are singing the dawn chorus. I see him at work in the ever changing clouds and sky, in the wind and the rain, the sunshine. He is at work watching over each one of us - have you never had something happen to you that was completely outside your control, a complete fluke, so unlikely that you never thought it would ever happen, and you just know it was God? Take a look at the petals on a flower, at how the sun rises, the sea moves. Look at the good that is happening in the world, the way people's lives are being changed for the better, the way people work together when catastrophe looms, when there are floods, famines, the way the agencies get the food, tents, medical equipment and vital aid to those most in need.
All that it takes for evil to win is for good men (and women) to do nothing. It is easy to sit back and say that the world is evil, which it is, but there are many good people in the world, many trying to do their best to help their fellow man, and if we each sit back and do nothing, taking care of just our own, then it will be a case of every man for himself, first, last and always.
God is at work through each one of us believers. We may feel totally inadequate, but God will supply all that we need, we just have to trust in Him. We may not be called to do much, maybe just to keep a elderly neighbour company, to help a sick friend, maybe just to be ourselves, to let the love of God shine out through all we do. We may be called to be ministers, preachers, teachers, prophets, doctors, nurses, or maybe just someone who puts the chairs out on Sunday morning before church, makes the tea and coffee. We may be called to be missionaries, or aid workers, travelling to far flung lands to bring the gospel, to help those in need. Or our calling may be in our own homes and work places, where the way we live our lives make a difference to those around us.
Whatever we have been called to do, whether we know what it is or not, God is with us and He is at work. We may not notice it at the time, but the more you look out for it, the more you will see the hand of God at work even in everyday common place things.
And then I remember that God is El Shaddai, He is the Lord, the King of Kings, the Almighty one, a God who never changes, is full of unceasing love, grace and mercy, slow to anger and quick to forgive. He is not willing that any should be lost, not one, so is waiting until such time as all who have the heart will come to Him.
In this chapter, Habakkuk asks the same things I ask myself today - where is God in the midst of all this violence and oppression? Where is God when the nations try to agree global warming targets and set 2050 as the deadline (42 years' time! Way to go - obviously they are really keen to get this one sorted….)? Where is God in the famines, in the earthquakes, the wars, the genocides?
And God answers me the same as He has answered Habakkuk, that He is doing something in this day that we wouldn't believe even if we were told about it, something so surprising, so unexpected. Because God is at work, even though it may not seem that way.
Take a look around and see what God is doing. He is at work every hour of the day. I hear Him at work in the mornings, when the sun is about to rise and the birds are singing the dawn chorus. I see him at work in the ever changing clouds and sky, in the wind and the rain, the sunshine. He is at work watching over each one of us - have you never had something happen to you that was completely outside your control, a complete fluke, so unlikely that you never thought it would ever happen, and you just know it was God? Take a look at the petals on a flower, at how the sun rises, the sea moves. Look at the good that is happening in the world, the way people's lives are being changed for the better, the way people work together when catastrophe looms, when there are floods, famines, the way the agencies get the food, tents, medical equipment and vital aid to those most in need.
All that it takes for evil to win is for good men (and women) to do nothing. It is easy to sit back and say that the world is evil, which it is, but there are many good people in the world, many trying to do their best to help their fellow man, and if we each sit back and do nothing, taking care of just our own, then it will be a case of every man for himself, first, last and always.
God is at work through each one of us believers. We may feel totally inadequate, but God will supply all that we need, we just have to trust in Him. We may not be called to do much, maybe just to keep a elderly neighbour company, to help a sick friend, maybe just to be ourselves, to let the love of God shine out through all we do. We may be called to be ministers, preachers, teachers, prophets, doctors, nurses, or maybe just someone who puts the chairs out on Sunday morning before church, makes the tea and coffee. We may be called to be missionaries, or aid workers, travelling to far flung lands to bring the gospel, to help those in need. Or our calling may be in our own homes and work places, where the way we live our lives make a difference to those around us.
Whatever we have been called to do, whether we know what it is or not, God is with us and He is at work. We may not notice it at the time, but the more you look out for it, the more you will see the hand of God at work even in everyday common place things.
Habakkuk
Well, following on from Nahum is the prophet Habakkuk, whose name I always have trouble spelling! From the introductions to this book that I read, it seems that Habakkuk lived during the time when Nebuchadnezzar was conquering the world. He probably prophesied in Judah during the later years of Josiah's rule and into the reign of King Jehoiakim. Unlike his godly father Josiah, Jehoiakim did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord (II Kings 23:37). So many of the Kings of Israel did likewise, and just because someone had a godly father, didn't necessarily mean they were godly themselves. Similarly, having an ungodly father (doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord) did not necessarily mean the child turned out the same way.
Habakkuk cried out against the moral corruption of idolatrous Judah which prevailed in his day. He foretold how God would use the ruthless Babylonians to bring His judgment on Judah.
During those horrifying times the just shall live by his faith became the watchword of the faithful (Habakkuk 2:4; and the major theme of Romans 1:16-17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).
Habakkuk cried out against the moral corruption of idolatrous Judah which prevailed in his day. He foretold how God would use the ruthless Babylonians to bring His judgment on Judah.
During those horrifying times the just shall live by his faith became the watchword of the faithful (Habakkuk 2:4; and the major theme of Romans 1:16-17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).
The Book of Habakkuk encourages all believers to accept,
- by faith,
- every situation,
- trusting that righteousness
- and justice will ultimately triumph
according to the righteous judgment of the One True God.
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