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Good evening. Welcome to all of you. We're a little few in number tonight, but as long as the Lord is with us, and he is, that is what matters most.

But, thank you for being here as a part of our worship this evening as we close out the Lord's day in praise. Let's always as always take a moment and prepare ourselves to worship him. >> We are called to worship this evening from God's word, Psalm 96, verses 1 and 2.

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name.

Tell of his salvation from day to day. Please pray with me. Eternal God, you are great and you are greatly to be praised and your glory fills both heaven and earth.

We too join the psalmist in worship by singing a new song which is the song of our salvation through Christ Jesus, our redeemer and our king. We joyfully declare your wondrous works both in saving us and in sustaining us by your providential care. Gather us, we pray, into your presence.

>> [snorts] >> Come, Holy Spirit of God, and fill us that the words of our mouths and the meditations of all of our hearts would be pleasing in your sight. This we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Our first hymn this evening is number 529 in the hymn book, Love Divine all loves excelling. And would you please stand together? Let's sing.

>> Love divine all loves excelling joy of heaven to earth come down to us thy love divine all love excelling joy of heaven to earth come down to us thy love divine all love excelling joy of heaven to earth come down to us thy love divine all love excelling joy of heaven to earth come >> [music] >> Amen. You may be seated. >> [clears throat] >> When our examination of the uh Shorter Catechism, we come together tonight to the 10th Commandment.

So, let's read these questions and answers responsively. Which is the 10th Commandment? The 10th Commandment is, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

What is required in the 10th Commandment? The 10th Commandment requires full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor and all that is his. What is forbidden in the 10th Commandment?

The 10th Commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his. This 10th Commandment can be a tricky one for us. Among other things, it speaks to our propensity to covet and make idols of those things that we do not have, that others have, or perhaps we don't have them in the same measure that they do.

Could be material things such as a home or a car or a job or money. It could be immaterial things such as pride, status, or praise, and talents. Speaking against discontentment, the Catechism is not condemning those who would seek to improve themselves, but even so, it warns us that always focusing on what we do not have reflects a heart of ingratitude toward God, not giving thanks to him for his good providence by which he gives us so much more than we are worthy of.

Likewise, by calling for full contentment with our condition, the Catechism does not condemn ambition and the will to excel, but even so, we must always ask what is driving my ambition. And it is if it is anything other than God's glory and the good of His kingdom, then we need to reevaluate it. The 10th Commandment would have us understand that contentment toward God God's good provisions is a good thing.

For the Christian, it is the fruit of a grateful heart and the satisfaction that he finds in peace in the Lord. Let's pray together. Our generous God, with glad and sincere hearts, we give to you thanks for your good and kind and benevolent providence over all things in our lives.

We praise you, Father of lights, from whom comes every good and perfect gift. We praise you, Lord Jesus, the Son, that though you were rich, yet for our sake you became poor so that we, by your poverty, might be made rich. We praise you, Holy Spirit, the surety, deposit, the down payment, guarantee of our inheritance in heaven until that day when we acquire possession of it.

Triune God, we praise you as the one from whom all blessings flow. May the fact that we have all things in Christ by faith make us satisfied in you and guard us against a covetous spirit that focuses on the temporal instead of that which is eternal. Father, we pray this evening for our congregation, and especially we lift up to you our homebound members.

Pray for Ann Benfield, for Voncille Biggers, for Peggy Chapman, Grant Gelbach, Jean Marshall, Francis Russell, for Henry and Kathy Stetson, for Sue Winham, Lillian Matthews, Margaret Reynolds, Jean and Jane Schillinglaw, Beverly Smith, Watt Moore, and Clara Pent. We ask you to minister to each of these, uphold them with your strength, and renew them day by day with the hope that we have in Christ. And though they cannot assemble with us in the Lord's Day, impress upon us the need to reach out to them that they would know that they are not forgotten in the body of Christ.

With a note, with a phone call, with a visit, help us to extend to them your love and your care within your church. Father, with the close of our synod meeting the week before last, we also pray tonight for the congregations of the ARP Church, especially for those of our Catawba Presbytery and our sister congregations in our immediate area for Neely's Creek, for First, for Rogers Memorial, for Tirzah, for York, for Sharon, for Lancaster, and others. As your kingdom and your church are one, we pray that you would manifest your kingdom through each of these congregations and cause your kingdom to prosper.

We pray for the pastors you have tasked with the awesome privilege of preaching your gospel in season and out of season. Make them skilled in handling your word, unflinching in their declaration of the whole counsel of God, correcting, rebuking, and encouraging with all patience and careful instruction. Grant to the pulpits of this denomination both light and heat, that the ministers not be watchmen who merely tickle itching ears, but feed your people the rich marrow of your word, that there would be no famine of it among us.

Father, we thank you for hearing our prayers, both the spoken and the unspoken, for we lift them up to you in the righteous name of Jesus your son. Amen. Please take your hymn book out again.

We're going to sing what is one of my favorite hymns. Jordan picks out the hymn and I didn't even ask him to do this. He did it already.

God moves in mysterious ways, a hymn that was written by William Cowper. You'll find it on page one or hymn number 128. We'll sing verses one through three.

I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles. Our scripture passage tonight comes to us from the book of Habakkuk, chapter 1, verses 1 through 11. And I'll give you a few seconds to find Habakkuk.

Um last week Michael sent me a little thing on my phone saying, "You need to give people time cuz sometimes they don't know where that is." But tonight, uh the book of Habakkuk, we'll begin looking at this over the course of the summer. And if you're not familiar with it, uh Habakkuk is one of the gems that I've found in the Old Testament over the years. It's one of the minor prophets in the Old Testament.

And when you come to this book, we don't know too much about who Habakkuk was. But we can know about the time that he prophesied by looking at the contents of this prophecy, we see that he prophesied in the nation of Judah sometime before the Babylonian invasion. When you look at the layout of how Habakkuk is written, it's an interesting layout because it's structured as a dialogue, as a conversation between the prophet Habakkuk and the Lord.

Begin, Habakkuk speaks to God complaining, and you see God answers him. And then that repeats. And then at the end of the book, it closes with Habakkuk praying.

And so this back and forth between God and Habakkuk is where we begin here tonight. And as we begin, it all starts with Habakkuk's complaint. Before we see just what he is complaining about that has led him to write and to speak to the Lord, may we go to our God for his help.

Our gracious and almighty God, you are perfect in all of your ways. And your word is perfect because it is your word to us. And Lord, we recognize that although it is perfect, we are not.

And in our imperfection, in our sin, we are blinded to the reality of your truth. And so Lord, we come before you this evening crying out that your spirit would work in our hearts and our minds tonight. That we might see your word for what it is.

A life-giving truth. And Lord, that you would use it to edify and to build us up. That we might go out from here to honor and glorify you all the more.

And so oh God, as we come to this text tonight, may your spirit use me in spite of my sinful broken words. Lord, that your people will be blessed, be built up, and your name above all will be praised. Lord, may you be with us now in this time.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Again, Habakkuk chapter 1, verses 1 through 11.

Hear now God's word. The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw. O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear?

Or cry to you violence and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me, strife and contention arise.

So the law is paralyzed and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted. Look among the nations and see, wonder and be astounded.

For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if I told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome.

Their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on.

Their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence.

All their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff and at rulers they laugh.

They laugh at every fortress. For they pile up earth and take it. Then they sweep by like the wind and go on.

Guilty men whose own might is their god. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, the word of our Lord endureth forever. Amen.

As some of you know, before serving in full-time ministry, I spent the 7 years prior to that working at Panera Bread here in town. And if you've ever worked in food service, you know that you learn a lot of lessons. And I could say the same.

And one particular lesson that comes to mind as we come to our text tonight is how we are to appreciate people that hold everything together. You know, over the years, there were plenty of different employees that worked there. Some were okay employees.

Some weren't bad. Uh some were bad and some were really, really, really bad. But every once in a while, there is an employee that was rare.

That excelled at their job. That when they were there, everything went smoothly, no matter how busy it was. And perhaps in your own workplace over the years, whether your current job or in the past, you can think of people that hold it all together.

And one person in particular that comes to mind at Panera's, there's a lady named Claudia. Who's actually still work working there today. If you ever go in, you'll see her walking around as if she's not doing anything.

But the truth is is she does everything. She just makes it look so easy. She'll wash dishes, clean the dining room.

And she seems to hold everything together. And this is never more apparent than whenever she's not there. She works typically Monday through Friday.

But we always hated the time of year she's from the Dominican Republic. She would go back home for 2 weeks. And those 2 weeks could only be described as utter chaos.

Everything went sideways. Because no matter who is there, me included, nobody could keep up like she could. Dishes would pile up, the dining room would get dirty.

And everybody would just wish that Claudia would show up and fix the mess. And we would always remind her after she got back from vacation, "We really missed you, but don't go away for a while." And I'm pretty sure if all of you in your own jobs can probably again think of people like that. People that when they're not there, everything seems to fall apart.

But when they are there, everything goes perfectly. Or as near to perfect as it possibly can. And when you realize that about somebody, it makes you appreciate them all the more, doesn't it?

The same is true when it comes to God. If you consider how God is above all things and holds all things together, we can be encouraged and appreciative of how he does that. What about in the times of chaos?

Well, we see a situation just like that here as we begin this book of Habakkuk. You know, everything has gone wrong. So it seems.

The nation of Judah, they have fallen further and further into sin. And to the prophet Habakkuk, it seems like God, who is the person that typically holds it all together, has taken a vacation. The nation has fallen into a tailspin of sin.

And Habakkuk deduces, well, it's because God has left the building. Not just for a week or so, but for years. And Habakkuk, knowing God is able to fix the problem and yet seeing everything the way it is, it baffles him.

God is the one that's able to make everything run smooth and right. And so he he's perplexed at the state of the nation. And that is what leads him to begin in our text here this evening by crying out to God, "Where are you?

If you were here, everything would be going well, but you're not. So everything's not going well. So what is going on?" Well, what we we actually also find out in this text is that when God answers Habakkuk, we see that unlike an employee who does take vacation, God does not.

God has been there the whole time working behind the scenes, working out his perfect plan according to his will. And not just in Habakkuk's day, but in our day as well. For far too often we find ourselves in situations where like Habakkuk, God, what are you doing?

But our text tonight reminds us that God has not taken a break or a vacation, but he is indeed working. And because of that, that enables us to have faith that we have a God who is working for our good even when everything has gone bad. And we see that here as we walk through our text tonight.

And first we look at the prophet's perception where it seems like all has gone wrong. Look at verses 1 through 4. The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? Or cry to you violence and you will not save. Why do you make me see iniquity and why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction and violence are before me. Strife and contention arise. The law is paralyzed and justice never goes forth for the wicked surround the righteous.

So justice goes forth perverted. Now as you begin to look at this by the way that Habakkuk is speaking, it looks as if he has been praying for quite a while. Often when you see that phrase how long it indicates that he's been going at it for quite a bit.

It seems as if God is not answering. That he does not hear and Habakkuk cannot understand why that is. Because when he looks at the state of the nation, it would seem as if God would have acted right away.

Because the nation at that time is full of sin. It continues to get worse and worse. And you get a picture of just how bad it is in these verses.

Habakkuk is crying out violence. He's what he's seeing. He's seeing the wickedness of those around him.

Yet God won't save. He's seeing iniquity, typically used of a sin that affects others in a negative way. He is seeing this happening and wondering God, why aren't you doing something about it?

Destruction and violence are before him. Strife and contention arise. You get this picture of so many problems.

People at each other's throats. People taking advantage of one another. Hurting one another.

And so much more. But this is doesn't just affect the everyday person. No.

This sinfulness has infiltrated on up the ladder. It's infected the government as well. And we see that by how Habakkuk speaks in verse four.

He says, "The law is paralyzed." We consider the you know the word paralyzed here is not meaning as that it is not effective, but the fact of is the hearts of the people were so far in sin that it didn't do any good because they didn't care what was right. Justice never goes forth. And because of that, people were suffering.

The wicked surround the righteous. Greater in number. And so justice goes forth perverted.

It does not happen. Instead, there are those in charge that are only giving in to their greedy and selfish desires. So what we see here is a nation that has fallen far from God.

A people that have turned their back upon God, turning to idols and sin from top to bottom. And those that are a faithful remnant that are righteous are left falling victim to the sin of others. And Habakkuk himself as a prophet has most likely been mistreated.

Because again, a prophet is God's mouthpiece. They were to go and proclaim the word of God to the people. Calling them to turn from their sin and repent before God punishes them.

And as we know today, people don't like that message. And so Habakkuk was most likely threatened. Just like many other prophets have been threatened and faced persecution.

You think of the prophet Jeremiah, who also prophesies about Judah's destruction. And Habakkuk sees all this wrong going on. He sees the pressure even against himself.

And the only thing that he can think of is that God has withdrawn from Judah. Leading him to basically ask here, "God, where are you? Do you not see what's going on?

Do you not see how far this nation has fallen? And how can you, the almighty and just God, just sit back and idly watch all this evil unfold before your eyes and do nothing about it?" Habakkuk was left perplexed. Because here he is a prophet that God had given his word to speak.

God had used him as a mouthpiece to speak to the nation. And yet it seems as if even Habakkuk himself has not heard from God for a while. And so, not hearing from the Lord and seeing how bad the nation has become, Habakkuk This leads Habakkuk here to question God.

What are you doing? And I think when we look at Habakkuk's situation and we look at today, well, it's very easy to relate to that, isn't it? As Ecclesiastes says, it says there's nothing new under the sun.

And in the day and age we live in, just like in Judah then, we can easily see a world that has descended into total chaos. God has been thrown out. Sin is celebrated.

Again, look at the month that we are in. Good is called evil. Evil is called good.

And you can just turn on your TV or scroll through your news feed. There's things that make us cringe, right? From injustice being done to racial division to school shootings to murder of countless children in the womb that is called health care.

The list goes on and on. And that doesn't even include all the many problems that we face in our own personal life. And all of these things pile on and might make us have the same perception that Habakkuk has.

Finding ourselves asking God, "Where are you?" "How long shall I cry for help and you will not hear?" How many of you have been there before? I've ventured to say that all of us. And if you're like me in these moments that you ask God, "What are you doing?

Where are you?" You feel a little bit guilty for asking that, don't you? You know, I'm I'm a Christian. I'm supposed to trust God and here I am questioning God.

I shouldn't be doing that. It's wrong. But what we see here is that the way that Habakkuk is asking God is not sinful.

And then there is a way that we are indeed able to question God and ask that is not wrong. Because we we consider why he's asking God in the first place, he is asking from a place of trust. For if you consider who God is, God is omniscient.

Again, a VBS word from a couple weeks ago. God is all-knowing. He knows all things.

He knows all the things you and I can never know. So, of course, the one place to go when we don't know what's going on is to him. Cuz we trust that he does know what's going on.

And that's why when it comes to times in our lives, especially when the bad things continue to pile up, that we come to God and ask him, "God, what are you doing in all this?" You see, when we do that, the key to questioning God being right or sinful comes from our attitude. When we question God, it is not questioning him in anger, in irreverence, or doubt, but we come and we come before him with humility, reverence, and trust. As John Currid says, "We may question, but not sin.

We may be concerned with God's justice, but not sin." Habakkuk's word that seemed to be a cry of faith, and in it he is trying to understand the character and work of God. What we see here with Habakkuk instead of berating God, any angry at God, we can follow his example by being those that look to God like Habakkuk does and say, "Lord, I I know you know everything. I know you have a plan.

And I know where it ends up in the end, but right now I don't see where you are leading me." With everything going on in the world, I know you have a purpose, but how can you make a purpose out of all of this? And if you notice when you ask it that way, faith and trust are still present in your question. Although you're questioning God, "What are you doing?" you still trust that he knows what he is doing.

You know, it's all you think about inflection in our words. If you were to walk in a room and you see your spouse tinkering with something in the cabinet. You say, "What are you doing?" You're asking what are they doing.

But if you come in them and there and see them tinkering with the cabinet that you know they're going to mess up, you yell, "What are you doing?" Sorry, I didn't mean to bite your head off, but There's a difference there, right? One is yelling out of frustration and anger. The other one is is asking the question.

The same is true with us and God. We can ask from a humble manner, "Lord, what are you doing?" Or we can get angry. And that's where it gets sinful.

That's what we have to avoid. For sadly, there are many people that have turned their back on God. They see the evil in the world, the problems in their lives.

They get angry. They turn away from God. And yet, we as God's people can question, but we don't get angry.

We are those like Habakkuk that still trust God. We can still ask, "Oh Lord, how long?" But do so in a manner that is honoring to God. That's looking to him as the one who is over all things, who works all things out according to his will for our good.

That even when we do ask that question of what is going on, we are those that still continue to trust the Lord. Even if we don't know what his plans are, and even if he doesn't reveal them to us. Cuz there're going to be plenty times in all of our lives where we have no idea what God is doing.

Maybe you find yourself in a situation like that. And that's why when so many people in the world see the depravity and how things continue to get worse and worse, they say, "Well, this is proof there is no God. How can he allow these things to happen?" Even as Christians, sometimes we might wonder, "Well, is God absent?

But again, this text reminds us, no, we he's not absent for we can trust that he is always at work whether you and I see it or not. And we're reminded that here in this text with our second point after the prophet's perception, we see the almighty's answer in verse 5. Look among the nations and see, wonder, and be astounded for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.

To Habakkuk's complaint, we see God steps up to the plate and he answers. And he answers him by telling Habakkuk, "Look, I have been working all along." If you notice, there were four imperatives here in this verse that God uses to make his point. Habakkuk is to look, to open his eyes.

He is to see, not just opening your eyes, but to carefully contemplate and think about what is going on. He is to wonder, to be amazed. He is to be astounded, which is the same root as to wonder, which is repeating the idea for emphasis.

That God is always working. You know, he doesn't tell Habakkuk, "Well, I worked a little bit and I stopped for a while and then I'm going to come back to it later and clean up Judah's mess when I'm ready." No, no, he tells Habakkuk that I am working in your days. You don't have to wait for me to do it later.

No, I am working right now. And God tells Habakkuk this to show him, "Look, even if you don't see it, I have a plan in motion. There has never been a mo- moment in Habakkuk's day, before Habakkuk, after Habakkuk, and in our day, or in all of history, in which our God steps away from his creation.

Even those moments when it seems like he's not there. You know, there's some people that hold to deism that believe that God is just this divine clockmaker. He spends time fasting the universe.

But just like a clockmaker makes a clock clock and then when it's complete, well, he sits it on the shelf and starts working on something else. Letting it run by itself. But the scriptures tell us that that is not the case at all.

God does not step away, but no, he continues to hold everything together, being involved in every single part of it. We see that in the book of Colossians in talking about Christ. And Paul says that Christ is before all things and in him all things hold together.

Again, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:6 that all things come from God and continue to exist because of God. If God decided to step away from his creation for a nanosecond, everything would fall apart. It would cease to exist.

And that's why you and I can be sure that no matter what it looks like, we can know that God is still present and God is still working because we're still here and the world continues to turn. Yes, when bad things happen, you and I might question, "Where is God in all this?" But we then can quickly follow that up by remembering he is still working. Cuz again, we're still here and the world's still here.

Reminding us that our God is alive and well. And also reminding us that his promises of salvation through Christ are alive and well, too. Even if you and I have no clue what's going on in this world or what's going on in our life.

You and I can always trust that God is at work, that God is with us. And that he will never leave us even if it seems like he has. Because there's going to be times in our lives that's hard to believe, isn't it?

Times where we struggle, times where we're going through pain and suffering and difficulty that we have never experienced before. Times when we look at the world and it seems to continue to go to hell in a handbasket more and more. But that's when we must remember that God is working.

And that's why God tells Habakkuk here that he's working in ways even at that moment that Habakkuk wouldn't believe if he told them. The same is true for us. In our lives it might not feel like God is working at all.

But he is there. Behind the scenes working in ways that you and I can never fathom. Can never believe.

Ways that we would never expect. And that leads us into the final point here this evening. After we see the prophet's perception and then the almighty's answer, the final thing that enables us to put our trust in the Lord is a puzzling process.

Look at verses 6 through 11. God again speaking here. For behold, I'm raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.

They are dreaded and fierce and their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than the leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on.

Their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence and their faces forward.

They gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress for they pile up earth and take it.

Then they sweep by like the wind and go on. Guilty men whose own might is their God. And God has just told Habakkuk that he is doing a work that he would not believe if he were told.

And so God tells him what he's been doing. He explains the work that he has been at in verses 6 through 11. And when you read these verses, this puzzles both the prophet and probably us.

You see, Habakkuk may have expected well, God was going to send a plague or a flood or a fire or some of these things that he's done before to judge the people, to turn them back to him. But no, what God says he's been doing here is he has been preparing and raising up the Chaldeans to punish Judah. That through this process they would repent of their wickedness and turn back to him.

And when Habakkuk hears this, as we find later on, he will be shocked at it because this was the last thing he would have expected to happen. Because the Chaldeans mentioned here, well, it's just another way of speaking about Babylon. If you know anything about the Bible, you'd know how bad Babylon is.

And if you don't know anything about Babylon, just look at the way that God describes them here and then we see just how nasty of bunch they are. As the Assyrian empire before Babylon has weakened, it has seized more and more control. We have this force that is aggressively marching forward to conquer, to take dwellings that are not their own, as verse 6 says.

Those that are dreaded and fearsome, horses as swift as leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves. They fly like an eagle swift to devour. Here these people are conquerors.

And they are even worse than the people of Judah. You see, where the people of Israel at least have God's standards, although they are not holding to them like they should, the Babylonians make their own standards. They have their own ways of seeing justice and judgment, and to them might is right.

That's why we say they are dreaded and fearsome. Their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. The idea here is that from themselves they make their own justice.

They are the ones that set out what is right and wrong. And to them again, might is right. They are those that come for violence, as verse 9 says.

They press proudly on, and we get a picture of these are people that enjoy causing pain and affliction. And they come, and it seems as if nothing can stand against them. For like the wind blows sand around, we get this picture of this army marching through a land, destroying all, bringing in captives, laughing at any king's attempt to defend themselves, whether it be in an army or even in a fortress.

For we're told that those that would hide behind their walls, well, the Babylonians would pile up earth enough to where they could climb over the walls and take the city. When you look at all this, this is not a bunch of people that you would want to mess with. But what is so puzzling about all of this is the fact that God is the one who has been working to raise them up.

And to use them for his purposes. Again, for Habakkuk, he could have thought, "Well, maybe God is working by knocking out this wicked nation." No, he said, "He's building them up." And he's not These men are not those that are loyal to God. Verse 11 says, "They are guilty men, whose own might is their God." These men were not pious people, but they were bad, sinful people.

They could not care less about who God was, and they only did for themselves. And yet, in spite of that, we understand that God is going to use this wicked nation to turn Judah back to him, even if it means that it takes 70 years in captivity. But why is that?

Is that not baffling to us, too? Well, what's happening here serves as a reminder to you and I that God is going to work in ways we don't expect. Again, to to Habakkuk, the Lord seemed to be silent during Judah's immorality, but no, he's working during that time, building up this wicked Babylonian army that he would use as his instrument to judge and deal with Judah's sin.

That's why when God told Habakkuk he would not believe what he was doing, well, he was right. This was the last way Habakkuk would have thought that God would work to punish the wickedness by using an even more wicked people to do it. But God is going to work how he is going to work.

That's why we often need to go back to Isaiah 55:8-9, where there we're reminded, as we've all heard before, that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, his ways are not our ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, his ways and thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And sometimes we cannot fathom what he is doing.

And what happens in Habakkuk's day is how he still works today, too. Yeah. I'm pretty sure all of us like when things make sense.

When things seem to be reasonable, they're they're logical, they're rational in our life. But what we find with God is he can often use the unreasonable, the illogical, the irrational in these puzzling processes for his holy purposes. You look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 26 through 31, we are reminded of this truth.

For there we're told, "For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful.

Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sancti- -fication and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord." Our God uses unconventional means to remind us just who he is. And to bring us back to him.

And God's work is not just limited to his covenant people in Judah, but to his enemies as well. His work is not just limited to us as the church, but to the entire sinful world. He is the one who is seated in the heavens, where the nations are like grasshoppers before him, like drops in a bucket to him.

He is the one that's going to use them however he sees fit. Cuz he's the one, as Job says, that makes the nations great and destroys them, who enlarges nations and leads them away. And he is the one that can use a godless people as instruments to correct his people for their own good and for his glory.

And just stop and consider your own life for a second. How often do we fall into the thinking that God is only able to answer us one way? The way that we want.

And yet we are reminded time and time again that God often lets things get worse before they get better. Or he does the opposite of what we expect. And we struggle with that, don't we?

But it's in these moments we must remember that the God of history knows exactly what he's doing. He's the one that started history. He's the one that continues to control it, and he is the one that will bring it to an end.

And he is a God that's working in our life even now. Who, while not the author of sin, can use even sinful things according to his purposes. That will all turn out for our good and his glory in the end.

I've shared my testimony with some of y'all before how when I went off to to school and I made poor choices. And those poor choices got me sent back home. And I felt like the world had ended.

And yet through that God worked even in my bad sinful decisions to bring me to true saving faith. That I might meet my wife. That I might have my children.

That I would be here with all of you here tonight. And I look back at my life and even in that brokenness, in those moments I felt like all was hopeless, God, what are you doing? I can see exactly what he was doing.

How God was using my bad decisions to bring me out of my sinfulness and renew me to him. He is a God that works in unexpected ways, whether it be using the Babylonians to conquer Judah for his own purposes or using difficult circumstances in our own life. Again, another way we think of this is with Joseph.

You know that story. What Joseph says is what you meant for evil, God meant for good. That through his hardship, God brought about provision of his family in a time of famine.

And probably the most unexpected way that God has done this is in Christ. Here, Jesus is not the triumphal king that has been born to a royal family. No, he was one that was born to a lowly carpenter.

Born in a manger. He was one that didn't come to overthrow the Romans with the sword like people thought. But instead came and defeated sin and death by dying on the cross.

And even in his death, people expected him to stay dead. No, God did the unexpected again. For Christ rose from the dead giving assurance to all who would put their trust in him of his salvation.

That even in the moments we today do not know what's going on, we can know that God's process, although puzzling, does indeed work out for our good in the end. And that's why with this truth, when we see things in our life that aren't adding up, in those moments when we can't seem to find the light at the end of the tunnel, we must remember that God, well, God doesn't work in the ways that we typically work in all the time. And he's one that can use the negative for our good.

You've heard the phrase hindsight's 20/20? Indeed, we can look back and see what God has brought us through in the past to know that even now how he can use bad situations for our good. And this helps us to trust him more.

Increases our faith. Enables us to grow closer to him. We see all that he has brought us through.

We can know that even if it seems like an eternity now, whatever we are in, he will bring us through that, too. Even if we don't know exactly where he's leading us. more.

So, that's the hope that the people of God can have even when things don't make sense. That we have a God that's working. And a God that as Romans 8:28 tells us, is working all things together for the good of those who love him.

You know, it's hard to make sense when you're in difficult times. Whether that be problems at work, health problems of yourself or a loved one, financial situations, whatever it might be. But we must remember that if we have trusted in the Lord, if we have trusted in Jesus Christ, he has atoned for our sins on that cross, we have had been given everlasting life, and we can know that all things, both good and bad, will work together for our ultimate good in the end.

And we can also know that these moments that we face difficulty, might also be moments that remind us just how much we need God. That call us to repent and turn to him like Judah. How he knocks us flat on our back so that we actually look up.

Seeing him as a holy God, seeing ourselves as sinners in need of a savior. And again, holding fast to Jesus as that Lord and savior. And maybe right now you're going through hardship in your life.

Maybe God's using that to you to saving faith. Or maybe you've been wandering and he's using that to bring you back. Maybe he's using what you're doing, what you're going through to refine your faith like gold in the fire as 1 Peter says.

But we can find encouragement even when it seems like God's not there. Oh, he's doing something. And he's doing it for a reason.

Even if we don't know what that reason is yet. And because of that we can trust him in spite of not understanding our circumstances. We can hold fast to him because yes, life might be awful at times, the world might seem to keep getting worse and worse, but we can know that if we have put our trust in Jesus Christ, that God's promise of salvation will indeed be fulfilled.

Cuz he is a God that is at work now and will bring his plan to completion in the end. So yes, we might find ourselves like Habakkuk is at times, wondering God, what are you doing? But this text reminds us as he reminds Habakkuk, he's at work whether we see it or not.

And that work sometimes comes in unexpected ways as God might even be using bad things to bring us closer to him. And because of that, whatever you might be going through now, even if you don't understand, let this text remind you that it's all a part of God's plan. And may it encourage you that even when you don't know what's going on, you can trust that God does.

And knowing that, may it help you to stay grounded in him even when the world around you seems to be falling apart. Because you have a God who is is all things, good and bad, for his glory and for your good in the end. Let's pray.

Gracious and mighty God, we come before your throne here again tonight, and we are reminded that you are a God who is above all things. Not that you are distant, but in the fact that you hold all things together, that you guide all things according to your purposes, that you are a God that uses both good and bad for your glory and for the well-being of your people. Lord, as we are reminded with Habakkuk here, you are working even when it seems like you are not, and that you are using those things that might seem unexpected, and doing so because it all works out in your perfect will.

And oh God, may we see the same truth in our life, that you are indeed at work just like you were in Habakkuk's life. Help us that even when we might question, to question not in sinfulness, but with trust, even if we are unsure what's going on. Help us to be those that are reminded that you are a God that holds all things together, a God that uses even the unexpected, even the broken things, for our own benefit.

Again, we think of Christ and all that he went through for us. Indeed, oh God, may as we face the different difficulties and problems in our life, may we not fall into despair, but Lord, may we be reminded that whatever the problem, whatever the pain, whatever the situation, everything is working out according to your perfect plan. And remind us of the surety of that plan and where it ends, even if we don't know where the path is at right now.

And so oh God, may you continue to remind us of your sovereign care and your sovereign control. And may that be our comfort in the moments we don't know what is going on. We pray all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. >> As we close again, we'll sing the final three verses, verses four through six of number 128, God moves in a mysterious way. Let's stand together.

And as you leave this evening, be reminded of the hope that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ and leave with his good blessing, his benediction. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you all now and forevermore. Amen and amen.