Extreme Giving

Do you give from your surplus or is it a true sacrifice?

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD!

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

---

Habakkuk chapter three doesn't make sense to anyone that has not established a personal relationship with God. If your circumstances are as bad as Habakkuk was facing would you have any reason to rejoice in tribulation? Would you be able to trust God's plan and purpose for your life?

Trusting God when it doesn't make sense is probably the most difficult when it comes to giving away a portion of what you have when you seem to have so little or when it isn't clear how much you will have.

In the Old Testament law God's people were required to bring a first fruit offering to the temple. This offering required a level of trust because you were giving a sacrifice at the beginning of the harvest before you knew how much you would earn. (Leviticus 23:14)

This idea of giving before we get is very foreign to us, we want to give after the paycheck or the bonus comes in, but the Bible teaches that our giving should show that we trust God to take care of us regardless of our financial circumstances.

Give Sacrificially

Mark 12:43-44 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. 44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

Jesus told his disciples that the poor widow at the temple was the best giver that day while he was in the temple. Her gift was a true sacrifice that created a financial struggle that none of the other people experienced that day.

Looking back at Habakkuk's situation, the country was in full economic collapse, their wealth had disappeared, the ability to provide for their families was destroyed and the possibility of having a meal on any given day was bleak.

Giving sacrificially requires that you give until it hurts, your giving should make you a little bit uncomfortable, and your lifestyle should be affected by your giving. Is your giving really a generous sacrifice? If you are only giving from your surplus then what happens when the surplus is gone?

Give Joyfully

Deuteronomy 26:8-11 So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and powerful arm, with overwhelming terror, and with miraculous signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey! 10 And now, O LORD, I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.’ Then place the produce before the LORD your God, and bow to the ground in worship before him. 11 Afterward you may go and celebrate because of all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household. Remember to include the Levites and the foreigners living among you in the celebration.

In the teachings about the first fruit offering they didn't just drop their offering in the collection box and walk away. Their offering was given joyfully with a testimony about the one that provided the offering.

We give our money cheerfully to the things that we are passionate about, it doesn't matter what your interest is, you will spend money easily on those things that you love the most. You will have to be careful not to spend too much on those things.

What do you treasure so much that you can effortlessly give money to? Do you give as cheerfully to God as you do to your earthly pleasures?

Give Graciously 

2 Corinthians 8:2-3  They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.  3  For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will.

When you give your time, treasure or your talents to God it becomes part of God's grace to others. God didn't bless me so that I can accumulate the blessings and keep them to myself, I have been blessed so that I can introduce the people that I bless to my loving God who provided for me.

When God's people share their blessings we fulfill our mission here on earth, our blessings help bring charity, good works and justice to our hurting world. Our giving will help us be better ambassadors for our Savior who was the most extreme giver.

I need to be faithful to give even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD!

RELATED ARTICLES

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow: An Analysis (medium.com)
What Was The First Fruits Offering? (gotquestions.com)
Doxology (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

Rejoice In Tribulation

The circumstances of this life should not alter my view of God's goodness.

Habakkuk 2:14  For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD.

Habakkuk 3:1-2  This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk:  2  I have heard all about you, LORD. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy.

Habakkuk 3:17-19  Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,  18  yet I will rejoice in the LORD!

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!  19  The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

---

Habakkuk has been struggling with God in the first two chapters of his short book. He has shown us that we should wait on the Lord and decide that we will trust him to take care of us for this life and for eternity no matter what the circumstances look like. When we come to know God in this way our natural response to God is to worship him.

As God answered his prayers, Habakkuk grew in his awareness of the glory of the Lord and his knowledge and control of every detail, his view of God grew so much that he compared it to the waters that fill the seas.

God's glory is also known because people have been talking about it and writing books about it for thousands of years. Habakkuk is amazed at the great deeds that God has done for his people because he has read the books that Moses wrote and he has heard a lot of stories that have been passed down about God's power and glory.

Exodus 7:5  When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.”

In spite of God's superiority over the man made gods of Egypt they still didn't acknowledge him as the one true God. It is incredible that God's glory was denied even in the grandest display of his power in sending the plagues to Egypt.

We tend to blame the Pharaoh for Egypt's troubles but it has occurred to me that the people of Egypt didn't show any signs that they were willing to turn from their little gods any more than Pharaoh was.

Habakkuk knows that God has used his power to benefit his chosen people in the past and he hopes that he will do it again. He knows that the only power that is sufficient to save is the same power that has been proven in the past. But he also knows that God won't always use his power to end our suffering.

We say that God is good when things are going our way but sometimes his blessings come to us in disguise. We usually pray for the difficult times to go away, none of us like for anything to be tough, but what if those difficulties are the very thing that God is using to send blessings your way?

When God judges his people it is for their benefit even if it doesn't feel or look like it is.

God's Judgment Is Like:

A thunderstorm that is seen approaching over the tops of the southern mountains (Habakkuk 3:3-4); A plague from which no one escapes (Habakkuk 3:5); An earthquake that terrorizes the nations and shakes the mountains (Habakkuk 3:6); A desert wind that blows down the Arab’s tents (Habakkuk 3:7); The overthrow of enemies in battle, whether by armies or by the spectacular intervention of the forces of nature (Habakkuk 3:8-9); A flood that sweeps everything away (Habakkuk 3:10); An eclipse of the sun that leaves the earth in darkness (Habakkuk 3:11); The triumph of a warrior who kills his enemies and saves his people (Habakkuk 3:12-15). Bridgeway Bible Commentary by Missionary Don Fleming

Habakkuk knows that God is right to be angry but he knows that God is also merciful even in judgment. He knows that God is good even when there isn't any resources available to sustain us. There isn't any food available today and there isn't anything in the garden or in the pasture that will provide food anytime soon but that doesn't change the goodness and glory of God.

Because God always deserves praise and glory, Habakkuk will rejoice in these circumstances, he knows that his joy doesn't come from the abundance of things that he has or how easy his life is, he will rejoice because the God of his salvation is his delight. (Psalm 34:1)

Hard times can push you to new heights or they will destroy you. Your suffering will make you far better or far worse that you were before. Will you be better or bitter? Will suffering make you humble or arrogant?

I need to rejoice because God is using everything for his glory which ultimately leads to me spending eternity with him singing his praises for my undeserved salvation. I should not allow the circumstances of this life to alter my view of the glory of God and his unrelenting goodness to his people.

RELATED ARTICLES

God’s Zeal for His Own Glory (desiringgod.org)
Book of Habakkuk (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

Who Will You Trust?

God has a plan and a purpose for everything that comes into your life.

Habakkuk 2:4  “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

Habakkuk 2:14-16  For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD.

15  “What sorrow awaits you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness.  16  But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced. Come, drink and be exposed! Drink from the cup of the LORD’s judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame.

---

Habakkuk cries out in desperation and asks God why he isn't doing something to end the evil and injustice that surrounds him. He is tired of the oppressive evil and injustice that he sees in the nation that is supposed to be God's chosen people. How can God allow his people to go on this way?

But when God replies, Habakkuk has to ask God if he really knows what he is doing, how can a notoriously more evil people be used to judge God's people that are less evil? (Habakkuk 1:12-17)

Habakkuk was waiting for an answer from God to help him understand what he is doing. God let's him know that Babylon will be judged and it will be more devastating than the judgment of God's people that Babylon is bringing.

We have to decide to trust and accept that God has a plan and a purpose for every good and bad thing that comes into our life.

Look at the proud! They trust in themselves.

In Habakkuk chapter two we can see that pride is at the center of the sins of the Babylonian culture. It's the same with us today, we long for acceptance and approval so we seek our own glory instead of God's, we never learn that self gratification never works.

Pride will leave us empty and always striving for more, we can win a contest, get a trophy and a lot of applause but when the attention fades away we are still looking for approval and acceptance. We can be like the Babylonians, we can conquer the world, but we will not find satisfaction unless we continue to exploit, abuse and conquer someone or something else.

Pride is a strange creature; it never objects to its lodgings. It will live comfortably enough in a palace, and it will live equally at its ease in a hovel. Is there any man in whose heart pride does not lurk?

-Spurgeon

The Babylonians sins are our sins, our evil culture looks too much like theirs, obviously we are slow learners because the history of sin continues to be repeated as we continue to do the same things that they did:

• Selfish ambition (Habakkuk 2:6-8), 
• Greed (Habakkuk 2:9-11), 
• Exploit people (Habakkuk 2:12-14), 
• Drunkenness and violence (Habakkuk 2:15-17) 
• Idolatry (Habakkuk 2:18-20).

Everybody that rejects God to live for themselves is going to keep doing the same sins and be shocked when they don't get a different result.

The righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

God's righteous people will admit that he is still in control and no matter what happens he never leaves his throne. God sees everything that we are going through just as he did in the Bible, look how many godly people went through extremely difficult experiences without losing faith.

It is difficult to understand that God is in control but scripture also tells us that we are responsible for our choices. In our minds it is an apparent contradiction that we cannot resolve, it is true that God is in control but it is equally true that we are not puppets and we get to choose because we have free will.

The righteous won't manipulate and use people, they won't look at others and think about what that person can do for them. I can treat people better because my glory and honor comes from God and his love and applause are all that should matter to me.

Habakkuk 2:20  But the LORD is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.”

I need to stop complaining when difficult times come my way because he sends them for his purpose and his glory. I will trust God to take care of me and work everything out for my good because of his great love for me and my great love for him. (Romans 8:28)

I need to love God in all of his glory and allow him to remove my pride, I need to trust in his power and allow him to be my source of honor and glory.

Waiting On The Lord

There is hope greater than the darkest day I will ever face.

Habakkuk 2:1-4 I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint.

2 Then the LORD said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. 3 This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.

4 “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

---

The man of God is right to be upset about the evil world that he lives in, Habakkuk complained to God about it and asked him why, why don't you do something, why have you let evil go unchecked for so long?

We can't help feeling this way if we have a godly perspective of sin, we should be bothered, we should be anxious for God to bring about his greatest promise, we should be yearning for the day when his righteous kingdom will come. (Matthew 6:10)

Habakkuk's complaint receives an answer from God that he doesn't like, the world around him is going to get worse, God is going to use a notoriously more evil people to punish his own chosen people. Man's wisdom says that God should punish the worst people first and work his way down the list to the next most evil people but God doesn't try to do things so that they make sense to our little brains.

God's plan is in motion and everything that happens is a part of that plan. Thankfully God gave us the book of Habakkuk so that we can learn how to face our struggles as we wait on the Lord.

Wait Patiently

The last thing that anybody wants to hear is "be patient" but that's exactly what Habakkuk did. When someone tells us to be patient, it probably means that we aren't behaving very well, it is much easier to blow up than it is to make a deliberate choice to be patient.

We have to decide for ourselves if the circumstances will make us better or bitter. We rarely look at these situations and consider the potential that we have to become more like the person God wants us to become or the person that the other people in your life wish we would become.

Wait With Perspective

It is easy to be overwhelmed and fearful when you are in the middle of the chaos but hope is also pretty easy to find if you change your perspective. If you are at the city gates and you see an attack coming you have every reason to be afraid but if you change your perspective by climbing the watchtower and you see reinforcements on the way it will set your mind at ease.

Romans 8:18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

That is the perspective that the apostle Paul had in the middle of his suffering, he suffered greatly but he viewed it all as a temporary setback that would amount to nothing in comparison to the glorious eternal future that he would enjoy.

Wait Obediently

The main qualification for sitting in the watchtower is watching, this is the last person that you want to find taking a nap, there has to be a commitment. The stakes are too high for such carelessness.

Instead of viewing waiting as a time to rest, think of being a waiter, one that is a servant or an attendant. Instead of being idle, you must keep being active, you don't stop praying, attending worship or studying the Bible just because you aren't getting anything out of it.

Wait Focused on God

When evil days are upon us and it seems like God is withholding his blessings from us, that's when we get to prove our motivation for being a child of God, that's when we prove why we are in a relationship with him.

The blessings and benefits are so great that we can easily focus on the gifts and not the giver of the gifts. Are we desiring the Lord or the Lord's things? Are you faithful even when you aren't getting anything out of it?

Satan's accusation against Job was that Job was loyal and loving toward God because he was getting the things. That's how most of us begin our relationship with God, we are at a tough spot in life that we want help with, it's okay to start there but God expects us to deepen our relationship with him so that it is a true love relationship instead of a self serving, exploitative relationship.

Wait Joyfully

Because of our faith we can live with the difficult circumstances and the evil days that we encounter, the gospel gives us a reason to have confidence in God’s wise and good control of our life, even in the worst of times.

One of the disadvantages of living in such a blessed society as we have is that we lose our joy so quick. The lives of God's people in the Bible were so much more difficult, the evil around them was so much greater, they suffered through evil invaders and they had very little comforts yet they tell us that we need to always have joy. (2 Corinthians 6:10, Philippians 4:4-8)

If we are waiting on him now then he will wait on us when he returns!

Luke 12:35-38 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded.

I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

I don't know how the good news of this parable gets so little attention. How could we overlook such an amazing promise that has been given to the servants that are ready and waiting for Jesus return? How can we lose our joy so easily?

Jesus left us behind to serve him as he prepares a place for us in his father's house, part of making the house ready will be setting the table for a grand feast, a celebration so spectacular that I will have to be given something good enough to wear.

After I am dressed in my new clothes, I will be waited on by my Savior, he will approach the table wearing servants clothes, he will pull the chair out and seat me at the table and then begin to serve me. How can anybody love me that much after I have betrayed them? (John 14:1-4, Revelation 19:6-8)

I need to wait on the Lord in the same way that he will wait on me, I need to serve him enthusiastically even in the darkest of days as I wait for his return, I can rise above the dark days around me because of the amazing future that you are preparing for me.

RELATED ARTICLES

The Just Shall Live By Faith (desiringgod.org)
Book of Habakkuk (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

Why Doesn't God Do Something

Wrestling with God when he doesn't make sense.

Habakkuk 1:2-3 How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. 3 Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.

There is always trouble in our world but there have been decades of peace and prosperity that have drawn people to the conclusion that the world is getting better and better. But then there are moments when that perception gets shattered and it become obvious that we have no right to think that way.

During those long periods of suffering it's very common to wonder why God doesn't step in and end the suffering or maybe you get the idea that this is the end of the world and nothing will ever get better again.

Sometimes suffering is about judgement for our sins, in the days of the Old Testament prophets it certainly was, God's people must have thought that he wouldn't judge them too harshly because they were his chosen. Before the chosen people took possession of the Promised Land they were warned that the people that they were displacing were not pleasing God and if Israel made the wrong choice they would suffer similar consequences. (Deuteronomy 28:1-68)

The people of the southern kingdom already know the warnings that the northern kingdom had, they saw them ignore the prophets and they saw the consequences as they fell to the Assyrians, and on top of that the southern kingdom also ignored their own prophets.

Habakkuk seems to know that there isn't any hope that they won't be punished or that there is a possibility of revival, he doesn't plead with the people to change their ways, he seems to know that God is going to step in and judge them.

God's man feels the burden of sin that is all around, Habakkuk cry's out to God to let him know how long this situation is going to last, he hopes that all of this will come to an end soon but he fears that the Lord isn't listening. What burden can be heavier than this, to see evil prevail among God’s people, and to be unable to do anything about it?

Habakkuk asks God why he isn't doing something to make the world better, we all seem to have this longing, it's like we know that we were made for a better world.  The man of God was right to go to God with his difficult questions but when God replies it makes it even more difficult for Habakkuk to understand.

God answers: "I am doing something!"

Habakkuk 1:5-6 The LORD replied, “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the world and conquer other lands.

Habakkuk 1:12-13 O LORD my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal— surely you do not plan to wipe us out? O LORD, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins. 13 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?

Habakkuk was looking at the events happening around him but God tells him that he needs to expand his view and get the big picture. God is doing something about the sin that Habakkuk is weary of seeing but when God gives him the details Habakkuk is shocked.

God makes it clear that he is the one that is raising the Babylonians to power for his purpose but Habakkuk cannot understand why God would use a notoriously greater evil to reprimand his own people. It seemed right when God told the Israelite's to kill the people so that they could take the Promised Land, those were evil people, but this seems to be wrong. Man's wisdom says that God should punish the worst people first and work his way down the list to the next most evil people.

Habakkuk cannot understand why God is going to allow things to get worse but he gives no hint that he believes that he can walk away from God. Habakkuk has to decide to trust God, just like a child that cannot understand his parents answer, all he needs to understand is that God is working out his plan in every moment of world history.

The consequences of the rebellion of God's people looks like bad news. There was a lot of suffering and many people died but God's plan for the world was being fulfilled in all of these events. Because of hundreds of years of exile, suffering and persecution, God's people are dispersed all around the known world at that time. These people surely didn't understand why they were so far from home but it was all a part of God's plan.

Because there were so many Jews living outside of Palestine that maintained their religious observances and customs among the Gentiles it made a huge difference in the spread of Christianity. God fearing Gentiles that learned about God from the dispersed Jews were the first converts to Christianity in the book of Acts.

Justice Out Of Injustice, Salvation Out Of Judgement

Acts 13:41 Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.

What Habakkuk couldn't comprehend looking forward in hind sight Paul gets it and he uses it in his sermon. First he shared with the crowd about the injustice and the undeserved suffering of Jesus (Acts 13:26-30) then he shares about the justice that came out of that injustice and the salvation that came out of judgement. (Acts 13:38-41)

Jesus was the ultimate Habakkuk, his heart broke over the sin that was all around him, he was the ultimate man of sorrows, he was truly abandoned and yet he was faithful in evil times.

God brought our ultimate good out of the ultimate of dark times. When I don't understand the injustice, the sin and suffering around me I need to look at the cross as the ultimate example of dark times happening to someone that didn't deserve it. And it was all for my benefit!

RELATED ARTICLES

The Just Shall Live By Faith (desiringgod.org)
What does the Bible mean when it refers to the Diaspora? (gotquestions.org)
A World of Evil and Suffering (cru.org)
Book of Habakkuk (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)