How Long Lord? - Sam Gallagher

So the title of this morning's talk that I was given is Open How Long Lord Bringing Honest Questions to God. And we are going to start by looking at Habakkuk chapter 1, verses 1 to 4, which reads we got it up, sorry. So it reads the prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet prophet received. 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 paralysed and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous so that justice is perverted. Have a good struggle in there any He's not having an easy time. But as we read that, is there any part of that that sounds familiar to to any of you guys? I know there's parts in there that I've that I've thought before that might have said to to God in prayer before God, where where are you? Why aren't you answering? How long am I going to have to carry on? Do you see what's going on? God, where are you? Perhaps we've prayed for the healing, for maybe ourselves or a loved one, friend or family, and the sickness remains, carries on. Maybe we've seen wrongdoing and justice going on and we pray and it seems to just carry on or prosper, do well, thrive in its wrongdoing, pray for the people we know, loved ones, either the health or the well-being or just knowing the Lord. And yet nothing appears to change. Now, Habakkuk, he understood these struggles. He was a prophet. But unlike many prophets who spoke God's message to the people, Habakkuk brought the people's pain and confusion to to God. His book begins not with praise, like so many do, but with questions. How long, Lord? Those first words? How long, Lord? But this reminds us that God, God, welcomes questions from us. Our faith doesn't exclude questions. Habakkuk wasn't an unbeliever. He wasn't new to his faith. He was a prophet. But as you just read, he cried out. How long, Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen. But what's Habakkuk doing there? He's not running away from God, is he? I mentioned before, I'm a father. I've got two boys. Sometimes if you say something that they don't like, they'll run. They'll they'll get out of there quickly before I have to acknowledge that I hear it and and do something I don't want to. That's not that's not what's going on here. He's he's asking, he's still got faith. He believes in God. He's going to him and saying, Father, help me, I'm struggling. That's not lack of faith. God welcomes our questions all the time. We feel like, or people think maybe that when we have, if we have mature faith, if we've grown in our faith, if I have more better faith, if I have more faith and I won't, I won't struggle that I won't question that, you know, I just need to get better at it and then it'll be fine. I'll never have struggles and and I won't have questions and it'll be great. That's that's not the case. And the Bible teaches us otherwise. David prayed in in Psalm 13 one to two he prayed. How long Lord? Those weird sounds similar there same 3 words to start with. How long Lord will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? Very similar feel. Very similar vibe from David there. David struggled. We we can read all the amazing things that David prayed and did and and put on on paper. But here's David really struggling, really questioning going to God and saying help me, help me. That's not because he failed. That's not because his faith wasn't good enough. It's because we go to God, God's our Father. God wants us to question. He wants us to to look to him for answers, look for him for suppose when there are no answers for us. We see faithful servants all throughout the Bible struggle. Moses question God. I'm not going to read the the the verses, but I've got them in Exodus 522 Moses question God there Elijah question God in one Kings 19, four Jeremiah question God. Job questioned God repeatedly with all the things that he went through, even even Jesus, Jesus who came down from heaven to save us fully human but fully God cried out from the cross. Matthew 2746 my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Was it that his faith wasn't good enough? No questions on a sign of weakness in faith. They're evidence that our faith refuses to let go of God refused to walk away to run away and hide. We've just finished our series on Jonah where we saw Jonah was told to do something. He what did he do? He ran away. He hid from God. He didn't turn around and say well, God explain it to me. I'm struggling it that's that's Jonas struggled with this faith there and we we've if you went here for that series, I'd really recommend you you listen to them all online. I I really, really found that series really encouraging and and took a lot from that. If we go to God with our questions, that's where he wants us and that's where we need to be. He invites us to pour out our hearts. So every time I say that, it sounds really, I don't know, I feel it's just me. I feel like it sounds really cheesy to pour out our hearts, but Psalm, Psalm 62 verse 8 says trust in him at all times. You people pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. That's not just, you know, let me know if you, if you struggle, just just maybe mention it. I mean, that's not a soft little like just, you know, submit something in writing and it'll get back to you within two to three business days. Pour out your hearts. You're struggling. Pour out your hearts to God. Habakkuk spoke honestly, didn't he, about the things he saw around them. He said destruction and violence are before me. There are strife and conflict abounds. Probably a little bit fancy a word than than I'd I'd say if I was praying to God. But he wasn't hiding anything, was he? He wasn't softening it. He wasn't saying it in in, you know, he wasn't trying to make it polite because that's not what God wants. He doesn't want us to put on a show. It's not, it's not a show. When we go to God in prayer, she knows what's in our hearts, So what's the point in putting on the show? He knows what's in our hearts, so let's pour that heart out to Him. Be honest and just go to Him in prayer. Be honest. He doesn't want us to pretend that everything's fine. He wants us to be honest and come to Him as we are. Hearts poured out so often we we try and Polish our prayers, don't we make them sound nice use, you know, prayer, prayer words, prayer, prayer, prayer language. Sometimes I, I found myself do it and you use words in, in prayers that you never use in any other sentence or any other conversation And, and you know, make it, you know, talking to God. And don't get me wrong, there's, there's a reverence there. We're we're talking to to the creator of the universe, but we're also speaking to our father who wants us like we've just read to pour out our hearts to him. He knows our fears, our disappointments, our grief, our anger, our confusion. He knows it all. He would rather have an honest cry than a dishonest prayer. Pour out your hearts. But we also read there from Habakkuk that he felt he felt ignored. In verse 2, he said I cry out to you, but you do not save. Many of us probably know this this feeling at some point or other. His prayer seemed unanswered, and the Lord appears silent. But God's silence is not his absence, and scripture tells us that Isaiah 55, verses 8 to 9 read for my thoughts and not your thoughts. Neither are my ways, neither are your ways nor my ways, declares the Lord. God's working in ways that we can't see, working in ways that we can't understand aren't for us to understand. Again, with being Father's Day, I'm going to refer back to to my boys that sometimes I have to tell them things, get them to do things that they may not understand the reasoning behind, but it's for their own good. Sometimes they don't like it so as they think I'm the meanest person in the world. I've been told that more than once. But you do what's what's best or you feels best in in our flawed humanity. But God does what God does in his perfect godliness, doesn't he? He works in ways we can't see later on. I hope I don't step on any toes here because I think we're going to look at some of the bits of Habakkuk. So sorry if but in Habakkuk chapter 2 verse three, we read for the revelation awaits an appointed time though though it linger wait for us. It will certainly come and will not delay. It's coming. God hadn't ignored Habakkuk. He was already already at work. There's already things going on. Not in Habakkuk's ideal, you know, format wasn't the way he wanted it maybe wasn't the way he could see it. And it's not often the way with us. We pray sometimes with, with an answer in mind. We, we, we want the answer we're waiting for, the answer that we want, that we expect, and that's not how it works. We don't so much, we don't know. There's so much that we fall down and fail on. God was already at work and we just try and trust him. Step back and trust the Almighty. He loves us. We have no reason not to trust Him. He's perfect, He's almighty, He loves us. But it's so hard, isn't it, to let go of control? As humans, you know, I think it's natural to try and control what's around us, control our own lives, but we fail so much. God does not. Joseph spent many years in prison before seeing God's purpose. Abraham waited decades for God's promise. The disciples enjoyed the silence the Saturday before the joy resurrection Sunday we are in the the worship there is we sang and as I wait, I'll rise up like the eagle. There's a waiting in our prayers. There's a patience that's demanded from us when God seems silent. He's not absent, just needs to be patient. The amount of times I'm sure there's plenty of people here have told children of all sorts to just be patient, just just ways just be patient. And we feel like why can't they just wait one minute? That's probably what God's thinking about us. Why can't why can't they just be patient and trust me, I told them that I love them. They know that I care for them. They know that I'm I've got a plan. Why can't they just be patient and wait? He may be silent at times, but he is not absent. So faith waits even without immediate answers. Later on in Habakkuk, in Habakkuk 3/17/18, he declares, though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine. Yes, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my savior. Circumstances hadn't improved from verse one to verse three. There hadn't been some massive turn around. But Habakkuk had had around in his heart, hadn't he? He learnt to trust in God. Faith doesn't always say I understand. Faith often says I do not understand, but I'll trust you anyway. That's what it's about, isn't it? If we can see the plan, if we know exactly what's going to happen, it's not faith. It's just knowing. We can know that God loves us. We can know that He has a plan for us and we have to have a faith in that for the future, for our future, for what's to come. I do not understand, but I still trust you. Hebrews Chapter 11, verse one reminds us when it says now. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Waiting patience is 1 of God's great lessons for us, isn't it That in waiting He teaches us dependence, perseverance and trust? Perhaps today, perhaps recently, you found yourself asking how long God? Is there something in your life that you're thinking, how long? How long will I struggle? How long will I wait? How long until healing? How long until justice? How long until this burden is relieved? The message from Habakkuk, The message of Habakkuk is not that all our questions will appear immediately. It's not have better faith. Instead, it's that we can bring every question honestly before God. He's not threatened by our tears or our cries or our frustration. So don't hide that. Pour out your hearts. Pour out our hearts. As Peter once said. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. It's from John 668. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, so he has the words of eternal life. That's where we take our questions. That's where we take our pain, our our waiting, our frustrations, our honest hearts. Because the God who heard Habakkuk still hears his people today, still hears us today, hears anyone that comes to him. You might have to wait, might have to be patient, but God hears us. He wants us to pour out our hearts to Him, to bring our honest questions to Him because He loves us.