Trusting God

Habakkuk 2:18-20
(18) "What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!
(19) Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.
(20) But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him."

God is God whether we like it or not. We may not always understand how He goes about His business. We may not always understand why things happen to us. However, in the end, God is God and we are not. Therefore, we must be careful not to fashion our own gods to replace the God who is.

In the church we like to emphasize how God is love. That is certainly true. However, the gospel is only glorious because God is also just and full of wrath. If He were merely loving then there would be no reason for Christ to die. There would be no wrath or justice that needed satisfaction. However, Christ became the perfect sacrifice for sin so that we might come into the presence of God and not fear His perfect justice.

The book of Habakkuk ends with a fairly famous and yet sobering passage:

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. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

We are to rejoice in Him no matter what is going on. Our response to Him must not depend on our circumstances. We all go through peaks and valleys in life. God is still God and still in control no matter what is happening. And, ultimately, He is still worthy of our praise and honor no matter what.

Psalms 146:1-2
(1) Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
(2) I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

I love it when a complete gospel message comes out of just what I read as my daily reading. Read through the Bible in 2009!