Sovereignty in Uncertainty
Political Uncertainty
If you haven’t heard by now, there is an election coming up in our country. And you might be feeling a small amount of anxiety because of it. It’s hard not to!
Our country is divided. People have strong opinions. There are real problems that need to be addressed. And all of us want our government to function in a better way.
We live in a wonderful country where, as citizens of this country, we have the right and the opportunity to participate in the election and cast our vote. It’s worth noting that historically speaking, Christians haven’t had that right or opportunity for the better part of the last 2000 years.
But the fact that we do have a vote and that we live in a country in which we are blessed to have a voice and a choice in electing those in government raises even more questions for many of us. But the main question may be simply this:
How do we live faithfully as followers of Jesus today?
Holding Up the Mirror
Walter Cronkite was an iconic American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. Often referred to as “the most trusted man in America,” Cronkite was renowned for his calm, authoritative reporting style during some of the most pivotal moments in modern history.
He once said this about his job as a journalist: “Our job is only to hold up the mirror – to tell and show the public what has happened.”
And right now, when we look into that mirror, we’re a little concerned about what we see happening in our country.
Our world is broken. Our country is divided.
There’s nothing quite like a presidential election to bring out the best in people and the worst in people. We’re living in a culture of contempt. Things are not the way they are supposed to be.
We cry out to God about the injustices in our world and in our country but sometimes it feels like nothing is happening, that nothing is changing, and we’re wondering if God is listening.
We wonder, where is God when presidential candidates are under threat of assassination, when school shootings are a regular occurrence, when violence is everywhere we look?
When people only argue and fight and can no longer have a respectful conversation? When there is injustice all around us? When righteous people who are trying to do the right things in the right way are simply outnumbered?
On the one hand, we remember, this is why we need good government. To uphold the law. To hold people accountable. To protect the innocent. To provide for our citizens. To keep the peace.
And let me just say, I know we have many people in the church who work in government, who work in law enforcement, serve in our courts, who are doing good and not only do we thank you for your service, we need you and your Christian influence in our community, in our government, and in this world.
Yet the situation at hand leaves us to wonder…
How do we walk faithfully in the way of Jesus in this cultural moment?
And…
What do we do when we believe that God is in control, or we want to believe God is in control, but what we see in the world around us challenges that belief?
Nothing New
Even though it feels like this is a new problem, even though it feels like things have never been this way before, the truth is that the people of God have often asked these kinds of questions. Throughout history the people of God have wrestled with this reality that things in this world are not the way they are supposed to be. And wondered how to live faithfully even when it feels like the world around them is on fire.
In fact, just listen to these words from scripture. I’ll tell you where their from in just a moment. But just listen to this…
How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
but you do not come to save.
Must I forever see these evil deeds?
Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
who love to argue and fight.
The law has become paralyzed,
and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
so that justice has become perverted.
OK, were those words written about us or about someone else?
If you go back 2600 years, you find these words written by a prophet named Habakkuk about the world in which he was living.
As he held up the mirror, this is what he saw happening in Judah. One commentator summed up the situation Habakkuk found himself in this way…
“From the political leaders to the common people, everyone seems to have plunged themselves into moral madness. Everyone seems to have forsaken the Lord and His covenant with His people. Everyone seems to be striving for personal pleasure and self promotion. At every level of (Judahite) society, sin is rampant.” – Redman, Curtis
Again, are these words written about us or someone else?
It’s easy for us to think, things have never been this way, things have never been this bad, but sometimes it’s good to look back as we try to look forward in faith and remember this eternal truth: Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, rulers rise and rulers fall, but God is still on the throne.
And I can tell you how I know that’s true today. That’s true today because it was true 2600 years ago when the prophet Habakkuk cried out to God about all the trouble, all the corruption, all the injustice, all the sin and division in his day and time. And I want you to hear what the LORD says to Habakkuk.
God’s Surprising Response
Chapter 1 begins by letting us know this message we’re about to read is a vision that Habakkuk has from God. What follows is a dialogue where Habakkuk makes his complaints known to God and then God replies.
But God’s response is not at all what Habakkuk expected. And it may surprise you, too.
Habakkuk cries out to God…
Habakkuk 1.2
2 How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
but you do not come to save.
And then God responds…
5 “Look around at the nations;
look and be amazed!
For I am doing something in your own day,
something you wouldn’t believe
even if someone told you about it.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,
a cruel and violent people.
They will march across the world
and conquer other lands.
7 They are notorious for their cruelty
and do whatever they like.
8 Their horses are swifter than cheetahs
and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their charioteers charge from far away.
Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.
9 “On they come, all bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind,
sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
10 They scoff at kings and princes
and scorn all their fortresses.
They simply pile ramps of earth
against their walls and capture them!
11 They sweep past like the wind
and are gone.
But they are deeply guilty,
for their own strength is their god.”
Habakkuk 1.5-11
If I had to guess, what Habakkuk wanted to hear from God was the same thing you would want to hear from God when you cry out for help. You would want to hear a word of hope. You would want to know that God hears your prayer, cares about your situation, and that help is on the way.
That is not the response Habakkuk gets from God in this moment. Not even close.
Babylonia is the new super power of the ancient Near East at this time. And God is about to do the unthinkable. Instead of sending help, He’s going to employ the Babylonians as His instrument of divine judgement against His people Judah.
Instead of a word or hope, Habakkuk hears a word of divine judgement. And at this point Habakkuk is asking the same question you’ve asked God a thousand times.
WHY?
Why God? Why would you allow THIS to happen to us?
Habakkuk is struggling to reconcile what he believes to be true about God with what he’s hearing from God. He’s trying to make sense of the age old question, How can a good God allow bad things to happen? And especially to His people?
Habakkuk responds to God…
12 O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
to punish us for our many sins.
13 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.
Will you wink at their treachery?
Should you be silent while the wicked
swallow up people more righteous than they?
Habakkuk 1.12-13
Habakkuk can’t believe God’s response. God, are you really going to wipe out your people? Are you really going to let us suffer and allow the Babylonians to conquer us?
What are we supposed to do?
And that’s the question for every believer in every time in every situation.
What are we supposed to do when it feels like the world is on fire?
When things are not the way they are supposed to be? When we are crying out to God for help but nothing seems to change?
When injustice and violence and sin run rampant over our society? When it seems like the wicked outnumber the righteous and we don’t know what to do?
What are we supposed to do?
What Do We Do?
God has an answer for Habakkuk. And it’s the answer we need to hear today as well…
God says…
Habakkuk 2.4:
But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.
God calls His people to continue to live by faith even in the most desperate of times. Even in the most uncertain of situations.
Even when everyone from political leaders to common people seem to have plunged themselves into moral madness. Even when everyone seems to have forsaken the Lord and His covenant with His people. Even when everyone seems to be striving for personal pleasure and self promotion. Even when at every level of our society sin is rampant.
We are called to live by faith.
And we are called to remember that come what may on Earth, this is the eternal reality in Heaven…
“…the LORD is in his holy Temple.
Let all the earth be silent before him.” – Habakkuk 2.20
In other words, the Kingdom of Heaven is still standing. God is still on the throne. And God is not worried.
I don’t mean to say that God is unconcerned, that God is unaware, that God is ok with the way things are. God sees, God knows, and God cares.
But… you should know that God is not pacing the streets of Heaven worried about what’s going to happen next, stressed out about who is going to win this election, or losing sleep about all the what ifs that may keep us awake at night.
The LORD, YWHW, the King of kings and the Lord of lords is in his holy Temple.
And when you enter into His presence, when you come before the Great I AM, the Eternal One (3v6), when you see the LORD high and lifted up, like Habakkuk you may want to choose your next words carefully. You might want to be silent before Him.
Be silent before Him.
Be silent.
Silence.
Perspective Change
After this, after God speaks, Habakkuk falls silent before the Lord.
Habakkuk remembers who he is and who God is.
And then, Habakkuk’s complaint turns and now becomes a prayer of praise.
Remember, his situation hasn’t changed. The Babylonians are still on the way. But his perspective HAS changed.
In fact, chapter 3 is a psalm. A song of worship. A prayer of praise.
Habakkuk 3.2-6
2 I have heard all about you, LORD.
I am filled with awe by your amazing works.
In this time of our deep need,
help us again as you did in years gone by.
And in your anger,
remember your mercy.
3 I see God moving across the deserts from Edom,
the Holy One coming from Mount Paran.
His brilliant splendor fills the heavens,
and the earth is filled with his praise.
4 His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise.
Rays of light flash from his hands,
where his awesome power is hidden.
5 Pestilence marches before him;
plague follows close behind.
6 When he stops, the earth shakes.
When he looks, the nations tremble.
He shatters the everlasting mountains
and levels the eternal hills.
He is the Eternal One!
Maybe today, you’re feeling the anxiety surrounding this election in our country. Maybe there are deep emotions stirring within you as you consider the implications. I know. God knows.
Today, can I encourage you with this prayer and these words? This is how Habakkuk concludes his prayer…
17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
In other words, even though things are as bad as they could possibly be. Even though my worst fears have been realized. Even though… Habakkuk says,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.
Habakkuk 3.17-19
Habakkuk resolves to trust in the sovereignty of God in the midst of uncertain times. Even though he doesn’t understand what’s happening or how God is working in the world, he makes the decision to trust that God is Sovereign and that God is good.
He can do that because the LORD is seated on the throne and He is in His holy Temple.
And so can you.
Just like Habakkuk, you can cry out to God when you see the injustice, the division, the sin, the hurt, the pain in the world around you.
And just like Habakkuk, you can trust that God is always working in ways you can see and in ways you cannot see to make all things right and all things new.
Forgetting God
In 1863, our country was experiencing another time of deep division as we were in the midst of a Civil War. It was a different time, and the circumstances were different, but our nation was divided.
The war had been raging for two years. The toll it was taking on our nation was unimaginable. People were suffering. People were dying. We were suffering massive casualties and there was no end in sight. It has been said that the Civil War was the deadliest war in American history.
At that time, Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States. He felt a strong conviction that our nation needed to turn to God for guidance, repentance, and healing.
On March 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a Proclamation for a National Day of Prayer, Fasting, and Humiliation calling the nation to seek God during one of the most challenging periods in American history.
In that proclamation Lincoln said these words:
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.”
That was over 160 years ago. But again, those words feel as true today as ever.
How do you live faithfully as a follower of Jesus today?
What do you do when you believe that God is in control, or you want to believe God is in control, but what you see in the world around you challenges that belief?
Let me encourage you today in a world that has forgotten God to REMEMBER.
REMEMBER… that God has always been and will always be Sovereign.
That even in the face of uncertain times, even when we are filled with anxiety and fear, even when we do not know what will happen next or how things will turn out, God is Sovereign. The LORD is in His Holy Temple. He sees, He knows, and He cares for us. And come what may, The LORD is still on the throne today.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed, whenever this political moment feels confusing or disorienting, whenever you begin to wonder, “Where is God?” I want to encourage you…
instead of typing in all CAPS on social media, instead of allowing politics to separate you from the people you love most, instead of allowing our enemy to divide us and sow his seeds of tension, division, and confusion…
Instead, choose to be silent before the LORD. Choose to be a person of faith and to live faithfully. Choose to be a light in this dark world. Choose to love your neighbor and forgive those who hurt you. Choose to be different. Choose the way of Jesus who chose the way of the cross for you.
Depend on Him even When
We live in a dark and broken world. And we’re living in a political moment that often causes tension and division. But here, in God’s church, may we choose to live faithfully. To look to Jesus. To depend on Him even when…
When we do this, our witness in this world is elevated. The church becomes a beacon of hope in this dark world no matter who the president may be at any given time.
When we are able to stay calm and trust in the Sovereignty of God in the most divisive times, it signals to the world around us that while we care about our country and we care about our world, and we do want to participate and make a difference, we do want to do everything we can to make things on earth just a little more like they are in heaven, our ultimate hope and our trust is not in our political leaders, it is in the Sovereign LORD.
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