God's Plan part 1; When You Can't See His Plan, Trust His Heart

 ​ How are you? Ever wonder about Habakkuk, that small book Sal said a 2nd grader found right away, telling him as a 19YO new believer he needed to know the Bible?

God's plans don't ​​always match ours. The prophet Habakkuk prayed for God to end the horrible evil in Israel. God said he would… by letting Babylon conquer them; called Chaldeans after Babylon’s evil rulers and their language.

Habakkuk was mad at God, and said so - he wanted people to get better and follow God. He worried God would be mad at his frustration, and waited for God's reaction. But, God knew how upset Habakkuk was and Habakkuk’s love for people, so God was very loving, not harsh. He knew the prophet spoke out of love for them. But, God also knew the Babylonian Captivity was needed to teach Israel. Habakkuk knew deep down God’s plan was best; he may have even remembered other prophecies. Isaiah mentioned Cyrus by name long before Cyrus was born as letting people return after captivity. You can read it pretty fast; it’s only 3 chapters. Sal will enjoy knowing you know Habakkuk, too. So, what can we get from it?

First, God wants us to trust Him, but He understands we are frail. Some hurt terribly. He wants us to give Him our pain so He can heal us and help us. Some people claim God does not want us to share our feelings sometimes because they hurt very badly themselves. They need prayer and encouragement from the Bible like Mary and Martha after Lazarus died in John 11. Notice they keep their faith in God – for instance, Martha in John 11:24 knows Lazarus will be in Heaven because he knew Jesus. It’s just that since he’d just died, that fact didn’t end her hurt. It’s been said that when loved ones die, we don’t lose them if we know they’re with Jesus. Instead, we who remain are the ones who are lost without them.

 Other things hurt, too. Abraham's wife asked God why she was suffering so much while pregnant. (Gen. 25) He told her - she was having twins. He knew her heart, and wants us to reveal our hearts to him instead of hiding behind our pain, anger, etc. Some people have been mistreated very badly by others who did not understand the mercy God wants to show. This is one reason we emphasize building others up and helping them through things.

Second, if God knows our hearts, He knows others’, too. As Yogi Berra would say, “if Israel didn’t want to worship God, nobody was gonna stop them.” God’s people had to go into captivity to stop turning away from Him – God tried everything else to draw them to Himself. He knew Habakkuk followed Him, and wished others did. The prophet may have followed God so long, he found it hard to understand why anyone wouldn’t. Once we know Jesus as Saviour, it can be hard to grasp why anyone wouldn’t want to be saved, or how they can stand this wicked world without God. Yet, remember people need to see Jesus in us. We need to be examples of Him and share Jesus with them because the devil tricks people and makes them think they can make it on their own. God’s mercy, grace, unconditional love, etc. aren’t understood by others. People need prayer for their hearts to be opened, because the devil has blinded them from the truth.(2 Cor. 4:4) And, they need the Gospel.

Life keeps changing, and some people are very bitter. But, they need to take it to God and let Him give them peace. Whether or not things bet better on Earth, for those who know Jesus as Saviour, a wonderful world awaits, free from sin and pain and disease, and He can take their fear away here, too, as Christopher’s lessons shows.

So, keep trusting God’s plan, and looking forward to His perfect Heaven sharing His salvation, so they can also know that no matter what, they can be sure God will be there for them. I’ll discuss this more next week, but you can use this question with others – and if someone isn’t sure, tthey can go to www.Godlife.com. [Note- our ministry website went offline since we weren't paying for it any more, but you can find it at archive.org using the Wayback Machine - www.gcyouthquake.org.)

Suppose you were to die tonight, and you were to stand before God, and he were to say to you, "Why should I let you into my Heaven," what would you say?

This will be continued in the next post - which is the one right after this as I'm posting.

Also, they did end up having a weekend retreat later in the summer.