When we trust the Person of God, we can rejoice even when we can’t grasp the plan of God.
Sermon Title: WHEN GOD IS PERSONAL
Sermon Text: HABAKKUK 3:16-19 (NIV)
Sermon Series: HABAKKUK: FAITH IN THE MIDST OF LIFE’S FRUSTRATIONS
By: PTR NESTOR SY
Sermon Notes:
HABAKKUK 3:16-19 NIV
16 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.
17 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,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
“Knight, Death and the Devil”
1513, Albrecht Dürer
The challenge to Habakkuk’s faith is not to understand it, but to have it.
I. WAITING PATIENTLY
wait | Hebrew: nuach
“to rest, or to settle down and remain.”
When God calls us to wait, he calls us to rest in him.
“I will lay my whys before your cross and worship, kneeling,
Ruth Graham
My mind too numb for thought, my heart beyond all feeling,
And worshiping realize that I,
In knowing you, don’t need a why.”
II. REJOICE IN THE LORD
HABAKKUK 3:17a NIV
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
Future Hope.
HABAKKUK 3:17b NIV
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,
Present resources.
HABAKKUK 3:17c NIV
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
Past reserves.
Which would make you feel more secure – having a million in the bank or having a God who promises to meet your daily needs?
Faith chooses to believe when it would be easier to stop believing.
HABAKKUK 3:18 NIV
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
When we trust the Person of God, we can rejoice even when we can’t grasp the plan of God.
III. FIND STRENGTH IN GOD
Our trust in God’s sovereignty is the source of our hope and stability in this life.
“In our times of suffering, God doesn’t give answers
Randy Alcorn
as much as he gives himself.”