Habakkuk’s Secret

– The Sovereignty of God –

Paul J. Bucknell

Introduction: What is the secret to live beyond your problems? Habakkuk sure learned it. We can learn about the sovereignty of God from him too – Habakkuk 3:17-9).

Habakkuk’s secret

Note the six things below that Habakkuk confessed were not good or helpful.
“Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places.” (Habakkuk 3:17-19 NASB).
He admitted that these ‘evil’ things were messing up his life and those around him, but he could see beyond the absence of life’s provisions. His joy and life were not dependent upon them. They came from God, of course.
Usually, God works out His care for our lives by providing those things. Now, in times of judgment, God often does not work that normal way, in order to shake us up and bring us back to Him. But He can still hope in God’s care for Him. “Yet I will exult in the Lord.” “The Lord God is my strength!” What is he speaking about?
Habakkuk knows that God will otherwise care for Him. God is working a deeper plan into the fabric of his needy society that is also bringing about any possible hope for recovery.
But this does not mean God is not there or cannot work greater things within this plan. By faith He captures the joy of God’s greater plan and provision.
Below during the assignment, you also will be asked to find some of these unchangeable and unpleasant situations and approach them like Habakkuk did. Use his grammar pattern, “Though ....., I will ....”
Conclusion

The sovereignty of God is most challenged and hated because people want the freedom to live for their own desires. Full joy in life, however, comes when we discover and surrender to His sovereign plans, for our Lord is not only all powerful but all loving and knowing.
Note how this teaching is so contrary to the prosperity gospel.’There is the sense that God wants to richly bless the lives of His people. What is the error of the prosperity Gospel? It has to do with the way that they cannot see how God uses weakness, frailty, poverty to accomplish greater things. There is no place for death or humility but only bragging and greed.

=> next: A Study Assignment on the Sovereignty of God

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Scriptures typically quoted from the New American Standard Bible unless noted: (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1988

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