Thought for September 23, 2024

• 1806: Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis 
• 1889: Nintendo founded
• 1957: Eisenhower orders troops to Little Rock to support integration of Central High
• 1962: "The Jetsons" premiers
• 1969: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" premiers
• 2002: Mozilla Firefox released 
• Born: Augustus Caesar, Kublai Khan, Typhoid Mary, Mickey Rooney, John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, 
• Died: Sigmund Freud, Pablo Neruda, Bob Fosse, Gayle Sayers, Louise Fletcher

Thought:

Reading in the Book of Habakkuk this morning. As you can probably tell, I am reading the Minor Prophets. We seldom look at these books. Some of the verses we quote come from them and the times seem similar to ours in many ways. Although the dating is not certain, most think that Habakkuk wrote just before the second Babylonian invasion in 597 BC. Daniel and his friends were taken around 605 BC. Now the Babylonians/Chaldeans are coming again. Read the first 5 verses with me today.

Look at the cry of the prophet:

Lord, I keep praying and crying out, but You do not hear or answer.

Lord, why do I see wickedness and evil all around me and You do not do something?

          Lord, there seems to be only strife and contention and violence. 

Lord, where is justice? No one seems to know or follow Your law. 

Lord, Your people seem to be surrounded by evil and wickedness.

Do any of those prayers sound familiar? Have you found yourself asking these questions? Schools are unsafe--both from violence and from false and evil teaching.  The media is flooded with evil and lies. There seems to be no truth. 

Now look at God's response. Take a look around. Be amazed. I am doing something that you would not believe even if I told you. In Habakkuk, the Lord tells of the coming judgment inflicted by the Chaldeans. I wonder what He would say in response to our questions? Would He tell us to look around at the nations--pay attention?

My eyes are drawn to 1:13. God's eyes are too pure to approve evil and He cannot and will not look upon wickedness with favor. Is that the simple answer to Habakkuk's question and to ours--God will not continue to look upon evil with favor. There are consequences to sin. Then the Lord says to me, Larry examine yourself. Follow David's example in Psalm 51. Because if God's people will repent, turn from their wicked ways and seek His face, He will heal their land. 

Blessings

Larry