This week while scrolling through Facebook, I came across a post that was shared by a college friend. This post included a short 50-second video clip from one of Billy Graham’s sermons. Although it was filmed almost 50 years ago, it is still relevant today as we find the very foundations of our world being shaken.
This message, based on a conversation between the prophet Habakkuk and God, Habakkuk 1:1-5) begins with the prophet crying out to God to do something. “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore, the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”
Sound familiar? The prophet could have been speaking of the world today. And just like Habakkuk, we want to ask God what His plans are. We want to know what God is going to do and how He’s going to fix the mess our world is in.
In verse 5, God responds to Habakkuk and, while l understand that this prophecy was meant for Israel, the similarities to the times we are living in are amazing.
I believe God’s message to us today would be the same as it was to Habakkuk. “Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” (Habakkuk 1:5)
Some would say we are living in the last days. In Hebrews 12:26-27, we find a warning about what to expect during that time.
"At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.”
I think we can all agree that in the past 3 years – there has been a whole lot of shaking going on. Even though many of us have grown up hearing this verse, much of what happened and is still happening has taken us by surprise and left many dealing with emotional and spiritual damage.
From the Pandemic, to shelter in place orders, to social distancing, countless deaths, natural disasters, wars and rumors of wars, kids killing kids, the list goes on and on. There has been a shaking like we have not seen before in our lifetime. If you listen to any news source, or even just talk to people, you can’t help but see some startling comparisons to Paul’s warning to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”
In the world that Paul describes, we wonder how our faith will survive.
In Reverend Graham’s message, I am reminded that God has not, nor will he ever abdicate the throne. God is still in control and while we know the end of the story, (spoiler alert: God Wins) the details of it are still being written in the pages of history and in our hearts and lives.
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding Just you wait and see and you will be amazed You've just got to believe the story is so far from over So hold on to every promise God has made to us And watch this glorious unfolding
Glorious Unfolding by Steven Curtis Chapman
The question should not be “how can your faith survive?” Instead, it should be “Who do you put your trust in?” Answer that question first. Everything else rests on your response.
“Who do you put your trust in?”
If we put our trust in God and God ALONE. Then our faith will survive because God is unshakeable and unchangeable. He is the Alpha & Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the Solid Rock. The unshakeable foundation that we should put our hope and trust in.
In Psalm 20:7, the psalmist writes, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
I know that chariots are a thing of the past, but the principle is still applicable today. Many people put their trust in things, in the government, in people, in their jobs, or in their money. But those things will someday all go away.
Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Take some time this week to do a spiritual inventory and ask yourself these two questions:
1. Who (or what) do I put my trust in?
2. How would my life look if I fully trusted in God alone?
Once you have honestly answered those questions, you will be will on your way to finding and developing unshakeable faith.
Link to Billy Graham's video clip: https://billygraham.org/video/lord-please-tell-me-what-youre-doing/
Comments