{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":300,"width":600,"title":"Habakkuk - When God\u2019s Answer Is Not What We Expect","description":"Dave continues the series on Habakkuk, picking up from Florence\u2019s message on lament. His main theme is that God does hear our prayers, but his answer may not be the one we expect. He begins with the old \u201cMagic Eye\u201d puzzle books, which required people to look beyond the obvious image to see what was really there. Dave uses this as a picture of Habakkuk\u2019s journey: learning to see beyond immediate circumstances and recognise the bigger thing God is doing. Habakkuk lived at a time when Judah was full of violence, corruption and injustice. He cried out, \u201cHow long?\u201d, asking God why he seemed silent. God does answer, but the answer is shocking. He tells Habakkuk that he is raising up the Babylonians to bring judgement on Judah. This leaves Habakkuk with an even bigger problem. The Babylonians are ruthless, violent and arrogant. How can a holy God use a nation even more wicked than Judah? Dave stresses that God is not endorsing Babylon\u2019s evil. Instead, he is allowing them to prosper temporarily as part of a larger plan to judge and ultimately restore his people. God\u2019s purposes are often much bigger than we can see. From this, Dave describes three ways God may answer prayer. Sometimes the answer is \u201cnot yet.\u201d God may intend to answer, but according to his timing rather than ours. Dave illustrates this with his own experience of waiting six months for a visa to join Cherie in America, and with Abraham and Sarah waiting for Isaac. God\u2019s timing may feel frustrating, but it is not random. Sometimes the answer is \u201cnot exactly.\u201d God may answer differently from the way we imagined. Dave shares how he and Cherie lost out on a house they thought was perfect, only for the neighbouring house \u2014 already improved and still affordable \u2014 to become available later. Paul\u2019s thorn in the flesh provides another example: God did not remove it, but instead gave Paul sufficient grace and a new perspective. Sometimes the answer is simply \u201cnot at all.\u201d This is often the hardest answer to accept. Dave acknowledges that there are circumstances where suffering seems senseless and no explanation feels adequate. Yet Christians worship a God who knows what suffering is like. Jesus himself prayed in Gethsemane for the cup of suffering to be taken away, but the Father\u2019s answer was no. Because Jesus entered suffering himself, believers are never alone in theirs. Dave then returns to Romans 8:28, clarifying that it does not mean everything that happens is good or that every tragedy has an obvious explanation. Rather, it means that God is able to work within broken circumstances for the good of those who love him, bringing redemption and restoration. When God\u2019s answers make no sense, Habakkuk shows what faith can look like. He does not walk away from God. He keeps the conversation open, continues asking questions and remains humble. Dave closes with two things believers can trust even when they do not understand what God is doing: God\u2019s character is good. God\u2019s character is unchanging. We may not understand everything now, but we can trust the God who is compassionate, faithful and the same yesterday, today and forever. 0:00 A New Way of Looking at the World 1:48 Habakkuk and the Violence in Judah 4:22 \u201cHow Long?\u201d \u2014 Habakkuk\u2019s Lament 6:39 God Finally Answers 9:02 God Is Not a Vending Machine 10:56 God Raises Up the Babylonians 14:19 When God Says \u201cNot Yet\u201d 18:18 When God Says \u201cNot Exactly\u201d 21:26 When God Says \u201cNot at All\u201d 25:54 Trusting God When His Answer Makes No Sense ","author_name":"Sermons from Aberdeen Christian Fellowship","author_url":"http:\/\/www.aberdeencf.com","html":"