How Long Shall I Cry for Help?
Where Is God?
Crisis, questions, clarity, and surrender from the prophet Habakkuk
Two questions confound ordinary people in the midst of terrible circumstances: why is this happening to me? and where in the world is God? Sometimes we think these are unique problems to our time but, in truth, every generation all throughout history has struggled with the same questions.
Five centuries before the time of Jesus, the prophet Habakkuk, seeing the oppression of his people at the hands of a ruthless foreign power, asked, “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” In other words, why is this happening? and where are you?
This coming Sunday we’ll start a four-message series in the Book of Habakkuk that will explore the at times cringe-worthy back and forth conversation between the prophet and God.
As we work through this study of the Book, we come to understand the only answer that makes sense and the only appropriate response to how God is working both in the world at large and in our individual lives.
Complete Livestream Service
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Sermon Notes
Where Is God?
How long shall I cry for help?
Todd Dugard
Habakkuk 1:1-11
June 14, 2020
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When I complain about the crises I face, God responds with a call to accept his often-misunderstood ways.
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There’s no denying the crises… (v. 3-4)
The crises we face:
Moral decay
Social injustice
Rampant crime
Relational breakdown
Government failure
Religious marginalization
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But I don’t help the matter when I complain to God…
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“Your timing is off” (v. 2a)
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“Your help is non-existent” (v. 2b)
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“Your listening skills are lacking” (v. 2c)
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So, his appeal to me is…
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“Be amazed at what I’m doing” (v. 5a)
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“Be aware of what I’m doing” (v. 5b)
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
Human opinion about righteousness and wrong lacks the capacity to evaluate God's actions in history; those who are truly righteous must live in faithful confidence that God will keep his promises.
Dillard and Longman
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“Be accepting of what I’m doing” (v. 6-11)
Such a great God [can] be trusted to accomplish his purposes with all nations and peoples. Therefore, though calamity must come, [we must] wait patiently and confidently. [We must] also abide in the Lord’s strength for his sovereign and perfect will to be effected.
Richard D. Patterson