IDEA: If we want answers to our deepest doubts, we have to be willing to wait for the doubts to be resolved.TEXT: "I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected" (Habakkuk 2:1).
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand that when God does not immediately resolve our conflicts and our question, it does not mean that He is not at work.
Are there people in history that you would like to have over for dinner?
Are there people in the Bible that you would like to have a serious conversation with?
I. One intriguing character in the Old Testament is the prophet named Habakkuk.
Why would you be interested in spending some time with Habakkuk?
Do you like to spend time with people who have doubts?
Habakkuk demonstrates that God is not upset when we go to Him with our doubts.
What are the questions that Habakkuk flung at God?
How could God be righteous and overlook all of the evil that was happening in Judah?
When he got God's answer, his next question was how a holy God could use the wicked Babylonians to punish Judah.
Isn't Habakkuk's problem our problem? Things happen in our lives and in our society that God doesn't seem to deal with, and we have doubts about His character or even of His existence.
II. Although the prophet's questions are common, his reaction was not.
Have you ever had people throw questions like this at you, but you sensed that they were not looking for an answer?
We can ask why someone did something but we don't really want an answer.
We merely want to make the other person to feel guilty or humiliated.
Questions like "Why are you late?" "Why did you get an F in geography?" "Why did you invite your mother to visit us again?"
III. Habakkuk was honest with his questions. He showed a willingness to be given a solution to his problem (2:1).
He not only is willing to hear, but he puts himself in a position where it is easy to hear. Is that common?
He wants to listen and think and anticipate another question that he will have to ask.
It's always helpful to meet a fellow struggler who has taken God seriously enough to not be satisfied with easy answers.