Finding Hope in the Silence

Habakkuk 1:1-11 | November 1, 2020

Do you ever feel like God’s not answering your prayers?

Like he doesn’t really care about the problems of your life?

That things seem to get worse before they get better?

Most of us have felt that way at least once.

So, what do we do in those moments?

I saw a story from the 1930’s about a blimp.

There were 250 men holding the ropes to this blimp to keep it from floating away.

Suddenly a gust of wind caught one end of the blimp and started lifting it high off the ground.

Some of the men immediately let go of their ropes and fell safely to the ground.

Others panicked, clinging to their ropes as the nose of the blimp kept climbing.

Several men who couldn’t keep holding on fell and were seriously injured.

One man, however, continued to dangle high in the air for about 45 minutes until he was rescued.

Reporters later asked him how he was able to hold on to the rope for so long and this is what he said…

“I didn’t hold on to the rope. I just tied it around my waist, and the rope held on to me.”

It is my prayerful hope that in the weeks ahead, we will be able to tie the truth of God’s Word around our waist. 

How?

Through a prophet named Habakkuk.

Now some of you grew up in a church where that last “k” was silent – but it’s there so we are going to use it.

And why do we need to tie the rope of God’s truth from some old prophet around our waist?

So that when prayers seem unanswered…

When it seems like things are going from bad to worse…

When we are nervous or afraid or angry about how things might turn out…

The rope of God’s truth will hold us and remind us that we are children of the King.

And our King keeps his promises.

So, grab your rope and let’s dive in.

Listen beginning with chapter 1, verse 1:

1 The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

We don’t know much about Habakkuk.

He was a prophet who likely ministered sometime around 600 BC.

His name comes from a Hebrew word that means “to embrace”.

Not just a casual embrace, like a hug, but a clinging embrace, like an Olympic wrestling move in a match.

And that’s about all we really know about Habakkuk.

And that’s okay. 

His biography is not what’s most important here. 

It’s the oracle that matters. 

The word for oracle here means burden.

Habakkuk has a serious burden.

As a prophet many believe he served during the time of a good king that honored and obeyed the Lord.

But then those good years were followed by a king who dishonored and disobeyed the Lord.

There were good leaders and bad leaders in his country.

We can’t make any connections with that, can we?

Just like us, Habakkuk experienced some nerve-racking experiences with national leaders.

Do you think it mattered who was king?

Of course, it did.

Do you think it matters who is president?

Of course, it does.

But unlike the kings in Habakkuk’s day, an American president cannot do whatever he wants. 

Rick Thomas

…to sit back as though the president is the be-all, end-all is wrongheaded and will reduce to you a despairing complainer, not an active transformer.

So, how can we be an active transformer?

Rick Thomas

Somewhere between over-inflating the position (of president) and lowering the bar to the ground is wisdom.

Rick Thomas

If you’re passive or unconcerned about political matters, you’re part of the problem. If you’re grumbling about the state of the union, you’re part of the problem, too.

Rick Thomas

These two attitudes are like children who check out from the family or complain about it. Neither one will cooperate with the Lord in the betterment of the whole.

So, how can we be part of the betterment of the whole?

Rick Thomas

The one right answer is to examine your heart to see who controls it.

Rick Thomas

If the Lord is pulling your heartstrings, then you are experiencing happiness, joy, rest, peace, and contentment.

Rick Thomas

If these traits are not how someone would characterize you, there is work that must happen. From your heart flows all your attitudes, words, and actions.

Rick Thomas

As the Lord is stabilizing your heart, you’re in the right spot to activate your faith to help change those within your sphere of influence.

As we approach this week…

Who is controlling your heart?

Are you in a position today to be an active transformer – someone who is using their faith to help change and influence beyond just casting a vote?

Or are you just a grumbling, despairing, complainer?

What was Habakkuk?

Remember this is an oracle which means burden.

He wasn’t a grumbling, despairing, complainer, but he was burdened over the spiritual decline and spiritual rebellion in his country.

So, what’s he going to do?

He’s going to take that burden to the Lord.

He knows that there is nowhere else to turn.

And what does Habakkuk say to the Lord about his burden?

Look at verse 2:

2 How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear?

This burden is overwhelming to him – and this is not the first time he has brought this burden to the Lord.

He has been coming to the Lord for some time.

• “God, it’s me again, Habakkuk.”
• “I’m still pleading!”
• “I’m still praying!”
• “How long, Lord?”
• “How long before you answer?”
• “Why are you not helping?”
• “Why is this great burden still in my life?”

Have you ever found yourself praying that way?

What is this burden he has?

Listen to the rest of verse 2 continuing through verse 4:

2 I cry out to You, "Violence!" Yet You do not save. 3 Why do You make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness?

 

3 Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. 4 Therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld.

4 For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.

His burden was for the world he was living in.

A world that was marked with:

• Sin
• Wicked activity
• Violent crime
• Fighting
• An imperfect system of justice
• An imperfect government

Hear anything familiar?

Many of us hear the latest news story about someone escaping the law or justice being perverted and we are quick to rail and post about it.

But we should be slow to huff and puff and quick to always watch our own hearts.

We are tempted to get up in arms over statistics about the economy or the election and yet ignore or dismiss the statistics surrounding abortion and human trafficking. 

In other words, we are all capable of thinking and living in an unjust manner.

You see, Habakkuk wasn’t just finding sin and injustice out in the world – it was rampant among the people of God.

Sadly, there are far too many expressions of sin and pride and selfishness and injustice inside the church.

Let us repent of such things, change, and put our energy toward making much of Jesus.

Like Habakkuk, we live in a world filled with sin and injustice.

But we should not be surprised.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

One of the underlying truths of the gospel is that things are not going to get better – hence the need for good news.

But things are supposed to get worse. 

“Glad we tuned in to Holland Avenue today – they know how to encourage a fella!”

But there is good news!

One day when it seems like things could not possibly get any worse, the clouds will part and the Lord Jesus Christ will descend in all his glory!

Now does that mean that we should just ignore the sin and wickedness in the world!

Should we just put some lounge chairs out in the backyard and sit back and wait for Jesus!

No!

We should weep and mourn and be burdened in the same way that Habakkuk was burdened.

We should be pleading and praying to the Lord to send grace and mercy and spiritual revival to this world that is teeming with spiritual rebellion.

We should be broken for men and women and boys and girls who will be cast into utter darkness if they do not repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.   

But we should not be surprised. 

To some degree, many things are supposed to get worse before Jesus returns.

You have to appreciate what Habakkuk is asking…

• “God, why are you allowing this?”
• “This doesn’t seem like what you would want.”

David Guzik

Habakkuk deals with the questions that come up when someone really believes God yet looks around them and the world doesn't seem to match up with how God wants it.

After a lot of praying and pleading, God eventually responds to Habakkuk’s burden.

Dear Christian, please don’t ever forget that – no matter how great the burden or how long it lasts, God hears you – he hears you!

And what does God say to Habakkuk?

 

5 "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished!  Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days – You would not believe if you were told.

Can’t you just hear Habakkuk?

• “Yes!”
• “Great!”
• “Just what I’ve been praying for!”
• “I’m so excited, Lord!”
• “I can’t wait.”
• “This is too good to be true.”

Not quite. 

In fact, Habakkuk might be about to say:

“Lord, this is too bad to be true!”

Why?

Wait to you see how God is going to answer his prayer.

Listen to verses 6-11:

6 "For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.

 

7 "They are dreaded and feared; Their justice and authority originate with themselves.

 

8 "Their horses are swifter than leopards and keener than wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come galloping, their horsemen come from afar; They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.

 

9 "All of them come for violence. Their horde of faces moves forward. They collect captives like sand.

10 "They mock at kings and rulers are a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress and heap up rubble to capture it.

 

11 "Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty, they whose strength is their god."

You can almost hear Habakkuk’s jaw drop to the ground.

God was going to deal with sin and injustice in the world and he was going to deal with sin and injustice among his people.

How?

By sending a wicked nation to destroy and take over. 

Now we know why God said:

• “Be astonished!”
• “You wouldn’t believe it, if someone told you!”

Yea, that pretty much sounds like the opposite of an answer to Habakkuk’s prayer.

And yet it is God’s answer. 

He has been raising up the Chaldeans to handle the problem of sin and injustice among his people. 

Wait a minute!

Are you saying that God is working through a group of monsters to deal with the problem of sin?

No, I’m not saying that at all – God is saying that. 

And what are these Chaldeans like?

They are ruthless and violent people who do whatever they want and take whatever they want.

They used to be nobodies and now they are taking over the world. 

Why?

Because God said he made them who they are for his own purposes. 

I think that’s important for us to remember.

Pilate and the Jewish leaders were not trying to put Jesus on the cross in order to accomplish the purposes of God, but God used their wickedness to bring salvation to our hearts.

The Psalmist reminds us:

Psalm 135:5-6

For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

 

• The Lord is great!
• He does whatever he pleases!
• And he is good!
• And his love endures forever!

All of that is true even in the midst of what sounds to us like a very strange answer to prayer.

Everything in the Bible screams to us that God knows when to bless and when to not bless. 

That brings us back to the Chaldeans.

We see here that they are ruthless and violent people. 

But using verses 6-10, let’s consider their habits again:

• Hot-tempered
• Take whatever they want
• Don’t follow any kind of rules or law
• Mean and awful in how they treat others
• No respect for authority

Anything ring a bell?

If you have ever read through the Old Testament, you will recognize that these are the exact same things that far too often reflected the very people of God.

And the people of God still struggle with those things today. 

Those same basic sins still plague Christians today.

One of the saddest parts of this story is what God said back in verse 5…

“You would not believe it if you were told.” 

And he was right, the people didn’t believe Habakkuk. 

Just like the people didn’t believe Noah. 

Just like the people didn’t believe Jesus. 

One day Jesus was talking to some religious leaders and told them this parable…

A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same. “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’ “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him. Jesus asked, “When the owner of the vineyard returns, what do you think he will do to those farmers?” The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.” Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’ I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.” (Matthew 21:33-43, NLT)

Jesus is that cornerstone – please do not reject the Cornerstone. 

Listen to and believe in and enjoy Jesus.

Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers when we want him to and the way we want him to.

But no matter how strange and unwelcome, his answers are always best and are always effective and are always for our good and his glory.

Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers when we want him to and the way we want him to, so we quit praying.

Don’t give God a few days and then tell him you are going to handle it yourself. 

Don’t reject his answers.

And don’t reject his silence. 

If you are a Christian, come what may, try really hard to simply enjoy the gift of being saved.

Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers when we want him to and the way we want him to, so we quit turning to him.

Listen, spouses, parents, pastors, counselors, friends, even political pundits can all have their place.

But there is no substitute for the living God. 

When it comes to sin and injustice and suffering and what seem to be unanswered prayers, there is nowhere else to turn.

We may not understand, and we might question, and we might struggle, but we cannot say that God is unloving or uncaring. 

Why?

David Fairchild

…because the Christian God (unlike the gods of all the other religions) takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he is willing to get involved with it himself. On the cross, Jesus suffered with us. 

And he suffered for us. 

And how does his suffering help us for this election week?

 

Romans 8:35, 37-39

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No! For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Tie that around your waist – it will hold, it will hold!

Message by Dow Welsh |

November 1, 2020 © Holland Avenue Baptist Church

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Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted

Lots of help from many pastors and theologians

Weekly help from Bruce Hurt at www.preceptaustin.org

https://rickthomas.net/does-it-really-matter-who-becomes-our-next-president/

the oh, do you ever feel like God's not answering your prayers? Ever feel like that? He just doesn't really care about your problems. Like things seem to be getting worse before they seem to be getting better. My guess is all of us have felt that way at least once in life. I was reading a story from the 19 thirties about a blimp, and there were 250 men that were holding ropes attached to this blimp. They were trying to keep it in place, and suddenly a strong gust of wind came up and blew up under the front of the blimp, and it started violently, lifting up in the air. Some of the guys hung on to the rope for a little bit is it started rising, but they let go, and they dropped to the ground without too much injury. Others panicked a little bit and they clung to the ropes and the blimp kept rising and rising and rising. But eventually they couldn't hold on anymore, and they fell to the ground and were seriously injured. And then there was this one guy, though, that he was dangling from that glint like 45 minutes before he was rescued and some reporters after everything was calm down. They went over to the guy and they said, How in the world did you hang onto that road that long? God said I didn't hang onto that rope. I tied the rope around my waist. The rope was hanging on to me. My passionate hope and prayer for us in the next few weeks is that we would be able to tie the rope of God's truth around our waist. How through this prophet named Tobacco. Now, some of you grew up in a church in that last K was silent. There's always a Becca in that case there. So we're going to use it All right back, we're going to be looking at the life of tobacco listening, Thio the truth that he has for us. But why? Why are we going to tie the rope of God's truth around our ways from some old prophet? Here's why. So when it seems like your prayers are not being answered when it seems like things really are going from bad to worse when it seems like you're nervous or you're afraid or you're angry about how things may turn out the rope of God's truth will be holding you and reminding you that you are a child of the king and our team keeps his promises forever and ever. So grab your rope Unless Davian Tobacco Chapter one, beginning with verse one says this. The oracle. Which a back kick? The Prophet Saul. We don't know much about this cat. We just really don't we know he was a prophet? We know he ministered probably sometime around 600 BC. We know that his name is a Hebrew word that means to embrace not like a hug, but like a like an Olympic wrestler. You know, like a serious embrace. And that's about all we know. We don't know a whole lot about him. That's okay, because his biography is not the priority. It's It's the oracle that matters. It's it's the message that matters. The word oracle here could mean burden, and so tobacco has a serious burden. He has a burden because of the life that he's in. It's believed that for many years he was ministering during the time of a good king, a good king who honored God and obeyed God and was good to the people. But then another king took over and the other king was a bad king and he dishonored God and he disobeyed God. And he did not do right by the people. Back live during a time where there were good leaders and there were bad leaders in his nation. Anything sound familiar there? Can we make any connection with that? Just like us tobacco experience? Some difficult moments with national leaders. So do you think it mattered? Who was king? Of course it. Now do you think it matters? Who is president? Of course it matters. But unlike the Kings of Robotics Day, an American president cannot do whatever they want. Have a counseling friend, Rick Thomas. He wrote this about a week ago to sit back as though the president is the be all end. All is wrong headed and we'll reduce to you a despairing complainer, not an active transformer Active transformer. I like that word. How can we be an active transformer as an American in November 2020? How could we be an active transformer? Rick's going to tell us. He begins this way somewhere between over inflating the position of president and lowering the bar to the ground is wisdom always true? Right way tend to go to extremes, but there's always wisdom, so we need wisdom. If we're going to be an active transformer, what does that mean? He goes on. If you're passive or unconcerned about political matters, you're part of the problem. If you're grumbling about the state of the Union, you're part of the problem, too. Those two attitudes are like Children who check out from the family or complain about it. Neither one will cooperate with the Lord in the betterment of the whole Christian. That is our call. How can we be a part of the betterment of the whole? How can we be active transformers that are better mints as part of the whole? How do we do that? Rick tells us. One right answer is to examine your heart, to see who controls it. So if we're going to be an active transformer, if we're going to be a betterment to the whole, it actually will never start in the White House, and it will never start in the State House, and it will never start in the church, and it'll never start anywhere else. other than my heart and your heart. That's where everything begins. He goes on. If the Lord is pulling your heartstrings, then you are experiencing happiness, joy, rest peace and contentment. Now, let me just say none of us will ever experience that perfectly. Okay, we're all going to have our moments. But generally speaking, are those things seen in your life? He goes on. If these traits are not how someone would characterize you, there's work that must happen from your heart flows all your attitudes and your words and your actions. And then he says this as the Lord is stabilizing your heart, you're in the right spot to activate your faith, to help change those within your sphere of influence. Active transformers, betterment of the heart. Activating your faith around those that you influence. See, we could be a part of. This is what we've been called to do as believers. But it starts in one place, and it starts with one question. So I want you to ask that question of your heart today. Okay? I'm going to ask you to mind out loud. Just you can kind of get a feel for what we're talking about because This is the question. Doubt who controls your heart. Now I want you to take a moment. I want you to put your name in that sentence. And I want you to ask that sentence to yourself. Just right now, Who controls your heart? Who is controlling your heart? Are you in a position to be an active transformer? Are you in a position for your faith to be activated so that you can help be a part of change and and influence beyond just casting a vote? Or is your heart being so controlled by so many different things that at the end of the day, you're just a grumbling, despairing complainer? What was her back up? Well, back it again had a burden. He wasn't a grumbling, despairing complainer about anything inside the church or outside the church or in the country in the land. He wasn't a grumbling, complainer boy. He had a burden. He had a burden that there was a spiritual decline in his country, that there was spiritually rebellion in his country. He had a burden on. What was he going to do? He was going to take that burden to the Lord. He was going to take his burden to God because he knew there was nowhere else for him. Really? To take that burden. And what does a back kick say to the Lord? What does he say to it? Listen, Verse two How long A Lord? Well, I call for help and you will not. Here. This burden is overwhelming. And this ain't the first time he's come to God. You just see her. I got it. It's me. It's a back. I'm here again. God, I'm I'm pleading again. I'm I'm praying again. God, how long? How long before you answer? Why are you not helping? Why is this great burden still in my life? God, What are you doing? You were praying that way before Ever felt that way before? What is this burden that he has? Listen, as he continues in verse two, I cry out to you violence yet you do not save. Why do you make me see iniquity and cause me toe? Look on wickedness. Yes, destruction and violence are before me. Strife exist and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld For the wicked surround the righteous. Therefore, justice comes out perverted. He was burdened about the world that he lived in. And what was the world like around tobacco? Well, according to his own description, is a world full of sin and wickedness and violence and fighting and in perfect judicial system and in perfect government hear anything familiar? Anything we can make a connection with? You know, many of us oftentimes, when we hear the latest news story of someone escaping the law are someone perverting justice were quick to kind of huff and puff were quick to kind of get our dander up, but particularly as believers way should be slow toe huff and puff. And we should be quick to consider our own hearts because even Aziz believers, we will find ourselves up in arms over statistics about the economy. Statistics about the election and we ignore, dismiss or are completely apathetic about statistics about abortion or statistics about human trafficking. See, the reality is even we as believers, we have the ability to think in an unjust way to think in a self absorbed, self centered way and not see the big picture of God's grace and mercy active in the world in any given moment. Tobacco wasn't just finding sin and injustice out in the world. He was finding sin and justice among the people of the church. Sadly, he was finding sin and pride and selfishness, injustice among God's people. And look, if we're honest, there's nothing new under the sun. Sadly, there is still too much sin and pride and selfish, just an injustice inside and among God's people. So what can we do? Repent like we can. We can stop it. I mean, you know, it's not like a diet, because that's a lot harder toe. Stop eating things that you want to eat. But you know his believers. I think we can just say man, gotta I think I really want to deal with sin and pride and selfishness in my life. I think I'm not going to sit in the pew and be comfortable with it anymore because you created all things invisible and visible, and that includes me and you've created me toe worship you. That's God. I'm not doing a good job of that because there's this thing I want and I'm not getting it. I'm a hang on to that and what we should be saying is God have thigh known way have the like a back. We live in a world full of sin and injustice, but we should not be surprised, right? The wise man of the Old Testament said. What Ecclesiastes is 19 What has been is what will be and what has been done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. One of the underlying truths of the gospel is that things are not going to get better. Hence the need for the good news of the gospel. The bad news will increase, but there's the good news of the gospel to cancel it out. So things are supposed to get worse. Mm. Glad we tuned into Holland Avenue today, man. They know how to encourage a fellow over there. But it's true, right? I mean, Jesus said it pretty, pretty bluntly. Pretty clearly. The things we're going to get worse before they got better. But in the middle of the bad news, there's this great news, this good news you could see one day when it seems like things are going from worst toe worse toe worse on that day. In that moment, one day the clouds will open, the trumpet will sound, the Lord Jesus will descend and all of his glory. And even so, and especially so if you're a Christian, that truth should make today a moment where we can say it is well with my so another hard question. Can you say that today? I mean, I don't know. What news did you see before you came to church? It's like in your mind that made you matter afraid. Can you say it's well with your soul? Can you say it's well with your soul this week? Heading into Tuesday? Can you say today it's well with your soul? Wednesday morning, we'll be able to say it's well with your soul. No matter what happens, will you be able to say it's well with your soul? Because the gospel is designed to do just that. It's designed to help our soul when nothing else will help. Now, does that mean that you know, we're just going to sit in the backyard and a lounge chair and just say, Oh, Jesus is coming back one day? I'm just going to hang out. It's well with myself. No. Now, what should we do? Way should be like a backer. We should be broken and we should be burdened. We should. We should be burdened. And we should be praying that God would send Cem spiritually revival to our land as it continues to move towards spiritually rebellion and just a reminder non Christians are supposed to be spiritually rebellious. It's kind of who they are. The problem is that the church needs revival. We're the ones that are spiritually. Rebellion is always worse because we're the people of God. And so when revival comes, it starts with the church. It's not packing up, Unite. It is packing your heart night. It's when a believer all over again realizes I have been saved. I have been rescued. I have been redeemed, and that's supposed to matter. And it's supposed to change how I think and how I act on what I do and how I vote and how I live the day after I vote. That's the gospel. That's what makes it good news. We should be Burden. That spiritual revival would come. We should be broken for the men and women and the boys and girls that, apart from Christ, will be cast into utter darkness and separated from God forever. We should be broken. We should be burdened. But we should not be surprised. We should not be surprised. To some degree, Things are supposed to get worse before Jesus returns. Which makes me kind of appreciate a box question here. Hey, God, Come on. How long? How long? God, I mean, God, everything that I'm seeing in the world right now doesn't seem like how you would want things. I never thought that before David got sick. Says this. Ah, back. It deals with the questions that come up when someone really believes God yet looks around them. And the world doesn't seem to match up with how God wants it. I'd say we're all there right now to some degree, so advocates pleading, he's praying. God, please, God, Please, God, please, for some amount of time. And then the Lord answers, he responds. And if you're a believer, I really don't want you to miss that. No matter how bad your burden is, no matter how long you are praying, Please, no. God hears you. He hears shit and he will answer So God answers tobacco on. What does he say? listen to Verse five. Look among the nations. Observe. Be astonished Wonder because I am doing something in your days. You would not believe if you were told. Did you see her back? But yes, Thank you, Lord. Finally. Great news. I can't wait to see how all this is going to unfold. Boy, this is just too good to be true. Thank you, Lord. But it's very possible that his tone was about to change. He was about to say, God, this is too bad to be true. Why? Because he was going to hear God's answer. God's answer was not what he was expecting. Listen to the rest of God's answer, beginning with verse six. For behold, I am raising up the cow Deion's that fierce and impetuous people who marched throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs. They are dreaded and feared. Their justice and authority originate with themselves, their horses air swifter than leopards and keener than wolves. In the evening there, horsemen come galloping Their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle eagle swooping down to devour. All of them come for violence. Their hoard of faces moves forward. They collect captives like sand, they market kings and rulers air a laughing matter to them. They laugh at every fortress and heap up rubble to capture it. Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on. But they will be held guilty. They whose strength is there. God, can't you just going to feel the backaches, jaw dropping to the ground? What What kind? See God was going to deal with the sin. He was going to deal with the pride. He was going to deal with the injustice. But inside and outside of the church, God was going to deal with it. And how is he going to deal with it by sending a wicked nation to destroy and take over. Now we know what God said. Hey, be astonished. You wouldn't believe it if I told you it's true. Way wouldn't because this sounds like the opposite of an answer to prayer. I mean the back. It's been praying for a long time, and this is the answer. But it is God's answer. It's God's answer. He's been raising up the Cal Deion's toe handle the problem of sin. He's been raising up the kalderans toe handle the problem of injustice among his people and beyond. Now someone might be thinking way minute. Are you saying that God is working through a group of monsters to deal with the problem of sin? No, I'm not saying that at all. God is saying that's what he did. That's what he was doing. What are these countians like? They're ruthless, their violent. They do whatever they want. They take whatever they want. There were no bodies, and all of a sudden they're taking over the world. Why? Because God said that he made them for his own purpose. He was using them for his purposes. That's super important to remember. See Pilot and the Jewish leaders. They weren't delivering Jesus over to be crucified, to accomplish the purpose of God. But God accomplished his purpose through pilot and the Jewish leaders and others. God made away for me to be saved in a way for you to be saved. It's almost reminds us of this. Someone 35 for I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord please is he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps great song. The Lord is great. He does whatever he pleases. He is good and his love endures forever, and nothing can change that. And all of that is true, even in the midst of what sounds like tow us the wrong answer to prayer. All of these things about God are always true. They never change, even when it seems like he's silent, even when it seems like he's not working even when it sounds like his prayer and his answer is wrong. Everything in the Bible screams to us that God knows when to bless, and he knows when not to bless. Which brings us back to the guardian's way. See, here they're ruthless and their violence just again. Just kind of an overview versus six through 10. Listen to it again. They're hot tempered. They take whatever they want. They don't follow any kind of rules or law. They're mean. They're awful on how they treat other people, and they have no respect for authority. Any of those ring a bell. So if you go through the Old Testament, read the story of God's people. You'll find those things among God's people and you know Even today, you'll find those things among God's people. You'll find God's people still struggling with some of those same sins. Hot tempered, take whatever they want. Don't follow any rules mean and awful on how they treat others. No respect for authority. We still find those things today among the people of God, not just among the guardian's. You know, one of the saddest parts of this story is what God says back in verse five, you would not believe it if you were told that God was right because they didn't listen to her back. He was right because they didn't listen to Noah. He was right because they didn't listen to Jesus. One day, Jesus was teaching a group of religious leaders, and he told them operable. And the parable goes like this. This is from Matthew, 21. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, build a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice and build a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop, but the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one and stoned another. So the landowner, it's in a larger group of the servants to collect for him. But the results were the same. Finally, the owner said, I'll send my son. Surely they'll respect my son. But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said, Oh, hook, Here comes the heir to the estate. Come on, let's kill him and get the estate for ourselves. And so they grabbed him. They dragged him out of the vineyard and they murdered him. At this point, Jesus turns to the religious leaders and asked this question. When the owner of the Vineyard returns, what do you think he will do to those farmers? And, you know, those church folks had an answer pretty fast. And it went like this. Oh, he will put the wicked men to a horrible death. He'll lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvests. Then Jesus turned them and said this. Didn't you ever read the Scriptures? Usually not a good son. When you're a church person in Jesus responses, I don't think you're reading your Bible Didn't you ever read this in the scriptures? The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is wonderful to see. I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. It's pretty heavy because you see Jesus is that cornerstone. And so, in the same way that a back it would plead with the Lord to move and act, I would plead with you today. Do not reject the cornerstone. Do not reject the cornerstone. Listen to Jesus. Believe in Jesus. Enjoy Jesus. He is all you need. Sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers when we want him to and the way we want him to. But no matter how he answers the prayer, we really do need toe own the reality that his answer is always good and effective and right for you and good for his glory. We can trust him. He's pretty good at taking care of the world. He's done it for a while. Sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers and we want to in the way we want him to. And so we quit praying. You know, we just We just quit. I mean, you know, we'll sit down at the at the dinner table, and we'll throw up a little part of our blessing. You know, God, you know, be with the election or God be with my help or, God, you know, be with my health or be with the kids or something. You know, Just just don't do that. Don't Don't Don't make small God stuff with the God of the universe. Keep at it. Keep taking things to the Lord. He listens, he hears, and don't reject his answers. And listen, this is this is the hardest one for all of us. Don't reject his silence. Don't reject the silence of God. The silence of God throughout eternity throughout history is good and right and helpful. So don't Don't reject to silence. We want to, but don't. And if you're a Christian, the very least just pray in such a way. Pray I pray like Sylvester Thompson, retired postal worker, one of my IRA leaders. And when he would pray and he'd start praying about the cross, he would just get Terry. Hey, just what he'd tear up he never got over being saved. I can't remember. Mr. Sylvester was an old man when he was my Ari leader. He wasn't a young guy, which I challenged you older men. You're never done because one of the men that made the biggest difference in my life was making that difference. After the age of 75 he was probably in his eighties when he died. And, you know, I had the privilege Thio pray with a member of our church this week. And I was so thankful for the simplicity that halfway through the prayer, he said, God, this is the second time I've got to pray with you today that that's how we should think That's how our heart should be in prayer. I just got thanks for Let me come back again and talk to you Sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers when we won't in the way we won't. So we actually just quit turning to him. We do. We just We start turning thio other people or other things. We just find something else to turn to Listen, your family is great. Your spouse is great. Your kids are great. Your parents, your great grand parents, your great, your friends air. Great political pundits even have their place. Okay, but there is absolutely no comparison for the living guy. Don't ever quit turning to him. Don't ever stop turning to him. You may not understand. You might question You might struggle. You might be confused, but you can never say that God is unloving or uncaring. Let me repeat that you may struggle. You may question you may not understand. You may be confused, but you can never say that God is unloving or uncaring. How do we know that? David Fairchild said this Because the Christian God, unlike the gods of all the other religions, takes our misery and are suffering so seriously that he is willing to get involved with it himself. On the cross. Jesus suffered with plus and he suffered for bus. So what is all of this have to do with Election week? 2020? I can't say it any better than impossible. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Well, tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? No. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor Principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things will ever be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ. Jesus, our Lord Tie that around your waist. Tie that around your waist Because, dear friend, that'll hold That'll hold forever.