“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2: 9) This beloved scripture is an incredibly exciting and edifying statement about marvelous things that await those who serve Almighty God. We realize that He is not only our hope for tomorrow, He is our provider, our protector and our peace for today. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46: 1) And because of this we can say, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118: 24) Yes beloved ones, rejoice! We praise God that, according to His will, those days He has made have turned into weeks, those weeks into months and those months into years. And when you have Jesus in your life, those years are Jubilee!
Now I know that we still live in this cold, mean world, but we can still find reasons to rejoice and be glad every day. Some of those reasons are you woke up, you’re breathing, you’re cared for and you are loved. I’m sure it wouldn’t take us very long to come up with an exhaustive list of reasons to be thankful. And all of those reasons exist strictly because of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost!
Nonetheless, iniquity still abounds on this earth and we see bad things happening around us all the time. On our jobs, on the road, in the store, in schools, in sports, in politics, in business and even in supposed institutions of religion. And why? Because there is a depraved condition of humanity that relentlessly exerts maximum effort into the pleasing of the flesh and not in the pleasing of God. And that condition is called sin.
In today’s troubling times, it seems that evildoers are free to wreak havoc and are rarely held accountable for their actions. In fact, it appears that cruelty and dishonesty not only go unpunished but are rewarded. And because we are not oblivious to these things and can see clearly the violence, chaos and corruption going on around us, we as Christians sometimes get frustrated because it seems as though evil people continue to do evil things and even prosper in their evil ways. Well, let me assure you that this is nothing new but something that has been occurring for thousands of years.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon wrote these wise words, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.” (Ecclesiastes 1: 9-10) But even with this knowledge we are still disturbed by wickedness in the land and how distasteful it is to our spirit.
In our despair we sometimes feel like Psalm 94: 2-3, "LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? Even in the Book of Habakkuk, this Judean prophet displays his own vexation and asks God why evil seems to prosper, and He allows it. This is what Habakkuk said, “O LORD, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save! Why dost Thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.” (Habakkuk 1: 2-4)
Sounds like Habakkuk was infected with the same disease of misunderstanding and exasperation that afflicted Job. Yes, I’m talking about the same Job who displayed incredible faith in the midst of his suffering but unfortunately succumbed to Satan’s hateful assaults. His weariness in well-doing resulted in ill-advised inquisitions and unwarranted accusations against God. This led to his own contrite admission that he had allowed himself to get to the point where his thoughts were not God’s thoughts and his ways were not God’s ways. Job’s humble confession to his Redeemer was, “I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” (Job 42: 3)
Hopefully we can learn from both Job and Habakkuk's inattention to changes that occurred within them due to their personal dissatisfaction with troubling and painful events in their lives. We too must be very careful not to allow anything we are confronted with to defile our inner-man. And though our concerns may be legitimate, it doesn’t matter because they can turn into self-inflicted wounds upon our spirit, essentially acting as a depressant to our faith. We can become so entangled in what we perceive to be unjust treatment and the inequities of this world that we can literally "discourage ourselves" when instead we should be doing exactly the opposite and looking to find ways to "encourage ourselves." Sometimes our perspective gets misaligned and we allow what we see or what we are being subjected to, dictate how we feel, how we act and how we react.
We have to remain vigilant, constantly refocusing our attention, keeping it squarely on our God, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, the One Who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy, with Jesus on His right hand making intercession for us. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. ” (Colossians 3: 1-4) No matter what it looks like or what someone does to you, never forget for one second that God is still on the throne and completely in charge. Even Habakkuk himself wrote, “But the LORD is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.” (Habakkuk 2: 20) It may be challenging but sometimes we need to just be quiet and give God the glory! And you can do it because God has given you the ability to do it.
The Lord is so wonderful that He even gives us precise instructions on how we should view those who do bad things but seem to get good things. Those instructions in a nutshell are, “DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT. I GOT THIS.” Going back to Habakkuk, when he complained God told him that, "I'm going to handle this issue but in My own way and in My own time. And when I do you are going to be shocked!” God says, “Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.” (Habakkuk 1: 5).
The key is patience. Sometimes we just have to stop trying to figure things out, stop trying to connect the dots, stop trying to force the issue or trying to make sense out of nonsense. What we need is a little more faith and a lot more praise. We have to trust in God and lean not to our own understanding. Believe God’s Word which says, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity . For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” (Psalm 37: 1) Also, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” (Psalm 37: 7) And finally, “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked; For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.” (Proverbs 24: 19-20)
And so, dear ones, we have to remember and remind ourselves who we are and Who this God is that we serve. “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3: 21-26) We have seen God’s glory in His limitless loving ways, His boundless benevolence and His incomparable kindness. “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” (Psalm 103: 8) His divine nature continuously compels our soul to shout out, “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86: 15) We know and are eternally grateful that the holy character of God is always on display and ever accessible to us. “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon Thee.” (Psalm 86: 5)
Glory to God that He not only is all of these things but much, much more. God is also a Spirit and “they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 24) Likewise, we His children are also spirit beings who live in a mortal mass of bones, skin, muscles, tendons and organs anxiously awaiting the redemption of our body. We are not just human but much, much more. “… we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4: 7) And though we literally exist in this physical world, we operate in a spiritual realm which supersedes this physical existence.
God, Who is an omnipotent Spirit, created all things and is therefore Master of all the things He created by the power He created all things with. What kind of power? The power we saw operating for God’s people at the Red Sea and in the fiery furnace and in the lion’s den. The same power we saw operating for Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones and in the manipulation of planets for Hezekiah and in the raining down of fire on Mount Carmel for Elijah. The same power we saw operating when Jesus calmed the raging sea, fed the multitudes and cast out demons. And most incredibly of all it’s that same power we saw operating when the glory of God filled a tomb outside of Jerusalem in that 1st century and marvelously raised to life His holy answer to all the world’s problems. And it is that same power that is available to us today. The power to cleanse us of our greatest problem which is sin, and redeem us from its deadly clutches. “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1: 12-14)
And so, when we witness or experience things that we don’t understand or that seem unfair, remember that God knows exactly what's going on and He knows exactly what He's doing about it. We must trust His plan and His timing and believe in His promises. But in order to do that we have to look past our carnal understanding and limited physical vision and see with our spiritual sight. This is called faith. This is when you voluntarily give up your right to believe what you want, and humbly believe what God says.
Once again, referring back to the prophet Habakkuk, he said, “…but the just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2: 4) This powerful phrase is so important it was repeated 3 times in the New Testament: In Romans, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1: 17), in Galatians, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3: 11) and in Hebrews, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10: 38)
Concerning the subject of faith, Jesus told the people, "...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17: 20) Our Father has set it up that all things are available to us through faith. This is why the Lord reminds us, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9: 23) Even our very salvation hinges on our faith, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2: 8)
Jesus challenged His followers constantly on their faith and would ask, “Where is your faith?” The apostles recognized how important this was and pleaded with the Lord to help them in this regard. “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.” (Luke 17: 5) God's Word tells us why faith is so important. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11: 1-3 & 6)
Again, we must strive not to get so entangled in the cares of this world, the affairs of this life and what everybody else is doing that we forget that we are supposed to be dead to this world but alive unto God. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2: 20) “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6: 9-11)
Continue to have patience and strive to increase your faith. When the apostle Paul said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4: 7) he wasn’t making a statement on his accomplishments, he was making a statement on his faithfulness. He was not faithful for an hour, a day, a week or a month, but it was a lifestyle change that he was completely committed to.
Of course we know that faith will certainly have its challenges, but we also know that being faithful certainly has its rewards if we can humbly endure hardship. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2: 3-4) "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15: 58)
We also know that difficult situations and difficult people will be ever present in our lives here on this earth, but through faith, patience and trust in God, He will see us triumphantly through all of these difficulties. "But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." (Isaiah 43: 1-2) Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. (Psalm 34: 19)
Do not be overly concerned about the uncomfortable and/or aggravating circumstances that you face in this life and the disastrous things taking place in this world. We don’t belong to this world, but we have a purpose in this world. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12: 13) Our job is not to stress out about this world but to be good examples to the world and to even pray for those in the world. Pray for peace, pray for those that despitefully use you, pray for those in authority. Pray for one another as well as all people.
God is directing things according to His purposes and the power of the Holy Ghost is alive and well operating in areas you don’t see or are not even aware of. But God sees everything that you don’t and you have not been forgotten. Even when things around you look bleak, don’t worry, because you have something much better than "things." Again Habakkuk, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls…” Sounds disastrous, but he still confidently proclaimed, “ Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength…” (Habakkuk 3: 17-19)
Don't be distracted by what it looks like because our God will provide you with all that you need. "...O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6: 30-34) By your faith be assured that you not only have everything but you have the best of everything. And that's because you have Jesus, the Son of the Living God!
And so, as we roll into this brand new year of 2023, we don’t need New Year’s Resolutions, we need new heart solutions. That is, the determination to take advantage of the opportunity to let that new heart God has given us propel us to live as the new creatures He has made us. To have a closer, more intimate walk with Jesus. To study God’s holy Word more. To walk in the Spirit and bear our cross daily. To love fervently without limits and to continually give God the praise for His goodness. To be the ambassadors He has called us to be, representing Him well at all times. Why? That God would get all the glory!
Yes, this is the day the Lord has made. Don’t worry about the chaos and the wickedness around you because Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14: 27)
So rejoice and serve God with gladness and joy unspeakable because, as good as God has been to us, the best is yet to come.
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