June 18, 2008

• Faith (jmac)

  It is hard to trust someone that we don't know.  It is hard to have faith in a God we don't really know, and it is hard to believe anything that God says or to rely on any of His promises.  To those who walk in obedience, God has made many promises of love, protection, blessing, peace, joy, salvation and eternal life.  He has promised to meet all of our needs.  But these promises mean nothing if we don't believe them.  We can't trust or have faith in someone that we don't know.  It is important to expose ourselves to God's character as He reveals himself in the Bible.  As our knowledge grows, so does our trust.

  Habakkuk the minor prophet was having a problem, because Judah, the people of God are wickedly sinful and unfaithful to God.  The prophet does not understand why God doesn't do something.  He wanted God to pour out judgement and make everyone repent.  But neither is happening.  How can God just look at this and not act?  God tells Habakkuk that He is doing something,  He was sending the Chaldeans to invade Israel.  The Chaldeans were much more wicked than Israel, and again, Habakkuk did not understand why God would use a people worse than Israel to bring judgement.  That is not the answer that Habakkuk wanted.  He didn't understand;  what God was doing didn't seem to make sense.  He is sinking into the sand.

  But then Habakkuk remembered what He knew about God and found a rock to stand on.  He remembered that God is eternal and bigger than any problem.  God has a bigger plan and whatever He is doing fits into the plan perfectly.  He also remembered that God is sovereign.  He knows everything and is in control of everything, and nothing is outside of God's control.  He remembers that God is holy and perfect, and everything that God does is out of His perfection.  God never makes a mistake.  He remembers that God is faithful and keeps his promises.  He had made promises to Abraham that would be fulfilled in the nation of Israel, and He would keep those promises of a future and a kingdom and salvation.  He finds secure footing on the rock of what he knows about God.

  Habakkuk 4:2 says, "the righteous will live by faith."  This becomes a major important theme in the New Testament. (Romans 1:17 Galatians 3:11 Hebrews 10:38)  The circumstances have not changed, but Habakkuk is now standing strong in faith.  Even if he did not understand the situation, he did know God's character, and he was filled with confidence.  That's faith.  We don't evaluate life by what we see around us.  We evaluate life by what we know about God.  It is not just wishful thinking.  It is confidence that we can trust that the God who loves us will work all things out for our good.

  (Sin is what you do when you are not satisfied with God, and we are not satisfied because we don't know Him.)

  • 04:16
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