Embrace In Faith

The picture accompanying this post has nothing to do with what I am about to say, but it sure is pretty. I took it in Istanbul in 2007. Did you know that Tulips actually originated in Turkey? (That is what they told us.) The folks in The Netherlands just figured out the marketing. Anyway, as you are inside most of the day, enjoy this picture from outside. 

Like many of the Old Testament prophets, Habakkuk prophesied the message of the Lord when it wasn’t popular at all. The people of God had wandered far from Him and His ways, and it was the job of the prophets to warn the people to return to the Lord or face his judgment. 

[Aside: Do I think COVID-19 is judgment from God? Not necessarily. It is an attention-getter though, or should be. It is certainly the result of the fallen nature of our world. When Eve and Adam ate from the proverbial tree, not only did mankind fall, but so did creation (See Genesis 3; Romans 8:19-22). At the Fall, disease and death became a thing. Today, we see the results of that on a global scale. To attempt to explain this would be another blog post, and it would likely be long, so let’s get back to Habakkuk for now.]

Habakkuk and his contemporaries all warned Judah of God’s coming judgment. The Northern kingdom was already in the hands of the Assyrians. The Chaldeans were a strong and intelligent people that lived in what was the southern section of Babylon, and eventually the name “Chaldean” and “Babylonian” became synonymous. The Babylonian kings whose names more readily come to mind: Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar were all Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar was the king that would lay siege to Jerusalem on his expansion west. 

Habakkuk’s Plea

Habakkuk begins with a plea to the Lord about how long God would wait to call his people back to himself (Habakkuk 1:2-4). The answer he got was probably not what he wanted (Habakkuk 1:5-11. God says (verse 5), what I am about to do you will not believe. You will be amazed (but not in the happy sense). God was going to use the Chaldeans (Babylonians) to start the people back on the process of coming back to Him. Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 29:10 that the process would include seventy years of deportation in the city of Babylon. God goes on to remind Habakkuk, his people, and us, of the power and ruthlessness of the Chaldeans. They are a “bitter and hasty nation” (Hab. 1:6). “At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress… They sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god.” (Hab. 1:10-11)

As I read this passage the other day and was reminded of the power and relative speed of the Chaldean army, I could not help but think of this virus that has swept around our world. It is no respecter of boundaries or persons. 

Embracing the Situation

There is a lot more in Habakkuk, but I want to focus on his closing word. The name “Habakkuk” possibly means “one who embraces.” Habakkuk embraced the bad news counterbalanced with faith (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

¹⁷ 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,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹ God, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me tread on my high places.

We need to be prudent, but we must trust God. MUST! 

Are you trusting?

Health Update:

Got a call of Friday, 3/28, from my oncologist office. When I was there on 3/19, I came in some form of contact with someone who has since tested positive for COVID-19. So, I am to stay put at home for another week (through 4/2 if no symptoms develop). Otherwise, things continue to go along well. The Multiple Myeloma blood tests won’t be drawn until next Friday, if we keep the current schedule. Please keep praying: 1. That God is glorified, 2. The treatment works, and, 3. Side effects are minimized. 

In fact, pray for our world and our country that 1. God is glorified, 2. The spread of the virus is limited and the curve is flattened, 3. Our health care workers are kept safe and have the equipment they need, and, 4. Effective and safe treatments are found.

Pray on.

For More information on the Chaldeans, click here.

To read Habakkuk 1-3 (3 pages in my Bible), click here.

Faith: Simple But Solid

You may feel like the sheep in the picture. The location, by the way is in Norway. 

From Wikipedia:

Kjeragbolten is a boulder on the mountain Kjerag in Sandnes municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The rock itself is a 5-cubic-metre (180 cu ft) glacial deposit wedged in the mountain's crevasse. It is a popular tourist destination and is accessible without any climbing equipment. However, it is suspended above a 984-metre (3,228 ft) deep abyss. It is also a popular site for BASE jumping. The boulder is just southwest of the village of Lysebotn, just south of the Lysefjorden.^[1]

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjeragbolten}

Not sure if the sheep was photoshopped in, but I think it probably was. Still, the Bible often calls us sheep. It isn’t the most flattering term but is probably more accurate than we would like to admit. Right now, during all this COVID-19 stuff, you might be feeling kind of like this sheep. 

[Most of what follows was an addendum to a Life Group lesson I wrote for March 15. There are a few changes.]

So Let’s Talk About Faith

Sometimes, when we talk about living by faith, we seem to move toward having faith in faith, and that is shaky ground. It goes like this, “If you just have enough faith…” which implies that the greater quantity of faith you have (not sure how you measure it), then the more likely your prayers will be answered, your physical ailments healed, and all your relationships will be wonderful. The problem is there is no object of faith—no foundation.

Faith must have an object. Faith is no stronger than its object. That object must be Jesus Christ. It is not the “quantity” (how much) faith you have, but what or who your faith is in. 

Not long ago, a friend and I were talking about why it seems that God moves in powerful ways on the mission field in ways we are not familiar with in the west. Sometimes this work is miraculous. My friend asked why that seemed to be so. One reason I proposed was that believers in developing nations had, at least for many years, nowhere else to turn. They learned to trust God. 

Now we are faced with something clearly beyond our control. Yes. Social Distancing helps, and washing your hands as well. But as we have watched the global spread, it is obvious that we, at least so far, are not in control. We can, and should, do things to mitigate the threat, but the threat will still be there. We just don’t know how this is going to play out.

My experience is limited to just a few countries and the believers I met there, but in every case where I noted the greatness of faith lived out, it was simple but solid. Simple in that there was no flourish to expressing faith. No grinding of the teeth or spiritual (and physical) gymnastics that we sometimes see on TV to “pump up faith.” There was no big show, be it an individual or a church expressing faith. There was simple trust that God, based on what He said in His word, would do what He said He would do. It was solid because it was grounded on the Word of God and the God of whom it speaks. Faith in faith is building on the sand. Faith in God is building on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27).

So cling to the promises of God’s Word, but cling to them in the total context of Scripture. While Psalm 91 is true and a great comfort to hang on to, so is James 1:2-4, Philippians 4:6-7, and 1 Thessalonians 5:18. (Have you thanked God for COVID-19? We are to give thanks. We don’t have to feel thankful).

Trust God. Wash. Your. Hands.

Quick Health Update:

On the cancer front my indicator numbers are falling, so the chemo is working. I am also getting stuff to boost my immune globulin level (IGg), so that is very timely. I get my treatment all in Augusta, so that is nice. Also, you may remember the problems I had in the fall with low hemoglobin. Now that treatment has begun, that seems corrected, and the numbers are coming up on their own. Praise the Lord!

Your prayers are ALWAYS appreciated and needed. They are the main ingredient in my treatment.