9/30/19
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
It’s easy to lose patience. Really easy. Merely the fact of developing patience itself takes patience. We learn to wait by waiting. Our Old Testament reading in Habakkuk speaks to this difficulty. The prophet is annoyed, possibly even angered by God’s seeming delay. The wicked are able to continue in their evil. There doesn’t seem to be much hope at all. What hope is there? We wait and watch, we work for justice, and it never seems to come.
God answers Habakkuk that his judgment will come. He will do what is right, but we need to watch for it. God will not forget his promises. The one with a problem is actually the person who doubts. In chapter two verse four it says “his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith” (ESV). The Lord here is saying that our impatience with him is a sign that we are not living by faith. We need to watch and wait, otherwise our souls are puffed up.
At the heart and center of this issue is the sovereignty of God. Are we on the throne, deciding when and what will happen in this world, or does God hold that position? God alone is the sovereign Lord who is able to bring this world and all its affairs to a right conclusion. We don’t have that right or ability. We trust in Him alone. Blessed be the Lord who will bring all things to pass in His time according to His perfect will. Meanwhile, we work for good and we wait on the Lord.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
It’s easy to lose patience. Really easy. Merely the fact of developing patience itself takes patience. We learn to wait by waiting. Our Old Testament reading in Habakkuk speaks to this difficulty. The prophet is annoyed, possibly even angered by God’s seeming delay. The wicked are able to continue in their evil. There doesn’t seem to be much hope at all. What hope is there? We wait and watch, we work for justice, and it never seems to come.
God answers Habakkuk that his judgment will come. He will do what is right, but we need to watch for it. God will not forget his promises. The one with a problem is actually the person who doubts. In chapter two verse four it says “his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith” (ESV). The Lord here is saying that our impatience with him is a sign that we are not living by faith. We need to watch and wait, otherwise our souls are puffed up.
At the heart and center of this issue is the sovereignty of God. Are we on the throne, deciding when and what will happen in this world, or does God hold that position? God alone is the sovereign Lord who is able to bring this world and all its affairs to a right conclusion. We don’t have that right or ability. We trust in Him alone. Blessed be the Lord who will bring all things to pass in His time according to His perfect will. Meanwhile, we work for good and we wait on the Lord.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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