WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:00.959 Well, good morning. 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:02.879 My name is Brad O'Kelly. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:05.679 I'm one of the elders here at Christ the Redeemer. 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.720 And uh we have assembled. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:15.119 If you listen to Brian Robinson last week, we've assembled the B team while Russ is out of town. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:18.640 And uh I got here's here's what I think happened. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:21.679 Okay, I think this is this is my thought. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:26.800 Um Russ said, I'm gonna assemble the greatest minds that this church has to offer. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.839 And so he picks up the phone and he calls Brian Robinson. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.199 And Brian says yes. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.799 And then he picks up the phone and he calls David Russ, and David Russ says yes. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:38.960 And then he's like, that's way too much brain power for this church to handle. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:40.560 I better call Brad. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:42.719 So here we are. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:45.200 And we're gonna have a good time with it, that's for sure. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:47.920 Uh, we are studying the book of Habakkuk. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:50.320 Good luck with that one, right? 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:52.240 That was David's idea. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:56.719 Uh I just want to throw that out there to begin this thing, is that that came from David Russ. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:01.439 Uh, not my choice, but we're gonna have a good time with it, I can promise you. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.920 Uh, we're gonna read some stuff today that you're gonna listen to and go, this is terrible. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:16.480 Um and you you you kind of got a point there, but uh, we got to work all the way through this thing because I promise you, once we get to the end of it, it's it's gonna be good, okay? 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:18.640 But you just gotta hang in there with us, all right? 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:19.359 Just hang in there. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:27.200 So if you got a Bible with you today, we're going to Habakkuk chapter one, and we're gonna start in verse 12, and we're gonna go down to verse 17, okay? 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:28.560 So prepare yourselves. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:29.519 Here we go. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:34.799 Verse 12 says, Are you not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my holy one? 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.040 We will not die. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:43.439 You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge, and you, O rock, have established them to correct. 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:48.400 Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and you cannot look on wickedness with favor. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:53.599 Why do you look with favor on those who deal treacherously? 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:58.000 Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they? 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:03.040 Why have you made men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things without a ruler over them? 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:13.120 The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, drag them away with their net, and gather them together in their fishing net, and therefore they rejoice and are glad. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:22.159 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their fishing net, because through these things their catch is large and their food is plentiful. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:28.159 Will they therefore empty their net and continually slay nations without sparing? 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:30.159 Let's go to the Lord in prayer this morning. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:31.280 Father, we love you. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:33.199 We thank you for this time that you've given us to be together. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:41.360 Lord, no matter how strange the circumstances may be, uh, we are just glad that we can come and worship you together as a church family. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:43.280 And Lord, we pray that you bless this time. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:48.639 Father, I just pray that as we open your word, it would speak loud and clear to all of us, open our hearts and our minds to receive it. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:50.800 Let it be all of you and none of me. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:51.759 In Jesus' name. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:52.639 Amen. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:03:00.639 Alright, so uh there's some things in here that we're dealing with, and what you're gonna see if you listen to Brian last week is Habakkuk is wrestling with God at this point, right? 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:06.400 God's kind of revealed a plan to Habakkuk, and uh it's a real bad plan in Habakkuk's mind. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:07.599 He don't like it one bit. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:12.800 So he's sitting there going, you know, wait a minute, and he's kind of stepping back here in verse 12 and he's going, What's going on? 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:14.080 Because something is off. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:24.319 And I don't know about you, but maybe at some point in your life, or maybe every day in your life, if you're a lot like me, uh you you kind of get into a situation where you realize something is off here. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:29.759 I I can't put my finger on it necessarily, but something is just not right. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:30.719 You know what I mean? 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:31.759 We we get in those situations. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:38.400 When Mandy and I were first married, uh we I came home from work one evening, and and I just need you to get this picture in your mind, okay. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:43.199 I come home from work one evening, and Mandy is in the kitchen and she's preparing this meal for me. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:04:02.960 And it was just that moment we were early enough in marriage, you know, where when I got home and and and I walk into this spotless house that used to be a bachelor pad, and now it's like our home, you know, uh and it's clean and it's nice, and and she's preparing this meal, and I've come home from this long day of work, and you know, you kind of get that thought in your head of man, this is this is alright, you know. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:04.400 I can get used to this. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:07.840 I mean, you come home and everything's just in its place and it's right and it's good. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:11.680 And here's this smoking hot woman that I've convinced to marry me somehow. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:20.399 Uh, no clue how that took place, and and and she's gonna prepare a meal for me, you know, after I come home from work, and we sit down at this table. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:27.920 We lived in this little bitty house, we had a table big enough for two people to sit at, and we sat at the table and she puts this pasta dish in front of me, you know? 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:34.560 And I'm like, man, and I'm looking at her, and I go to take that first bite of pasta, and I'm looking, I'm like, man, here's this beautiful woman. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:40.720 She's prepared this meal for me, and I take this bite of pasta, and I'm like, this is heaven on earth. 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:44.240 Literally, because she's trying to kill me with this poison. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:50.480 This pasta is full of antifries, and she's trying to knock me off of this earth. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:58.800 And I've come to this realization because it is literally the worst thing I've ever tasted, ever in my lifetime. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:06.000 I have never before tasted food so bad, and I thought, Lord, I'm coming to see you. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:10.879 She's trying to get that life insurance money that I lied about having. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:13.839 And she's going for it. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:15.759 It was awful. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:23.600 And I'm sitting there and I'm running through my mind all of the things, which was a long list that I've done that she could possibly want to kill me for. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:25.279 And I'm I'm kind of like, what is good? 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:26.480 Something is off here. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:32.319 This is not right, and I'm eating this poison, and I'm gonna go see Jesus, and this is just not good. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:40.959 And then, you know, uh, the good part, the best part about this was she takes the first bite of her pasta and realizes real quick, this is terrible. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:42.319 And I said, Oh, thank God. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:43.759 I thought you were trying to kill me. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:48.800 And she goes, No, and we had a good laugh, and she goes, This is not how I would kill you. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:56.079 I didn't ask any more questions after that either, by the way. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.600 But but I we both had we both reached the same conclusion. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:00.560 Do you see what I'm saying? 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:03.759 Like, it only took one bite for both of us to get to the same place. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:04.639 You know what I mean? 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:08.240 We got there real quick once you tasted that poison pasta. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:10.079 Um we were there. 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:14.959 And so it only took that moment for us to get into that place of realizing something's off. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:18.240 My thought was something's off in my life, and she's trying to kill me for it. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.399 Her thought was uh something is off in this recipe, and I've done something wrong. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.120 And we're both trying to get to this place of understanding. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:37.360 And so what I need you to see this morning is that when we read Habakkuk and when we're going through this book of Habakkuk, really short book, but it's packed full of stuff that is very much uh uh crucial to the world that we live in today. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.160 And Habakkuk is doing the same thing in verse 12. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:46.959 What he's done is he's gotten to this place of truth and peace and rest for just this moment. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.279 And I want you to listen to this, okay? 00:06:49.439 --> 00:07:00.800 Because in verse 12, here's what it says: it says, Are you not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my holy one, we will not die. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:07.920 You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge, and you, O rock, have established them to correct. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:14.639 What Habakkuk's doing is he's wrestling with God's plan that God has revealed to him earlier on in this chapter. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:18.160 And he's looking around at it and he's going, I don't know how to deal with this. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:35.199 So he he kind of reverts back to this place of truth, this place where he gets into this mindset, this spiritual set just for a minute, and he goes, wait a minute, something is off here, so I gotta get to what I know is 100% absolutely correct. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:36.800 And in verse 12, that's what he does. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:37.680 And here's the deal. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:39.439 I'm gonna use some Hebrew words today. 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:40.720 I need you to understand something. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:42.639 I took Hebrew twice in seminary. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:48.639 I took it the first time because they made me, and I took it the second time because they made me again, if that understands, if that helps you understand. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:51.439 D does not mean done, it means do over. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:51.759 Okay? 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:53.199 Let me just throw that out there. 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:54.639 I took it twice, all right? 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:58.079 So I'm no scholar, but I'm just gonna throw some words at you, okay? 00:07:58.240 --> 00:07:59.759 So look at what he says in verse 12. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:02.560 In verse 12, he first goes, Are you not from everlasting? 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:07.839 And he says, O Lord, and then he says, My God and my holy one. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:09.759 So those three things right there. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:13.040 When he says, O Lord, he's literally using the word Jehovah. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:21.279 The word Jehovah is where we get our eternal Lord, the God that has existed from the very beginning and will exist through all time. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.000 That's what that's who Habakkuk is crying out to. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:30.879 Then he says, My God, uses the word Elohim, the supreme, above all, mighty God. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:38.960 And then he says, My holy one, Kadesh, which is a sacred, unblemished holy God. 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:42.240 So do you see what Habakkuk's doing right here? 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:51.759 In this verse, in this verse 12 right here, he is literally getting back to who he knows God to be. 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:52.879 Alright? 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:57.440 He's stepping into this place of truth and peace and rest. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:05.360 And he goes on at the end of verse 12, he says, he says, You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge, and you have established them, O rock, to correct. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:12.320 He reverts, or he goes and he refers to God as the rock, this place of refuge and strength. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:19.679 And Habakkuk is using all of these wonderful words to describe God, and it's exactly who he knows God to be. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:27.759 And man, if we could just take this verse and just kind of pull it out of this first chapter right here and just stop, right? 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.519 Let's just end the message right now. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:36.960 Let's pray, let's get out of here as fast as we can, and let's not talk about what goes on in the rest of it, because that would be a beautiful picture of what happens with Habakkuk. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:38.639 It would be great if we could stop right there. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:39.840 But here's the problem. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:50.799 I actually find more so, I find myself in what happens next, if that makes sense. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:10:04.080 I wish I could say, I'm just like Habakkuk in this verse 12, where every time something happens and something seems off, I just go straight to God and I just say, Thank you, Lord, and I call him all these wonderful names and ta-da, everything's great. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:08.879 But unfortunately, I can relate more to the rest of the story than I can. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:10.480 So here's what I want you to do. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:11.759 Get ready, okay? 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:13.759 Let's look at verse 13 and 14. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:19.919 In verse 13, he says, Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and you cannot look on wickedness with favor. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:24.960 It's more this beautiful language, but then all of a sudden, the switch flips. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:27.759 And look at the second part of verse 13. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:32.080 Why do you look with favor on those who deal treacherously? 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:38.080 Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they? 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:45.039 Why have you made men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things without a ruler over them? 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:54.799 In that moment, we come out of this moment of beauty, this Jehovah, Elohim, Kadesh, uh, O rock, my place of refuge and strength, and da-da-da. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:58.240 And what happens in literally two seconds, what do we do? 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:01.279 We go right back to questioning God, right? 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:02.960 We go right back to questioning. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:04.960 Lord, what are you doing? 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:06.480 What is going on here? 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:10.240 And I told you, as unfortunate as this is, I relate more to that. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:14.240 I relate to that guy because here's what I do in those moments of time. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:23.360 I would love to be able to stand up here as the guy that's preaching to you today and say, hey, uh, in those moments, here's what you do, A, B, C, X, Y, Z, and that's what I do, so that's what you should do. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:27.600 Unfortunately, I kind of need to tell you today, don't do what I do. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:32.480 Because what I do is exactly what Habakkuk does, which is jump back into, Lord, I appreciate you. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:34.480 Now, let me ask you something. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:37.200 And I start with the questions. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.519 And there's some questions that just don't have an answer. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:42.960 And in my spiritual life, I don't have, I don't get that. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:46.799 In my spiritual life, I don't, I want the questions answered. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:47.519 You know what I mean? 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:52.480 Now, in my personal life, I've kind of figured this thing out because I live in a home with four women. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:54.159 I'm the only man. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:59.759 There are questions every day that you will never get an answer to. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:00.960 You understand? 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:04.879 In a house with four women, you will never get an answer to some of the questions. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.960 I've jotted down a few just to help you, okay? 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:08.399 Some of my personal favorites. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:09.120 You ready? 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:11.120 Who touched the thermostat? 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:14.080 You'll never get an answer. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:16.720 Why is the front door wide open? 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:19.679 Silence. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.480 How is it possible to use this much toilet paper in one day? 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:28.799 Nobody even knows where it goes. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:30.240 Nothing. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.519 Do you know how to turn a light off? 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:38.159 This is one of my personal favorites right here. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.320 Have you lost your mind? 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:46.879 Typically accompanied with, not always, but sometimes, do you know how much that costs? 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:54.799 And then my favorite one, this is the one that I have learned never, as a man, never asked this question. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.039 Why is everyone crying? 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:01.919 Don't forget it. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:05.919 You will never get an answer, and if you do, you will never understand the answer. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:08.000 It is far beyond you, sir. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:10.000 There is no way you could ever get it. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:11.759 So I understand questioning things. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:16.240 Now I've learned how to deal with this in that I have discovered smart home technology. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:21.600 If none of you have smart home technology, I suggest that you start looking into it every day at 10 a.m. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:23.840 My house turns into a prison cell. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:30.320 Lights go off, doors lock, thermostat goes up, I'm sweating everybody out of there. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:33.679 Go sit on that toilet long enough, that light's gonna turn out on you. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:36.720 And if it don't, I'll do it from my phone. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:39.039 Click, lights off. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.960 Mandy was having a baby shower at our house one time on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:44.879 Everybody thought we lost power. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:47.360 I said, Did the power just go out? 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:49.519 She said, No, it's just breath. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:52.240 I got that part under control. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:54.720 But the problem is that that's just my personal life. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:56.799 My spiritual life's a complete mess. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:58.240 It's a complete mess. 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:00.399 I don't have any answers for any of those questions. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:09.600 Every time I begin to question God, I end up just like Habakkuk because I start questioning, and that question leads to another question, which leads to another question and another question, and guess what? 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:11.679 None of them ever get answered. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:14.639 And if they do, it's not the answer that I want. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:19.759 And that's why it's a gigantic mess that Habakkuk's got himself into. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:28.320 And we we look at verse 12 and we think, yes, he's on the road and he's gonna get it right and everything's gonna be good, and then all of a sudden, in that split second, the questions come back. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:30.399 So, do you understand what's going on here? 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:44.399 Is that even when we find that place of rest and that place of refuge and knowing who God is and how mighty and sovereign and powerful he is, that does not mean that we're not gonna have questions as believers. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:49.360 Habakkuk jumps straight back into his questions. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:15:01.200 And as if that wasn't enough, as if if it if that wasn't enough for even me to jump on board with Habakkuk and go, man, I'm I'm kind of a lot like this guy, it it kind of gets a little worse, okay? 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.279 Because here's what happens in verse 15 and 16. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.200 All right, let's look at verse 15 and 16. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:18.399 He says, The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, drag them away with their net, and gather them together in their fishing net, therefore they rejoice and are glad. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:28.720 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their fishing net because through these things their catch is large and their food is plentiful. 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:33.360 The reason I can relate to this is because what Habakkuk's doing right here, do you understand what's happening? 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:39.200 Now, not only has he questioned God, he's questioning who God's gonna use to do the correcting. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:40.240 You see what I mean? 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.799 He has the answer, he just doesn't like it. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:50.080 So what he's gotta do is this he's gotta point the finger and go, God, are you kidding me? 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.200 You're gonna use those guys. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:59.759 You're gonna use those people to reprove and correct your own people. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:01.440 Those guys are terrible. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:12.480 To paraphrase verse 15 and 16, he goes, he's saying, God, how could you possibly use these terrible people who don't give a flip about you? 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:19.440 They don't care anything about your ways, they don't care anything about how mighty and powerful you are, they could care less about you. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:27.600 How can you possibly use those people to correct the people that, yeah, we may have lost our way a little bit, but we're still the good guys? 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:30.799 That's what he's saying in verse 15 and 16. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:39.279 He's going, these guys are so bad that not only would they never worship you, they're more likely to worship a fishing net than they are to worship you. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:48.240 They would rather burn incense and build altars to their fishing net than to ever acknowledge how mighty and how powerful you are. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:49.759 And you're gonna use them. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:57.200 Now remember, I told you I I identify a little bit more with Habakkuk in this portion. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:07.359 Because y'all, I can't tell you how many times I point the finger and go, God, you're you're really gonna let that guy get ahead? 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:10.079 You're really gonna let that guy have it all? 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:12.240 Do you know how terrible he is? 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:16.000 God, you're you're really not gonna step in and take care of that. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.960 God, you're really not gonna uh come to my aid. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:20.799 I'm a good guy in this in this scenario. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:22.160 Well, where are you? 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:23.920 What have you been up to? 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:25.440 Where have you gone? 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:27.759 How are you possibly gonna let this happen? 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:38.400 These are the same exact questions that Habakkuk's wrestling with, and I don't know about you, but if you don't have that, then that's a great thing because maybe you don't turn on the news. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:42.960 Maybe you're like me, I've given up on news for at least the rest of the year. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:44.160 I don't want to hear it. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.720 I'm just, and some of you say, Well, you're just burying your head in the sand. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:47.279 Yep. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:49.759 Come on, it's a beautiful place. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:51.519 It's lovely. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:56.000 I just dig this hole, I bury my head in there, cover it back up, I don't care anymore. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:56.799 I'm done. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:58.960 It's the same thing all the time, right? 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:00.799 And every bit of it's bad. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:06.640 And we sit there and we go, but we point the finger and we go, God, how are you gonna let that happen? 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.519 God, how are you possibly gonna use that person? 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:11.119 How could you let them get ahead? 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:12.160 We're the good guys. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.079 How could you not come to our aid? 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:24.480 And Habakkuk is wrestling with all of this in the exact same way that a guy like Brad O'Kelly would wrestle with this. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:32.079 I'd question every single thing that he's doing, and then I'd point the finger and go, nope, not that way. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:34.240 Shouldn't be like that. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:35.920 It ought to be like this. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:37.839 You should use that guy. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:39.759 You should do this, Lord. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:46.480 But we run into this problem that Habakkuk runs into, and the last thing we're gonna look at is verse 17 today. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:47.680 We run into this issue. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:48.799 Look at verse 17. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:57.599 Habakkuk says, Will they therefore empty their net and continually slay nations without sparing? 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:00.400 You know what Habakkuk's asking right here? 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:07.200 He's looking at God eye to eye and he's going, Are you just gonna keep letting this go on? 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:10.799 How much longer are you gonna let this happen? 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:14.240 How much longer have we got to put up with it? 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:22.799 Well, I don't know about y'all, but in the world that we live in today, that's like a daily question for this guy. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:27.440 Lord, how much longer have we got to put up with it? 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.160 How much longer before you just step in and get it all done? 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:33.440 Like, what's going on here? 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:37.359 How much longer do we have to put up with the way things are going? 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:51.759 And you gotta understand that Habakkuk is looking all around him, and everywhere he looks, whether it be at God's people, whether it be at the Chaldeans, whatever it may be, God's plan, everywhere he looks, he's seeing something is not right. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:54.720 Something is off. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:00.079 And I can't put my finger on it, and I don't understand it, and I don't know what to do about it. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:10.960 And here's probably the worst part that you're gonna hate leaving out of here today with is that I don't have an answer for any of that. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:16.000 I wish I could stand up here today and go, now, here's what we do. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:22.319 A, B, C, do that, take care of it, walk out of here, and everything will be fine. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.359 I don't have an answer. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:28.319 I have no idea how to answer any of these questions. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:35.440 I have no idea how Habakkuk stood there waiting in silence for God to answer and not getting any answers. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.079 He's got all these questions and nothing is coming. 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:50.400 And again, I can relate to that because there's been plenty of times in my life where I feel like God is more distant than he's ever been, and he's not even hearing what I'm saying. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:59.279 And I don't have this magic potion to offer you today to tell you here's how you fix that. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:08.240 All I can do is look at a book like Habakkuk and figure out what he did. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:25.279 And what he did, especially in this little portion of scripture that we looked at today, is he started and he always went back to this place of truth and peace and rest and refuge in an almighty Lord God. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:30.559 Now I have no idea what that looks like for you. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:31.279 None. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:32.160 I have not. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:39.839 Maybe for you it's prayer, maybe for you it's studying scripture, maybe for you it's getting in your car and driving as far as you possibly can away from everything. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.599 Whatever it may be, I don't know what it looks like for you, but I do know this. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:22:11.200 Habakkuk's only solution, the only thing that he could ever rest in, the only place where he could ever find peace was knowing that his God, Jehovah, Elohim, was in control of all things, and no matter how bad the situation got, and no matter how off it seemed, it was never, never out of the Almighty hand of God. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:22.559 It was always within his glory and in his power and in his sovereignty. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:32.000 I wish that I could let you say, here's what you do and how you do it, but unfortunately, I don't get that luxury. 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:46.240 All I can do is tell you that you, brothers and sisters, have to find your place of strength and refuge in an almighty God. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:55.200 And the realization that no matter where you look throughout this world, nothing is outside of his mighty hand. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:58.720 Let's go, Lord, and pray this word. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:03.359 Father, we love you. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:07.039 We thank you for the opportunity to worship you today through reading your word. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:18.880 Lord, I know that uh I know that we seek answers, and that those answers never seem to come sometimes. 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:34.960 And so, Father, we just pray this morning that Lord, you'd give us strength, that you'd give us uh the heart and the mind to seek after that place of refuge and strength in our own life that only you can provide. 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:40.559 Lord, help us to understand that nothing is out of your mighty hand. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:43.920 We love you and ask all this in Jesus' name. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:45.279 Amen.