The Man Who Asked Why

Intro:   In our Tuesday Night Bible study we are looking at the letter to the Philippians.   Paul writes this letter that has a lot of focus on joy and love and has lots of encouragement in it. Yet, when we look a little closer we see that Paul was in prison when he writes this and even when he was at Philippi he had been arrested and treated harshly.  Paul makes an interesting choice to focus on joy right through troubles, right in the midst of hard times to see the world in a different way.  He has the opportunity to get wrapped up in gloom; he has the opportunity to feel frustrated and discouraged.  Yet instead he sees joy and opportunity around him, because he knows whatever going on around him doesn’t change the very real truth that he has a Savior and nothing can change that.

We are looking today living with faith as very real and true challenges are in front of us.

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Looking at the news is difficult sometimes.  You might be settling in for a peaceful night and sit down to see one person after another that has troubles and even tragic things happening.  It’s hard to look at and walk away feeling peaceful.

You have your own troubles… sometimes big, sometimes small… you know you have big troubles if you show up to work and there is a 60 minutes news team waiting to interview you.  Or, maybe things are going smooth and your biggest troubles that are hitting you is that there is not enough room on the top of your birthday cake to squeeze all those candles… and it’s starting to collapse under the weight of it all.  Maybe, you just are concerned about what you see going on in the world around.

I’d like to share a story about this one particular believer who was very troubled by what he saw around and asked questions.  He looks around and the crime rate is up.  It seems like there is so much violence happening all around.  He worries about the greed going on, businesses cheating other businesses, people trying to get ahead at the expense of others. Immorality… Racism… and a big issue hanging over his head is  safety.  There is another nation that want to attack ours… why can’t they just leave us alone?  And what he does is he bring these thoughts to God in prayer… WHY GOD?   I don’t understand… Why?

I’m talking about the prophet Habakkuk.  Read Habakkuk   1:1-4 and 2:1.
How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?..  

Let me make this a little more modern for you.  It is like he is saying…

Lord, I have just been wondering: What is going on in this world? Where are you? God,  you are so powerful,  you are so mighty, you are the amazing creator, and You have described yourself as Love… if you are a God of Love and you can do all things…   then why did all those people die yesterday at that a funeral at the hands of another bomber?    Lord allow me to be honest… there is so, so much hatred and violence in this world that I don’t even feel like looking at it or talking about it. In the news there is war, violence, hatred, children killing children;   parents who legally are allowed to kill their children. I don’t understand why it is allowed to go on?     WHY????

Is there anything new under the sun?   Couldn’t that be someone today as well?

Interestingly… when Habakkuk sees these troubles in the world, he doesn’t respond with his incredible powers reason and his bright sharp brain say….  “there is trouble… therefore there is no God”!    He looks at what is going on… and with just a basic sense of morality… he looks to God…   I know that your real and true… but this just doesn’t seem right… and I don’t understand… WHY?

Habbakuk complains to God… and doesn’t get the answer that he is looking for. If we read further into chapter 1 we see that God answers Habakkuk in a way that doesn’t seem to make sense to him.   “You think that is bad…  well, that nearby nation, the ones that seem wild and do all kinds of killing and don’t even acknowledge that I am God… they are going to run you over.  Your country is going to get wiped out.

The Faith Perspective…

Then later in chapter 2, God does give an answer that makes sense… in the midst of all the troubles… Look at the world this way…

 “the righteous shall live by his faith.”

Righteous…    This means when you are “in right” with God and can actually be in God’s presence and it is okay. .  He is holy and perfect.   Yet… in Romans, it describes how we are not perfect; we have sin in us… ALL of us do.  We are separated from being in God’s perfect presence.  We are by nature “not in right” with Him.  

It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be “righteous”, or “in right”.  He came and made the bridge between us and God’s perfect presence. He faced the problem of sin that we have, FOR US, and defeated it!  He faced the problem of death, and conquered it… FOR US!  And now, through this unique walk of faith, trusting in Jesus as Savior, we have the promise that we are “in right”. 

He didn’t leave us a system that if we are “just good enough”, then we can get in and be with Him.  He made the way home himself and now through faith we confidently carry His promise to be forgiven and “in right”!

We are made to live by faith…

Yes… bad things are going to happen.  You can count on it. God shares in Scripture not to try to make sense of it.  He says that He’ll deal with all this in His time.     In His way…

There was a day that he dealt with our problem inside each of us….  It was a Thursday night, when Christ Jesus with all the strength of God in His being… fully God, yet fully man… allowed himself to be grabbed by some of the Jewish Temple police and dragged into Jerusalem.
he spent an evening of being dragged from one building to another,
he allowed himself to be flogged,
allowed people to mock, and ridicule,  and accuse Him,
and in the middle of the next day on Friday afternoon, the market day in the big city, right on the Friday of the big Temple feast of Passover when thousands and thousands of people are out and about the city…
and people are preparing to kill a lamb for the Passover feast…
Jesus is taken outside the city and does not stop the Roman soldiers who crucify Him… and there He dies.

It was a few years before, that John the Baptist had seen Jesus walking up to Him and pointed toward Jesus and told everyone…”Look there is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”.

Then…  a few days later, the most incredible cosmic event in the history of mankind happened.  On Sunday morning, Jesus of Nazareth, rose from the dead.  The RESURRECTION!!!!!!!
He ROSE!!!
And that day makes all the difference in the world to YOU… forever!

As you live here, on this side of heaven… trying to live life to the fullest and trying to make the best of all the time you have… You are made to live by faith…  to find your identity… the things you value and  cherish in life… to find self worth… through your walk of faith.
You are not meant to live with fear and worry.   You are promised that troubles will happen; you won’t avoid that happening in life.   But, didn’t Jesus speak directly about this when He said…  “Don’t worry…   seek first His kingdom and His righteousness… ”  Matthew 6:25

Throughout all the moments of breath that you have been given as a gift… whether there is suffering or not, health or sickness, when “WHY” can pop into our heads…  questions we can ask ourselves are,  “Is my faith in God Almighty?  Is God as big as He says He is… and does he truly know me?   Do I truly grasp as Paul said that “nothing that will separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus?”   

You can be confident that nothing will separate you from His love!

You know God is real and true… Will anything shake that truth?
When things don’t seem fair?    Will you worry…?     

When you look around at the world… and there are things you don’t understand… You can respond by doubting…

When there are truly unfair things thrown your way… you can respond by worrying… you can respond with fear, being afraid about what is ahead…

Or… You can live by your faith… confident that you can trust in God.  Confident that Jesus of Nazareth truly rose from the dead… and made the way home to heaven for you!  Confident that NOTHING can separate you from His promise!

Listen to the end of the book of Habakkuk.  He is aware that another nation will come to attack them. He has been describing their coming… he knows about it, and he is going to leave justice to God’s hand and trust in God’s promise.  

Read:  Habakkuk 3:16-19 

 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

Right through ANYTHING that goes on to you in life, there is a truth that you can confidently carry with You… 

Don’t find your value, or self worth, or happiness just dependent on the circumstances happening around.  You can be confident that whatever happens.  You have a Savior.  YOU have the promise of a home in heaven.  You can be confident that He has made the way home for you already! 

“The righteous will live by his faith”.  Cherish that truth.  Find you joy and your peace there! And know that you can trust Jesus as your Savior, today, tomorrow, next week, and right through the endless days of life eternal!