The Righteous Shall Live By Faith.

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you violence and you will not save? Habakkuk 1:1

I feel like I have a lot in common with Habakkuk at this point in my life. I find myself complaining continually about the state of the world, my life, and great injustices that I feel are taking place.  I keep wondering when God is going to step in and change my circumstances.  Just like the complaint of Habakkuk mine has not fallen on def ears.  He has answered “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” Habakkuk 1:5

What happens when you take that first look, and you see nothing worth taking another glance at? You’re circumstances to you seem unbearable, there’s war, poverty, death, and hedonism everywhere and there’s no clear path of escape.  How then do you look among the nations (your life), and see; wonder, be astounded?  Easier said than done, right?  It’s here that God reminds us what it’s all about.  “the righteous shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4.  I have to be able to look at my life and believe that God is in control, that even when I don’t see good, he is good, and because he is good he is doing something good; something more wonderful than I could have ever imagined.

I must confess I have been guilty of chronic doubt.  I’ve doubted my purpose, who God is, my gifts, talents, relationships, and vision.  Many times I even doubted God’s sovereignty.  I’ve spent the past few months living my life in “the what ifs” of doubt.  It probably sounds silly to most, but once I committed my life to Christ, and said Lord here I am, I trust you.  I didn’t realize (until now) that I would have to keep doing this continually and intentionally....uh, duh.   See living by faith is continually trusting the Lord with those things both seen and unseen.  This is the very definition of hope, which stems from faith; faith allows us to trust, and trust is a must.  In the past I’ve based my trust only on things that I’ve seen, which isn’t necessarily bad, because in many ways I’ve learned how to trust Him because of who I’ve experienced him to be in my life.  But he is calling me to a deeper level of trust.  He’s calling me to look past my present reality, not ignore it, but look past it, into the hope that is Christ.  That is to be my reality.  In Joshua 23:14 we learn that not one of his good promises goes unfulfilled. And then in Ephesians 3:20 we are told that He can do exceedingly above all that we can ask or think. These two verses are just some of the many proofs that confirm He is doing a work that far exceeds our greatest expectations of Him.  So when He ask us to trust him continually with our whole heart, believing that he is sovereign and good, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t.  Deliverance will come, poverty will cease, injustices will be made right, and our path will be made straight.  It is not our job to make sure these things happen, but by trusting the Lord we are able to partake as vessels in what He is already doing.

By the end of Habakkuk’s book he realizes that God is indeed in control and has been the whole time.  The problem was that Habakkuk had forgotten that the righteous were to live by faith, he needed to be reminded to trust in the Lord no matter what, because He is good and sovereign in any and every circumstance, worthy of all the praise and glory. “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.”  Habakkuk 3:17-19

So when all is said and done It can not be refuted that He is God, He alone is good, and it is in Him that we must put our complete trust; hour by hour, minute by minute no matter the surrounding circumstances.

Could He Be The One?

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

God first gave me this verse months ago one morning when I was in the middle of vociferously and fervently praying for my never ending need and desire for a husband.  My prayer went something like this, “ Oh Lord, I don’t care what he does or what he looks like as long as he’s......................thus beginning my long list full of unrealistic and some realistic expectations.     After reading this verse and praying this prayer ironically enough I headed out my door and meet a guy at Krispy Kreme (this was only the second time in my life I’d ever set foot inside a K.K.).  I could’ve never imagined that I would land a date at K.K.  God is funny like that sometimes, but I wasn’t laughing.  I think at that moment God and I both knew that the K.K. guy was not my future husband, but in that moment He was testing the motive and truthfulness of my prayer. “Oh Lord, I don’t care what he does or what he looks like.”  Yeah right, I lied.  It’s funny how quick I am to reject the shepherd boy, that actually could be a diamond in the rough.

However, taking all that into account, as well as my long list of “have to haves” there are still some things that were true to David’s character when God plucked him from amongst the flock that I feel should be true of my future husband.  Some characteristics are innate; God given.  Now once one has chosen to come to him and is filled with his Spirit they then grow in those positive characteristics and attributes, but by being made in His likeness they are there from the start(some of you will probably disagree with me, but whatever).  When David was first called to appear before King Saul his character and attributes were well known, and heralded. “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.”  
1 Samuel 16:18

It’s easy for me to forget knowing all that David accomplished in his life, where he actually started from.  When God chose David he had not yet become what he was to become, but he was in the process of becoming all that he was to become.  I have been too quick at times to dismiss good men, because I have created in my mind some mark that they must meet before they are datable, not realizing that they as well as myself are in process.  But knowing this is still no reason for me or you to ever settle.  Though he may be in process his God given character, attributes, and good reputation should already be present.  David was already a believer who had the Spirit and presence of the Lord with him. He was already a prudent man in speech and decisions, he was a man of war; a warrior courageous in battle, he was a man of valor with a great countenance who was bold, brave, determined, and not to be intimidated.  He was indeed on his way to being all that God intended, and that could not be denied by anyone.  

1 Samuel 16:18 made me re-evaluate my expectations of men.  My future husband doesn't have to be perfect or anywhere close to perfection, but he does have to be in process.  He does however have to posses some irrevocable,  irreplaceable, concrete traits.  He has to be a man with the presence of the Lord resting with him and it him.  It is my prayer that the Father would purge me of those superficial expectations that keep me from seeing the heart of a godly man who is waiting to pursue the heart of a godly woman.