Habakkuk 2:6–3:19, Acts 18:1–28, Job 26:1–14, John 16:33
This morning was one of those days when I didn’t want to
get out of bed. I was thinking that life is too hard, but before I could have
too large a pity-party, God had me read the above three passages. My goodness,
my life is easy compared to Habakkuk and Job, and even Paul and the early
Christians.
Habakkuk faced the certainty that God was going to use the
idolatrous Chaldeans to purge His people. He was dismayed, yet finally said, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the
glory of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
Habakkuk trusted God no matter what: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on
the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the
flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will
rejoice in the Lord; I will take
joy in the God of my salvation. God,
the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread
on my high places . . . .” (Habakkuk 3:17–19)
Job didn’t understand or think positively about the
calamities that were happening to him either, but he did acknowledge the power
of God. He said, “Sheol (place of the dead) is
naked before God, and Abaddon (destruction) has no covering. He stretches out the
north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in
his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. He covers the
face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud. He has inscribed a circle
on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The
pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. By his power he
stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab. By his wind the
heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Behold, these are
but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But
the thunder of his power who can understand?” (Job 26:6–14)
Job, like most of us, longed for understanding about his
situation, but in the midst of not knowing very much, he knew that God is God.
As for Paul, his life was polarized; he was blessed or he
was persecuted. In today’s reading, “He reasoned in
the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas
and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying
to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him,
he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I
am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:4–6)
Then “Crispus, the ruler of
the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And
many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord
said to Paul one night in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and
do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you,
for I have many in this city who are my people.’ And he stayed a year and six
months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Acts 18:8–11)
But later, when “Gallio was
proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him
before the tribunal . . . .” (Acts 18:12) Gallio dismissed the issue
saying he refused to judge religious arguments. So Paul was free. He went to
Ephesus, then Caesarea, then Antioch and other areas, preaching the Gospel.
Another believer named Apollos was doing the same. “He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when
Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the
way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers
encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he
greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted
the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.”
(Acts 18:26–28)
Rarely does a Christian serve God without opposition. It
seems that the more effective that service, the deeper the trials. Habakkuk was
a righteous man, but his way of life was dramatically altered. Job also was a
righteous man, yet he lost his family and all his possessions, even his health.
Paul and others were obeying the Lord, yet were threatened, even stoned as
their message blessed others and changed lives.
God’s ways are not my ways, nor do they fit the perception
of the world. We are taught to work hard and be rewarded, yet in this kingdom
that reward is uncertain. It belongs with certainty only in the world to come.
In John 16:33, Jesus says that no matter what He
experienced, God was with Him. This gives me peace. Then He added, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart;
I have overcome the world.”
This I am to believe, even when I cannot see it, and it
also gives me peace.
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