text stringlengths 6 569 |
|---|
[91.30 --> 95.18] because generally that's what people do when they don't remember someone's name, right? Like if |
[95.18 --> 98.48] someone comes up to you and is like, hey, Kevin, like you respond and you don't know who they are, |
[98.88 --> 105.04] you respond with like, hey, buckaroo. So I might just default to that or do something similar today. |
[105.96 --> 111.38] Anyways, our text today comes from Buckaroo 3 verse, no, I'm kidding. I'm not actually going to do this. |
[111.38 --> 117.88] We're going to read from Habakkuk 3 verses 17 to 19 this morning, and because it's so short, |
[118.70 --> 124.46] I want to start a verse early and read verse 16 as well. I figured we could all use a bonus verse |
[124.46 --> 130.86] in our lives during this season. So verses 16, it actually really kind of sets the stage, so to speak, |
[130.90 --> 136.04] for our text. So please open up your Bibles, pull out your notebooks, your pens, pull out your chai tea |
[136.04 --> 142.50] lattes, your puppets, your glasses, your stress balls, whatever you need right now to really dig |
[142.50 --> 150.86] into this text, grab it and join me as we read Habakkuk 3 verses 16 to 19. And there we read this, |
[150.90 --> 159.38] it says, I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound, decay crept into my bones |
[159.38 --> 166.60] and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation |
[166.60 --> 174.60] invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive |
[174.60 --> 181.34] crops fail and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the |
[181.34 --> 192.30] stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God, my Savior. The sovereign Lord is my |
[192.30 --> 200.02] strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to tread on the heights. |
[201.30 --> 209.90] The word of the Lord. Now, like I said, this passage, it nicely sums up what the entire book of Habakkuk is |
[209.90 --> 215.52] about. Within these few lines of this book, we hear about the prophet, how he is in both a state of |
[215.52 --> 223.94] despair and a state of triumph. With the fear of the nation of Babylon's invasion growing and growing |
[223.94 --> 229.28] and the worry that his people were going to suffer because of it, Habakkuk, he's in dire straits. |
[230.42 --> 239.16] We read that his body trembled, his heart pounded, his lips quivered, the attack was coming, and he knew, |
[239.16 --> 246.26] he knew there would be loss. He knew there would be pain. He knew there would be suffering. He knew |
[246.26 --> 257.06] there would be death. However, in the midst of this despair, we read today that he rejoiced. |
[259.38 --> 264.38] When he started this book, Habakkuk was about to fall apart. Destruction, violence, wickedness, |
[264.38 --> 271.84] injustice. It was all around him. He cried out to God, and his cries were heard. God answered his |
[271.84 --> 278.92] complaints, and he provided Habakkuk the confidence, and more importantly, he provided Habakkuk the lens, |
[279.56 --> 287.66] the perspective that he needed to lift him out of his despair. Though he was physically and emotionally |
[287.66 --> 295.16] weak, Habakkuk was spiritually strong, and our text is the final phase of his transformation. |
[297.68 --> 304.36] Habakkuk realized that his peace, his peace, did not depend on his circumstance. |
[306.20 --> 312.26] And in verse 17 of our text today, he lists and outlines all of the worst pending dooms he could |
[312.26 --> 318.78] think of in his circumstance. The failure of crops, no more figs for cakes, no more grapes for wine, |
[318.90 --> 325.24] no more oil and grain for bread, the loss of sheep and cattle, no more meat to eat, no more clothes |
[325.24 --> 331.32] to wear, no more jobs to do, no more purpose to live for. |
[331.32 --> 342.26] Habakkuk. But even in the midst of annihilation and ruin, of famine and even death, Habakkuk was prepared |
[342.26 --> 350.20] to trust God. Not necessarily trust that God was going to save them from this torment, no, |
[350.58 --> 359.30] but that God was going to save them from the laws of sin and death and war and suffering forever. |
[359.30 --> 367.34] In fact, it went beyond trust. Not only did he believe in God's redemption plan, but he rejoiced. |
[368.08 --> 376.58] He was joyful in the midst of his concern. He found strength, not in himself, not in his understanding, |
[377.08 --> 383.80] not in his ability to cope with his circumstance. No, he found strength in the sovereign Lord. |
[383.80 --> 390.58] He found his footing in the God who keeps his covenant promises forever. |
[392.52 --> 399.00] Habakkuk came to realize that his faith could ultimately and even finally be left in the God |
[399.00 --> 406.40] who keeps his covenant promises forever. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the Lord, |
[406.40 --> 417.74] my Savior, he says. He could rejoice because he began to understand that his faith is a gift. |
[419.32 --> 424.98] Now, we talk about spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts of things like encouragement or hospitality or wisdom, |
[425.08 --> 433.32] there's lots. Faith is also a gift. Faith is something we are all given to varying degrees, sure, |
[433.32 --> 451.34] but we are all given this gift. And the strength and power of that gift of faith is in the object of faith, |
[451.44 --> 456.66] not in the holder of it. So, for example, if I were to put my faith in the government, let's just say, |
[456.66 --> 462.80] the government is the object of my faith. It has the strength, it has the power, not me. I have very |
[462.80 --> 468.92] little control over what the government does. So, the object of my faith has the strength and the |
[468.92 --> 473.78] power, not the holder of it. Or perhaps we put our faith in the economy. Again, we have very little |
[473.78 --> 479.80] control over what the economy does. So, it holds the power of our faith, not me, the holder of it. |
[479.80 --> 492.16] That means that when we put our faith in God, the strength and power of that faith is God, not us. |
[493.54 --> 497.78] And of course, the big difference between God and the government or the economy or anything else |
[497.78 --> 506.78] is that God is faithful to us. That's why Pastor Chris has said several times over the past three |
[506.78 --> 513.90] weeks that when we become weak, when our confidence is shaken, God remains faithful. |
[515.52 --> 522.72] The power and the strength of faith is in the object of faith, our God. |
[525.28 --> 529.34] I'm going to let that marinate for just a little bit. So, sit on that, stew on that a little bit, |
[529.34 --> 538.82] and we'll get back to it. So, Habakkuk, he finds his hope in God's faithfulness. Hope. |
[539.94 --> 545.66] Hope is such an interesting thing, isn't it? It's incredibly important. It's important because |
[545.66 --> 552.26] what we believe about our future completely controls how we feel about our present. |
[552.26 --> 559.52] Let me say that again. What we believe about our future completely controls about how we feel about |
[559.52 --> 566.22] our present. I read a great example of this that highlights this truth. In his book, Making Sense of |
[566.22 --> 573.56] God, Timothy Keller, he uses the following analogy to show just how important our perspective and |
[573.56 --> 581.24] understanding of the future is to our perception of reality. So, picture this. Follow along with me |
[581.24 --> 586.34] here. Pretend there are two women, both of which are the same age, they're the same socioeconomic |
[586.34 --> 592.02] class, they're the same race, same worldview, same everything. And you take these two women and you |
[592.02 --> 599.48] give them a job. They get the same job. It is a super boring job, an assembly line job. Take part A, |
[599.80 --> 608.02] put it on part B, do not rinse, do not lather, only repeat over and over and over again. They're in the |
[608.02 --> 613.44] same room, same lighting, same temperature, same hours, same breaks, same job, same everything. |
[614.20 --> 622.54] The only difference is that you tell woman A that after a year you will pay her $30,000 for doing that |
[622.54 --> 631.72] job. And you tell woman B that you will pay her $30 million to do that job. Well, what happens? |
[631.72 --> 637.50] After a week or two, woman A starts to wonder if it's all worth it. She begins to grumble and complain |
[637.50 --> 643.22] and eventually she quits. She bows out. Woman B, on the other hand, shows up every day, whistling while |
[643.22 --> 649.90] she works, faithfully doing her job. She sticks it out. Her future hope of that $30 million makes the |
[649.90 --> 659.66] day seem not so bad. How each woman perceived her future completely controlled their present situation. |
[659.66 --> 663.36] Hope matters. |
[665.44 --> 672.08] And yet we find ourselves in an increasingly hopeless world, don't we? People are feeling |
[672.08 --> 680.26] at a loss for hope. This past Thursday was Let's Talk Day. It's a day in the year where we all are |
[680.26 --> 684.98] encouraged to talk about and post on social media about mental health and raise awareness for |
[684.98 --> 690.28] invisible illness. And it's a wonderful day. It's a fantastic initiative because mental health |
[690.28 --> 697.44] needs our discussion. It needs our attention. Anxiety is becoming more and more prevalent. |
[698.04 --> 707.92] Depression too. Suicide numbers are rising. Generation Z, the youngest generation right now, is the most |
[707.92 --> 715.90] anxious generation in decades. Maybe ever. Eric Uslander, he's a PhD professor in Maryland, |
[716.04 --> 722.22] he highlights this and he says this. He says, young people today are the first generation in history |
[722.22 --> 727.94] to be certain they are and will be worse off than their parents. |
[730.20 --> 735.90] According to studies done by the American Psychological Association, your average child today |
[735.90 --> 743.92] reports more anxiety than a child psychiatric patient in the 1950s. That's remarkable. That is |
[743.92 --> 749.46] heartbreaking. People are feeling hopeless, especially young people. They have little hope |
[749.46 --> 755.08] for their futures and it is causing stress and anxiety and depression to degrees that we have not seen |
[755.08 --> 765.82] before. Hope matters. We're becoming a people with increasingly less hope. Our culture is losing |
[765.82 --> 769.92] hope in everything. We're losing hope in the government, whether you're a liberal, conservative, |
[770.40 --> 775.54] democrat, republican, wherever you land on the spectrum, you have experienced hopelessness in our |
[775.54 --> 780.82] nation's leaders recently. We're losing hope in the environment. Climate change is happening. Animals are |
[780.82 --> 786.14] going extinct. Pollution levels are on the rise. Some of you feel like this is a hopeless situation and others |
[786.14 --> 792.64] of you that don't feel this way, you feel hopeless in articulating your point of view. We're losing hope in our |
[792.64 --> 799.08] economics. First-time home buyers, especially in this area, they're feeling crippled by the market and |
[799.08 --> 805.32] people are running more and more frustrated with the economy in general. In fact, just this week, |
[805.60 --> 812.52] the GameStop stock chaos that happened is just a perfect example of the attitude and the hopelessness |
[812.52 --> 818.16] that people have surrounding the economy. That GameStop stock story, A, is just very hard to say. |
[818.16 --> 823.54] B, Wall State really underestimated a generation raised on highly coordinated, synchronized World |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.