Title: Yet Will I Praise Thee

Date: 2008-09-14

Reference: Habakkuk 3: 17-19

"I closed last week’s message by asking if you had ever asked God questions and felt you had not received a good answer. That is where I want to begin today. Have you? Have you ever asked God questions and not received what you thought was a good answer? We’re full of questions. A little boy asked his father how many people there were in the world. The dad said.:”I don’t know how many people there are in the world.” Next the boy asked how many stars were in the sky. Again the father had to admit: “I don’t know how many stars there are.” Finally, how many fish are there in the sea? The boy received the same answer “I don’t know how many fish are in the ocean.” The boy continued: “Dad, I hope you don’t mind my asking you all these questions.” “Why no son” the father replied, “I don’t mind at all. How else will you learn if you don’t ask questions?”

There are times when we ask question after question and receive no answer from heaven. Habakkuk was a prophet who had lots of questions for God. Things were not going well for Israel. Times were tough. Habakkuk had questions. He wanted to know if God was present. Was God listening. Did God care. Was God able to help. How long must one ask God to help. Are things ever going to change? We’ve all had similar questions for God.

Habakkuk had a great faith in God. He concluded that no matter what happened or did not happen he would continue to praise God. “The fig trees may no longer bloom or the vineyards produce grapes.

The olive trees may be fruitless and the sheep pens empty. The cattle stalls vacant. But even if all of that happens I will continue to celebrate because the Lord saves me. The Lord gives me strength. God makes my feet as sure as those of a deer. God helps me stand on the mountains.”

We all know life is not fair. Innocent people are often in harm’s way. Thursday was the 7th anniversary of the Terrorist attacks on Sept. 11th. We still wonder how and why things like that could possibly happen. Why do good people suffer? Why do very bad things happen to very good people? Why do evil people seem to prosper? When is God going to step in and set things right?

We have so many questions for God. God has no intention of explaining Himself to us. Even if God did explain, I’m sure His answers would be beyond our ability to understand and comprehend. I believe one answer would only lead to another question. Our only option is to remain faithful and say with Habbakuk: “Even after all that has happened, yet will I praise Thee.”

Our love, devotion, service, and honor of God should in no way be contingent upon life being favorable. Life is for the most part good, enjoyable and favorable. But into each life some rain must fall. Into each life trouble and challenges will come. Our faith makes us grateful for the good times and hopeful in the more difficult times. Through it all we cling to God as the prophet did.

When the prophet wrote his letter Josiah a very good, kind, faithful King had been killed in battle. A man who was his exact apposite was now king. The prophet wanted to know why a good man had been killed and a bad man was not on the throne.

We’ve all had very similar questions. Why a person who had so much to live for, a positive person, a young person had to get sick and die? Why are our jails and prisons full of hardened persons who live to harm others? Why do the good die young?

God assured Habakkuk of God’s presence. God does not come with answers to our questions, but God comes offering His presence and His help. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the East. Job had a wonderful family. He had a home, wealth, health, possessions, friends, a good reputation. In a very short time all Job had was taken from him. After he lost everything, Job fell to the ground and worshiped God. His wife said to him.”Are you still trusting in God? Why don’t you curse God and die?” Job replied: “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” Job wasn’t happy about his situation. His losses were real and painful. He didn’t understand why things happened as they did. He did have questions for God. Job refused to lose his integrity. He continued to worship and believe in God.

Some of the greatest witnesses have been from people of faith in the midst of trouble, loss, pain, and frustration. People who continued to point to God by their faithful lives. I am convinced there are others who truly enjoy being miserable and making everyone else miserable. This is not to minimize the pain anyone is going through. Pain is very real. But there are people who seem to enjoy being miserable. People like that don’t have much of a witness because they spend all their time calling attention to themselves and not pointing toward God.

Life is difficult and one person’s blessing could be another person’s pain.

We don’t have to understand life. We just need to love God and remain faithful.

The same weather system that produced such misery in Texas brought much appreciated rain to our area.

As we go through life we will have questions and unanswered prayers. The people who suffer the most are those who truly believe, as we do, as Habbukuk did, that prayer moves mountains. I do believe God answers all our prayers. I’ve learned God sometimes answers prayers by saying No or Wait. Sometimes, as we pray, our requests are all wrong and God in His love, wisdom, and mercy says no to our prayers. We have all made misguided requests from God. Peter, James, and John once went onto a high mountain with Jesus. That experience was so wonderful the disciples didn’t want it to end. They asked Jesus to let them build shelters so they could stay there. Jesus immediate response was “No.” Jesus and the disciples still had work to do down in the valley where the people were. They couldn’t stay on the mountaintop. This request was not appropriate and Jesus could not honor it.

Another time James and John came with their mother to Jesus and asked to reserve the two best seats in the Kingdom. They wanted to sit on Jesus’ right and on his left. Again Jesus said “No.” He said: “You don’t know what you are asking. There is going to be much pain and suffering. And besides, God has already reserved those two seats.” Some time later Jesus and the disciples were not welcomed in a Gentile village and this irritated the disciples so much they asked Jesus to destroy the village with fire from heaven. Once again Jesus denied their requests.

If the disciples, who lived with Jesus, who knew Jesus the best, were capable of making wrong requests, that were totally self serving, materialistic, shortsighted, and immature.so are you and so am I. Fortunately God loves us too much to answer inappropriate requests. As I look back over life I’ve learned to be thankful to God for not answering prayers that at the time seemed to be appropriate.

If you have been praying diligently about something for weeks, months, even years, and you are sensing resistance from heaven maybe the request is not good for you. Maybe the timing is not right. God may have something better in mind.

Life is a mystery. We all have many questions about life. We don’t understand why Godly, good people are stricken with disease. Why praying parents die without ever seeing their wayward children return to the fold. Unspeakable tragedies affect believers and non believers alike. Good people suffer. This is not a perfect world we live in. This is a fallen world. And we have many, many questions.

Yet will I praise Thee. We know God will have the final say in life. As we read in the book of Revelation (21:4) “ God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. The old order of things will have passed away.” God said in the book of Isaiah.”My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my ways your ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways and my through higher than your own.” (Is. 55:8-9) God the creator know what timing is best.

Sometimes we wait for months and years for our prayers to be answered for our questions to be answered.

God seems to be waiting to orchestrate a greater miracle than you and I had faith to pray or hope for in the beginning. Learning to wait and learning to pray while we wait is challenging. Waiting, even waiting for the Lord goes contrary to our culture. We want our questions answered, our prayers granted, immediately. Someone once said: “The trouble is, I’m in a hurry and God is not.”

A wise response is the response of Habbakuk.”Through it all, yet I will praise God.” "