Giving Thanks in Dark Days | Part 2

What will you do when dark and I hope you will too. Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring Profound Truths Simply Stated by Adrienne Rogers. The Book of Habakkuk is an eerily relevant scripture as these days grow gloriously dim. In three short chapters, this book shows us how to give thanks in dark days. In Part One of this message we learn that faith does not live by explanations but by God's promises. God God will not explain everything to us because we would not understand his ways.

But as Pastor Rogers said, we don't need to know why, we need to know who. If you have your Bible, turn now to the book of Habakkuk as Adrian Rogers reveals more about giving thanks in dark days. Now it's easy to praise the Lord when everything is going well, when the sun is shining and we're happy and our health is good and we're prosperous and our family is around us, then we can say, thank you, Lord, you've been so good. But the Bible says we're to be giving thanks always for all things and sometimes that is difficult and especially in dark days and dark days are all around us and I don't want to discourage you, but it may get darker. Well Habakkuk was a prophet and his days were like our days.

They were dark days. He looked around and he saw crime and violence and hatred and debauchery and he began to ask God to do something about it. And it seemed as though the heavens were brass and he would cry to God and God wouldn't hear. Where is God? Is God too weak to do anything about it?

Or does God simply not care? Like so many of us today, we've been praying and it seems like things are getting worse rather than getting better and very frankly, this is causing some people to stumble. When these dark days come and they're coming, you're going to need something to hold on to. You're going to need something to live by and it's faith. It's faith. Faith is not smoke and mirrors. Faith has spiritual steel and concrete in it and you need something rock solid. You don't need to be walking around on jello and eggshells. You don't need to be blown about by the storms of calamity and the winds of circumstances and the floods of distress.

You need a sure place to stand. You need something to live by and I'm telling you, if there were ever a book for this day in this age, it is the book of Habakkuk that tells us that the just shall live by his faith. Here are three propositions that I have for you from the Word of God. Number one concerning faith, faith doesn't live by explanations but by promises. Now most of us want God to explain things to us, don't we? God, why did you let this happen?

Why do you do it this way? Because faith does not live by explanations but by promises. Now let me show you the problem that Habakkuk had and why he wanted God to explain a few things to him. Look in verses three and four. Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance for spoiling and violence are before me? And there are that raise up strife and contention, therefore the law is slacked and judgment doth never go forth. It just seemed like the devil was having a heyday, verses five and six. Christ says to Habakkuk, you want to know something? Behold, ye among the heathen and regard and wonder marvelously. For I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe in even though it be told you. You want me to give you an answer?

Son, if I were to give you an answer, you wouldn't believe it. You couldn't understand it. I'm going to do something, for lo, I will raise up the Chaldeans.

Now the Chaldeans were the Babylonians, a cruel, fierce, ungodly, pagan nation, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs. You want me to tell you what's going to happen, Habakkuk, it's going to get worse. What you have to understand is this about faith, and folks, it is so very, very important that we understand this, that faith doesn't live by explanations, but by promises. God's not going to explain everything to you. If he did explain to you, you couldn't understand it, and if you could understand, you probably wouldn't agree with it. You better get some promises.

You better get some promises and get a bulldog grip on those promises. That's what chapter 1 is all about, that faith does not live by explanations, but by promises. Now here's the second thing I want you to see. Faith doesn't live by appearances, but by providence. You see, you need to see the promises of God and look beyond explanations, and you need to see the providence of God and look beyond appearances.

Because if you put your eyes on things as they appear, you're going to get awfully confused. Go to chapter 2, this is chapter 2. Habakkuk says, I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will watch to see what he will say unto me. Now boy, he's finally coming to some sense now, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. Will people get on to me and say, Habakkuk, aren't you his prophet?

Why are these things happening? He said, I'll have an answer. And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it, for the vision is yet for an appointed time.

Boy, I love that, an appointed time. But at the end, it shall speak and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, it will not tarry. He saw God working providentially in the following ways. Number one, the reliability of Scripture. And notice what he says about the reliability of the Scripture in verse 3, for the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it. Now what he's saying is this, I'm going to give you something, Habakkuk, that people in later years can use.

And I'm going to give you something that those people in Memphis, Tennessee need. So write it, make it clear for these people that they can trust the Word of God. But not only did he give him the reliability of the Scriptures, but he gave him what I'm going to call the resource of the saint, which is faith. Look in verse 4, the last part of that verse, the just shall live by his faith. Now in these dark days, when you have faith, you look beyond the physical to the spiritual. You look beyond the present to the future. You look beyond the temporary to the eternal. Don't judge things by appearance. Live by faith. Not only did he see the reliability of the Scripture, not only did he see the resource of the saint, but he also saw the retribution of the sinner. Now Habakkuk was afraid that the Chaldeans were going to get away with their sin, that God had gone soft on sin.

No, no, no, no, no. He lists five woes, W-O-E, look if you will in verse 6, woe unto him that increaseth that which is not his. Now he's talking about the grasping materialism of that day when people would get out to cheat and to gouge and to take that which is not theirs. This one verse is enough against gambling. People say, what's wrong with gambling? Read it right there. Woe unto him that increaseth that which is not his.

Gambling is an effort to get what belongs to somebody else into your possession by luck or fate. And by the way, neither one of those should be in the Christian's vocabulary. Look if you will again in verse 9, woe unto him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house. That is, people who are materialistic, people who can't be satisfied and covet an evil covetousness to his house. Look in verse 12, woe unto him that buildeth a town with blood and established the city by iniquity.

You know what he's talking about here? Murderous ways in order to gain power. You say, well, that doesn't happen in America. It is happening in America. There are those politicians who will stand up and say, if you will vote for me, I will see to it that it is legal to kill babies in America. They call that pro-choice, but they never finish the sentence. It is pro-choice to kill a baby.

That's what the choice is all about. And woe unto him that buildeth a town with blood and established the city by iniquity. I'm telling you that America's soil is stained with the blood of little unborn babies. And God says, woe, woe to a nation that does that. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor to drink that putteth thy bottle to him and maketh him drunken also. The curse of God is on the liquor industry. The curse of God is on it.

Tear is brewed with tears, flavored with death, thickened with blood. It has the judgment of God upon it. Look in verse 19, woe unto him that saith to the wood, awake to the dumb stone, arise and it shall teach. He's talking here about idolatry. You say, well, pastor, we don't have idols in America. Of course we do.

Our idols, some of them are made of chrome and fiberglass. But now we're going back to the nature gods. We don't have Easter celebrations. We have earth days so we can go out and worship dirt. And we've gone from Father God to Mother Earth and back to the most primal debaucheries of idolatry in America. Five times he says, woe, woe, woe, woe, woe. One more. Woe.

Why? Because God says, look, look at my providence. There's a reliability of the Scripture. There's the resource of faith. I've given you the Word. You believe it. There's the retribution of the sinner. I am going to judge, and here's the sweet part of it.

Now watch this. There is the reign of the Savior. Look in chapter 2 and verse 14. Do you have the heebie-jeebies and headline hysteria?

You want to know how it's going to end? Go back to chapter 2 and verse 14 and just look at it. Boy, what a great, great verse.

I love this. It's one of my favorite verses in all the Bible. It says, "'For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters that cover the sea.'"

Now, that has not yet happened, but it will happen. Jesus taught us to pray water. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And he made a promise, Brother Mark, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, and the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters that cover the sea. The next time you look at the mighty ocean, just remember this passage of Scripture. Jesus shall reign where the sun doth, his successive journeys run.

His kingdom spread from shore to shore, till moon shall wax and wane no more. And then look down in verse 20. "'But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him.'" What's he saying?

Habakkuk is saying, God, where are you? I'm up here in my holy temple. Just shut up.

Just shut up. "'The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him.'" God is God, and there's no panic in heaven. God is in his holy temple, and this earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as waters they cover the sea. Folks, faith, faith looks beyond appearances to providence. Now, here's the third thing. Faith doesn't live by circumstances, but by praise.

Now, if you live by circumstances, you're going to ride a roller coaster. But if you, if you begin to praise God, even in circumstances, you're going to find out that your life is going to be transformed. Why do you praise him?

Three reasons. First of all, for just his sheer glory. Look in chapter 3, verse 1, a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shiginoth. Well, that's a word we don't use a lot, Shiginoth. What does it mean? It means with deep feeling and emotion, powerful praise. Oh, Lord, I've heard thy speech and was afraid.

God, I didn't know what was going to happen. Oh, Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make known in wrath. Remember mercy.

Please, O God, send a revival. God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran. He's talking about where the law was given.

That means the south. And he says, Silah. That means just think about this. His glory covereth the heavens and the earth was full of his praise. When things get dark and you want to praise and you need to pray, just think of God's glory. Now, you see, what Habakkuk was saying is, Lord, give me a reason. God didn't give him any reason at all. God gave him a revelation. God just gave him a revelation.

Not why, but who? So remember God's glory. Number two, rejoice in God's goodness. Skip down to verse 17. This is one of the greatest passages in all of the Bible.

Look at it. This, of course, you just want to shout and praise God. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd, that is, no cattle, in the stalls. Yet, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. In the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. Now, what is Habakkuk saying? You better get a grip on this verse.

He is saying, look, I don't know what's going to happen, but I know this much, that God is on the throne. And my standard of living may change, but not my standard of life. I want to say that again. Your standard of living may change, but not your standard of life. Not if you rejoice in the Lord. Now, we don't need this world's goods to make us joyful.

Things are not evil in themselves, but they should never be the source of our joy. Our joy has got to come from the Lord. That's the reason in everything we can give thanks, it doesn't mean everything is good, but it means that God is good and God overrules all things. You know, you may never know that God is enough unless God is all you have. And finally, when God is all you have, you may wonderfully discover that God is enough.

Not only necessary, but God is enough. And notice how it ends. Look in verse 19. The Lord God is my strength and He will make my feet like Heinz feet. That's the sure-footed gazelle he's talking about. And He will make me to walk upon my high places. If you've been to Israel and as I have and you've seen the gazelles up on those rocks, they're climbing from rock to rock to rock. And they get up there up in the blue sky where they can breathe the rarefied air.

Down beneath them in the valley are all the predators and the troublemakers. And that gazelle is up there where no one can reach him, looking into the very face of God. And he says, and here's what Habakkuk says, the Lord is my strength.

He will make my feet like Heinz feet. He will make me to walk upon my high places. And then you know who this was written to? Look at it, to the minister of music. Jim, this is for you. To the chief singer on my strained instruments. Here's something that could be played on the harp. Now, folks, I don't know about you, but I think this is a wonderful book.

I think that Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17 is one of the, it is the paragon, it is the apex of faith. Dark days may come. No, I take it back. Dark days will come. Pretending is not going to make them go away. I refuse to be an irrational optimist. I refuse to be a morose pessimist. I stand on the Word of God and I will live by faith.

And I hope you will, too. Faith doesn't live by explanations, but by promises. Faith doesn't live by appearances, but by providence. Faith doesn't live by circumstances, but by praise.

Let the chief singer sing that. Now, Paul says, Paul just picked this up and he said, this is the gospel message. You will live by faith when you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a teen, I was convicted of my sin. By God's grace, I heard the gospel.

And I put my faith where Jesus, or where God had put my sin on the Lord Jesus. And God saved me when I was in my teens. And he radically, dramatically, eternally, changed my heart and my life. And the only thing good about Adrian is the grace of God in him. And you know, I would never have made it thus far, never, had the God who saved me not kept me. But he has kept me by his grace all of these years.

And I want to recommend him to you. If I had a thousand lives to live, I would give every one of them to Jesus Christ. Even if there were no heaven, there is.

Even if there were no hell, there is. But just to know Jesus Christ in this life. Do you want to live?

I mean live, not exist, live. The just shall live by his faith. Get your eyes off of the desire for explanations. You say, well, do you mean faith is unreasonable?

No. Faith is rooted in reason. But faith goes beyond reason in order to be faith. And then faith becomes its own best reason. You know because you know when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. Get your eyes off of appearances.

Get your eyes off of all the chaos that's in the world today because it's going to get worse. Give your heart to Jesus. Receive him. He will forgive every sin.

Every sin will be buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness. He will come into you and from the inside begin to change you and make you a new person. And when he comes or when you die, he'll take you home to heaven.

And either one of those could happen this afternoon. Do you know Jesus? Do you? I'm not asking on your Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, Jewish. Do you know Jesus? Are you saved? If the trumpet should sound right now, would you be caught up to meet the Lord? If your heart should cease to function, would your spirit be transported to heaven? Do you have peace right now?

Do you have a purpose for living? In these dark days, can you give thanks? And if you want the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, I want to lead you in a prayer. Would you pray this prayer, dear God?

Just speak to him. Dear God, I know that you love me and I know that you want to save me. Jesus, you died to save me and you promised to save me if I would trust you. I do trust you right now, this moment, like a child, forgive my sin, cleanse me, save me, Lord Jesus. Would you pray that prayer? Save me, Lord Jesus. Come into my heart, forgive me, cleanse me, save me, Lord Jesus. Pray it sincerely from your heart.

Ask him and trust him to do it. Pray this way, if you ask him, then pray just by sheer act of faith, pray this way, thank you for doing it. Thank you for doing it. I don't deserve it, but I receive it by faith like a little child. You're now my Lord, my Savior, my God and my friend forever.

Because you died for me, I will live for you the rest of my days, not in order to be saved, but because I am saved. In your name I pray, amen. And if you prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, we would love to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page on our website. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith.

We have a response section as well. Share your testimony or tell us how this message has made a difference in your life. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab at the top that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD. Mention the title of this message, Giving Thanks in Dark Days.

You can also order online at lwf.org slash radio or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Are you giving thanks in these dark days? Remember, faith does not live by explanations but by promises.

It does not live by appearances but by providence. And we can praise Him in every circumstance. We hope you'll join us next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. Here's a testimony that really encouraged us. I hope it encourages you today. Two years ago, I started listening to Pastor Adrian Rogers every morning when dropping my kids off at school. My children's understanding about our Lord Jesus keeps getting stronger every day.

Thank you very much Love Worth Finding team. You are a blessing. We love to hear how families are using these messages and resources to nurture a household of faith in some pretty dark days. When you donate to Love Worth Finding right now, we want to send you a hardcover copy of our new resource, 25 Days of Anticipation. 2,000 years ago, the world waited in anticipation for the Messiah. Inspired by the teachings of Adrian Rogers, this powerful book will lead you in an advent study of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled when He came to earth. Request the book when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVEGOD.