Responding Humbly to Trials; from CJ Mahaney
Speaking of the transformation that occurred in Habakkuk after his encounter with God in Habakkuk 2 and encouraging us to respond humbly to trials:"He has been transformed from questioning to praying, from confusion to certainty, from being perplexed to fully trusting God. What a suprise! A cataclysmic change has occurred in the disposition of Habakkuk's heart, and yet there has been absolutely no improvement in his cicrumstances. Nothing has changed, and yet, for Habakkuk's heart, everything has changed. He's no longer proud; his soul is no longer puffed up. Instead he's humbly trusting God...
"Habakkuk is a compelling example [of prayer and] patience. He says, "I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us" (Habakkuk 3:16). God has promised to discipline His people. He has promised to judge the Babylonians, and He has promised to fil the earth with the knowledge of His glory; therefore, Habukkuk will wait humbly and quiety for the fulfillment of each promise, be it judgment or blessing.
"Remember that Habakkuk knew nothing about God's timing on all this. He didn't know the hour of the day; he didn't know the month or even the year - and normally, neither do we. Though we find the promises of God throughout Scripture, they don't come with specific dates and times. Therefore, wehn our cicumstances contradict God's character nd promises, we're tempted to supply God with a time frame and demand that He fulfill His promises according to it...
[Listen to Habakkuk's humble, joyful response to trials:]
"Though the fig tre should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines
the produce of the olive fail
and te fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation (Habakkuk 3:17-18)...
"Without ignoring the reality of suffering, Habakkuk turned his attention away from it and fixed his gaze upon the more serious and critical issue of salvation.
"So which are you more aware of? Your present suffering or your salvation, this "great salvation" (Hebrews 2:3) that is our in Jesus Christ?...
"Here's what Habakkuk learned: Those who know true joy in the midst of suffering are those who recognize that in this life, our suffering is never as great or as serious as our sins. As Jonathan Edwards wrote, "How far less [are] the greatest afflictions that we meet with in this world...than we deserved!" That's a divine perspective of suffering. Regardless of the severity of suffering we experience in this life, it will always be less than what we have deserved for our sins...
"In the darkest night of our soul, we have something to hold on to that Job never knew. We know Christ crucified. Christians have learned that when there seems to be no other evidence of God's love, they cannot escape the cross."
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