Living by Faith in Troubling Times

Text: Habakkuk 2

Someone asked me yesterday afternoon, "What was the big idea of the sermon?" That's a great question. I reflected on whether I could have been more precise because it's so important. I think the quote I used by Tony Evans sums it up best: "Habakkuk did not get a ten-point answer to his concerns or receive a long, drawn-out discussion of God’s ways. God told him, in essence, ‘Trust me and follow my instructions.’"

Trust is hard, and faith isn't natural. Living based on your intuition and your physical senses is natural. Habakkuk was struggling. What he was seeing and experiencing in his culture did not make sense to his brain. If God is just, why all the sinning and chaos in the world? But God told him, "The righteous shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4).

Habakkuk had the privilege of conversing with God Himself, even if it was a vision. We don't have that luxury. We are not prophets or apostles, but we have the words of God's prophets and apostles.

God told Habakkuk:
“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it."

I am so thankful for God's Word! The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 10:17: “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” God has provided His Word to us! Habakkuk uses the word "oracle" for the word of God. An oracle is a divine message. Peter uses this word in 1 Peter 4:11, "Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God." God's oracle is His Word.

If we are going to live by faith in troubling times, we must trust God, speak His Word, and follow His instructions. Are you studying His Word? Are you building your life on God--the God of the Bible? Are you trusting Jesus, the object of your faith? Today, God tells us what He said to Habakkuk so long ago: "Trust me and follow my instructions."