Joy In The Time Of Judgement

Joy In A Time of Judgment Habakkuk 3.16-19 The nation was awaiting judgment from God. It was coming through an invading nation, Babylon. Habakkuk is still not understanding this but he comes to accept it. This is similar when we lose someone we love. We don’t understand but we come to terms with living with it. This is the pathway of grief. Life is full of coming to terms with God. God is always at work in our lives, even when we feel most alienated or alone. That is where Habakkuk was. Whether it is the nation, the health of someone we love, the pain from broken relationships or decisions we need to make, life is hard at times. The LORD is here to help us. Look at what He did in Habakkuk’s heart through prayer. It amazing where the LORD brought this prophet to. It was more than acceptance. He was embracing the LORD and what He was going to do. He found joy in the LORD, even in a time of impending judgment! We can too! God keeps His people in times of distress, difficulty and judgment. Noah Joseph Daniel David We can even have joy in these times! Here is how: * Waiting Patiently Does not mean there no emotion It does. Means we are not pushing the river. We are going with the flow of His Spirit. John 7. 38 Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Flow with that River, the Holy Spirit We trust God’s timing. He makes all things beautiful in His time. Ecclesiastes 3.11 We are trusting in God’s plans. Romans 8.28 We are trusting in God’s love. We know He has a plan for us. Psalm 139.16     all the days ordained for me were written in Your book     before one of them came to be. Habakkuk listened to God’s counsel in chapter two. Though it tarry wait for it... * Remember That Shortages Does Not Diminish Hope, Faith, Love or Joy If we find our happiness in things then we will lose it when things run out. If our Joy is in serving Jesus then our joy will no be affected by shortages. Hope is an anchor in times of difficulty. Our faith is purified during trials. Patience comes from this. Our love for God is tested in times of scarcity. We also grow closer to Him in the valleys and difficulties. Priceless gifts come in times of great pressure. Great lessons are taught when we out on a limb, when we are going through difficult and pressure filled times. We are comforted by God and then we can comfort others with the same comfort we received. Hospital Experiences teach us invaluable lessons. The LORD is bringing us to situations where He is our only Hope. Like Habakkuk we can rejoice in the times he describes in the latter portion of chapter 3. Habakkuk had nowhere else to turn. He had tried to figure out what God was doing in the nation. It made things worse in some ways. * We can have joy! In the LORD Philippians 4.4 We can rejoice in Him. He is with us. Habakkuk found out that God was listening to him and his cries. In our salvation Psalm 51.12, 13.5 We are saved from sinful living. Free! Free to obey the LORD. We are saved from a life of destruction. Our sins are forgiven never to be remembered against us! That our names are written down in Heaven Luke 10.20 This world is passing. We are just passing through. I think of those 24 young people that sailed over 150 years ago this past week from London, England to China with the China Inland Mission. Most of their names are not remembered. They obeyed God and today they are in heaven, rejoicing forever. That God has promised to take care of you! Matthew 6.33 We are so thankful for the food we have to eat and the clothes we have to wear. Every need He is supplying. The LORD wants us to live carefree. He doesn’t want us burdened down with worry. * The LORD lifts us up above our circumstances In our hearts Nothing really changed for Habakkuk as far the circumstances in the nation. His Hope was that God would reform the nation, bring about revival of righteousness. The nation had left the LORD no other option but to judge. His prayers were being answered however, just not the way he thought they would be. Yet we see his Hope was in the LORD. When our prayers are not answered as we had hoped they would be and we only have God how rich we are! We pray for God to help and change circumstances. Sometimes He does, but He always changes me. I am changed through my praying to become more like Jesus. He prayed, “Father, if possible, let this up pass from Me.” We read in Isaiah 53.10 “Yet it was the LORD's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life an offering for sin, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand.” A new perspective Part of the change the LORD brings in prayers not being answered the way I thought they should be is a change of perspective. This was certainly true in Habakkuk’s life. This burden and oracle, what he uttered all showed how circumstances did not change but the prophet did. God is so patient with us, amazingly patient. He allows us to work through these difficult times and issues in our own lives. He works in our prayers. He listens and responds to us, to our hearts. He knows all about our struggles. Perhaps you need a new perspective! God will give it to you. Wait for Him. God’s Habakkuk 1.5 The LORD let’s the prophet in on His plans. When God does that in response to our prayers then our perspective changes to His. We are seeking that with Colombia. The prayer meeting yesterday morning. Heights Ephesians 2.6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, We have a heavenly perspective, a sense of the LORD’s ways being so much higher than ours. On this earth, in a world that is sinful, among people of unclean lips, Isaiah saw the LORD! The LORD gave Him a Heavenly Vision. I love to fly. As I look down from the plane I see a little how God sees. I love to pray from heaven. I know that one Day, one Glorious Day Christ will return. We can have joy all the time. We can be distressed and even depressed and know the joy of walking with Jesus. Today, right now.