Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17


DOESN'T GOD CARE?

READ:
ISAIAH 55:8
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"For my thoughts
are not your
thoughts, neither
are your ways my
ways," declares
the LORD.
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Why does the intoxicated driver escape an accident unharmed while his sober victim is seriously injured? Why do bad people prosper while good people suffer? How often have you been so confused by things going on in your life that you have cried out, "Doesn't God care?"

Habakkuk struggled with this same question as he saw the distressing situation in Judah where wickedness and injustice were running rampant (HAB. 1:1-4). His confusion drove him to ask God when he would act to fix the situation. God's reply was nothing short of perplexing.

God said that he would use the Chaldeans as the means of Judah's correction. The Chaldeans were notorious or their cruelty (v.7). They were bent on violence (v.9) and worshiped nothing but their military prowess and false gods (vv.10-11).

In moments when we don't understand God's ways, we need to trust His unchanging character. That's exactly what Habakkuk did. He believed that God is a god of justice, mercy, and truth )PS. (89:14). In the process, he learned to look at his circumstances from the framework of God's character instead of looking at God's character from the context of his own circumstances. He concluded, "The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights" (HAB. 3:19). __POH FANG CHIA

**Lord, it is easy to let my circumstances change how I understand You.
Help me to remember that You are good and faithful, even though I can't
see everything and may not understand how You are working
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Our situation may look very different from God's point of view.

******************************Today's Bible Reading __ Habakkuk 1:1-11*******************************
1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.

2 How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not
listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. 4 Therefore the law is
paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the
righteous, so that justice is perverted.

5 "Look at the nations and watch__and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days that you would
not believe, even if you were told. 6 I am raising up the
Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep
across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They
are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor. 8 Their horses are swifter than
headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an
eagle swooping to devour;
9 They all come intent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners
like sand. 10 They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh
at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture
them. 11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on__guiltily
people, whose own strength is their god."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The book of Habakkuk is a dialogue between
the prophet Habakkuk and God. Ministering to the rebellious
kingdom of Judah 120 years after Assyria destroyed the northern
kingdom of Israel, Habakkuk was perplexed as to why God had not
punished Judah for her sin (1:2-4). God responded that He would
use the Babylonians to punish Judah (vv.5-11). Habakkuk was even
more perplexed that a holy God would use an evil pagan nation to
discipline his own people (1:12-2:1). He then learned that God would
punish Babylon too (2:2-20). Habakkuk, praising God's faithfulness (3:1-
15), affirms his trust in God to do what is right (vv. 16-19).
Sim Kay Tee _____________