From Complain to Cheer

Verse: 

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 1:2 (ESV)

Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. Habakkuk 1:12 (ESV)

I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:1-4 (ESV)

Message:

Even like Habakkuk we might be asking the same two questions: Will you not? Are you not?

Looking at the atrocities happening around us; in our workplaces, in our neighbourhood, in our nation & in the world, many a times we might have felt totally wearied. And we start complaining. Blaming our boss, co-workers, subordinates, the neighbours, the government and at last God Himself!

Will you not act at this time God? Are you not seeing what’s happening? Are you not the Righteous One?

As Habakkuk realized we need to come in terms with the truth that the solution to all these is not complaining to God, but listening from God. Often we are pre-occupied with the problem that we fail to listen from God. When we take all these complaints to him and listen from Him, we become God’s answer!

The Lord says that whatever He said will come to pass in its appointed time. In those days the greatest medium of mass communication was writing in tablets. So the Lord told Habakkuk to write the vision/revelation in the tablet. But we can use all modern mediums in doing so – blogs, social networking sites, websites, phone calls, SMS, posters, brochures, TV/Radio, etc. But what are we going to write or propagate? Not complaints! But answers! Disseminate hope & God’s truth to various issues that we read & see everyday; so that someone somewhere may be inspired to act upon it. The Lord wants you & me to be His voice to this world! So that He might do what He intends in His time. But, we need Faith! The just shall live by faith.

Let us not delay! Let us not complain! Let us listen from God as we see all the evil! Let us propagate His ways & instil hope!

May the Lord turn our complains to cheer!

Prayer:

Lord I was a complainer. I have now understood that I can be the answer to the evil around me, if I listen from You! Lord, use me as Your voice that will kindle hope in this & the coming generation & nations! Give me the faith that I can change the world with Your strength. Give me the faith to try & try & try and not be dismayed, but to go on & on & on until change happens!

Allowing God to press the Restore Button

 

Promise of God for year 2011 - “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.....” (Joel 3:25)

 

 

When we stand on the promises of God from His living Word, we can prevail over all the howling storms of doubt and fear. We need God’s promises for our personal & family lives, ministry & workplace, so that we can prevail over all the tough times and can stand strong and glorify God’s name. Promises help us to fulfil God’s purpose for our lives.

 

From this above verse from the Book of Joel, God promises that He will restore all that we have lost, which means return to its original or usable and functioning condition; return to life; get new life or energy. We need to think about all the areas of our life where we know that we need restoration – spiritual & physical health, family matters, ministerial areas and workplace related issues. It will be good if we could write them all down in a paper and pray to God claiming this promise for this year.

 

But this promise is a conditional promise. God lays certain conditions before He says that He will make this happen in our lives.

 

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? Joel 2:12-14 (ESV)

 

Gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” Joel 2:16-17 (ESV)

 

Ø  Seeking God wholeheartedly

Ø  Internalizing holiness and not external “spiritual” show offs

Ø  Giving importance to holiness in the Church and among team members

Ø  Emphasizing & practising spiritual disciplines for all – children & grownups alike, even brides & bridegrooms

Ø  Interceding for people in the church, ministry & workplace

 

As we internalize these conditions from God’s Word and live them day in and day out, may the Lord restore all that we have lost not only to its original state, but much more than that, so that all of it may reflect God’s glory!

 

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for this New Year! I pray that You restore all that I have lost in the past years in my life and of my family, friends, relatives and people in my church and workplace. Help me to know You & Your Word more in this year and give me the strength to live according to Your Word and for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen!