Woe to Wow! 5 Even If You Don’t
There is a challenge to faithfulness even when things don’t go our way. It is one thing to be faithful to God when life lines up for us and everything seems to be falling into place. It is another thing to be faithful when things don’t go our way, in fact, when they seem like things are falling apart.
Habakkuk had been prophesying about how bad Judah had become and wondering why God allowed it. Then God told him of His plan to use the Babylonians to set Judah straight. At first, Habakkuk could only wonder why God would use a people worse than Judah to discipline them.
As the book unfolds and then comes to an end, the prophet begins to settle out where he should have been all along. That is the same place we need to be. We need God. We do not need to be seeking the good things He can provide, but seeking God Himself. Notice the prophet’s thoughts in Habakkuk 3:16-19 (ESV):
16 I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
David Barton wrote a lengthy article about the background and commemoration of the “Boston Massacre.”[1] Note some of the issues of their day.
First, the rise of King George III brought in Colonial micromanagement by the Monarchy. The King appointed tyrannical governors who began limiting freedoms. Does this sound familiar? During the recent Plan-demic, certain states went “overboard” in limiting freedoms. Too many of “We the People” gave into the tyranny. Churches and business were closed at the whim of puppet Governors who are under the control of Communist leaders.
Second, religious Freedom was threatened. The King wanted to appoint an Anglican Bishop over America, forcing all of the colonies into the Church of England or be guilty of treason. They would be forced to pay a “Clergy Tax” to support Anglican Ministers even if they weren’t Anglican. Again, how many churches were attacked during the scam? How many were fined? How many Pastors were jailed or threatened with jail? I understand that many court cases are being won by churches that were bold enough to challenge the governmental powers and practice their first amendment rights.
Third, the King’s response to Colonial pushback was to send 4000 seasoned troops to Boston to intimidate and censor the people. In our day, those in control have been sending troops like Hitler’s Brown Shirts in the form of Antifa and BLM. It certainly looked dire for the Colonists as the British troops descended on Boston. Too many of our cities have been gutted by evil troops.
So, what do we do in our world of Good vs. Evil, especially when Evil seems to be winning? The bottom line is to not only trust God, but to JOYOUSLY trust Him. That is often hard for us when we can’t see the end. One of my favorite stories of the Revolution involves Benjamin Rush and John Adams. Rush tells us:
Upon my return from the army to Baltimore in the winter of 1777, I sat next to John Adams in Congress, and upon my whispering to him and asking him if he thought we could succeed in our struggle with Great Britain, he answered me, “Yes, if we fear God and repent of our sins.”
Their reliance was on God, not the military, not international aid, not political skills!
We trust and rejoice in God’s wisdom. He is infinitely wiser than we. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:25 (ESV):
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
How often do we think we are wiser than God? How often do we think we can “figure it out” only to fail and flail? At some point we must get back to trusting God in His wisdom to do what is best for us.
Next, we trust and rejoice in God’s love. Nineteenth Century British Pastor, Charles Spurgeon reminds us of the great love of God. He said:
The Lord Jesus has paid too high a price for our redemption to leave us in the enemy’s hand.
Scripture abounds in the love of God (John 3:16; Romans 5:8, Galatians 2:20, etc.). While God always loves us, that love is not always pleasant and fun. Sometimes it demands discipline. Yet God paid such a high price for each of us out of His love for us that He is not willing to let us go easily.
Then we trust and rejoice in God’s guidance. We need outside help more times than not. As Habakkuk’s contemporary observed in Jeremiah 10:23 (ESV):
I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
I’m sure you use a GPS device of some sort in your vehicle when you don’t know the way. God intends to guide our steps. We must rely on that guidance – even if things don’t work out like we may hope.
Even when things don’t work out like we want we can trust God. He always has our best interests in mind. We may not always see or understand Him but we can always trust Him. Even more, we can rejoice in Him – always. Does this sound familiar? Recall Philippians 4:4 (ESV):
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Keep The Light of Trustful Rejoicing in the Lord Burning!
[1] Founders’ Bible, Brad Cummings and Lane Wubbels, Gen Editors (Newburg Park, CA: Shiloh Publishing, 2012), pp. 1371-1374.