IDEA: A major way God deals with our doubts is to give us a new perspective.
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. Then the Lord answered me and said, 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith' " (Habakkuk 2:1-4).
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand the power of a new perspective.
A friend of mine who went through a university where his faith came under strong attack said that he kept his faith by realizing that all of his questions didn't have to be answered by the end of the semester. Do you think that was a good strategy for dealing with doubts?
I. Some of our deepest doubts arise when we make quick judgments about God's work in the world.
Habakkuk used the strategy of waiting for God's answer. He was willing to go to the ramparts and wait for God's response to his questions.
He wanted an explanation for God's apparent indifference to evil in Judah.
He wanted an explanation that God was going to punish evil by using the Babylonians as a whipping stick.
Sometimes our doubts seem overwhelming. But contrary to how we feel, we need to be willing to go to God and wait for Him to give us His perspective.
Have you found that questions that overwhelmed you years ago are not questions you ask now? Why? What happened?
II. God never promises us answers, but He does give us Himself.
Faith isn't knowing the answers. It is giving our questions and our situation to God.
There are many answers that we cannot receive because we're not ready for them.
There are some questions that will not ever be answered.
Sometimes we need a new perspective.
How does God look at what is happening?
We need the perspective of faith that God can be trusted. That God is sovereign is a crucial perspective.
William Cowper wrote many hymns, but throughout his life he struggled with the question of God and even contemplated suicide. But he wrote a hymn that contained a new perspective.
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform.
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessing on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen first,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.