I am CONTENT, because God is in CONTROL of my CIRCUMSTANCES

Long time, no post...unsure I have any readers, so I delayed. But, along came a Saturday with a little free time, and I've missed writing. So, here goes! Life has had a way of reminding me of lessons from my own book lately--namely that contentment comes when I remember the One who's in control of my circumstances.

In chapter 3, of Let Your Light Shine, I cover three C's that I term, "Danger Zones:"
          Comparing
                                  Coveting
                                                      Complaining.

These C's are in opposition to contentment. When we compare, it's like we're telling God, "You're not fair." When we covet, it's like saying to God, "I'm not thankful for what you're doing for me. I want what you've done for them." When we complain, we might as well tell God, "I don't trust what you're doing here and I'm not happy with it."

In His Word, He leads us away from comparing, coveting, and complaining and toward a life of faith and contentment. One place I found an excellent lesson on this is in the story of the Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk. In case you're a little rusty on the details, I'll give you a brief synopsis of its three chapters. Habakkuk was a prophet living in about 600 B.C. The book records Habakkuk's complaints to God about the prevalent evil in Judah which is seemingly going unpunished by God. Then God responds to Habakkuk by telling about His impending judgement through the use of the wicked Babylonians. Habakkuk is greatly dissatisfied with God's plan to use the Babylonians as a rod of correction upon Israel. But, the book concludes with Habakkuk's resolve that God is God and we see a beautiful prayer of trust.

I'm going to offer a condensed version of four lessons I found in this little book. First, we see if verses 2 through 4 of chapter 1, that Habakkuk takes his complaints directly to the Lord. Something that makes Habakkuk unique among other prophetic writings is that it is a dialogue between the prophet and God, and not a message from God addressed to His people. Often as women, we like to do more than dialogue with God. We strike up a little dialogue with our spouse, with the gals, and sometimes with just about anyone who will listen, instead of taking our issues directly to the Throne of Grace.

I shared in the book that the Lord impressed upon me to do what Habakkuk did--take my complaints to Him instead of my husband, and when I was obedient, He answered. We'll see that God answered Habakkuk, too. But, take a look at the prophet's words in verses 2 and 3: "I cry out, but you don't save." "Why do you..." Ever said that to the Lord before? Ever felt like you were crying out to deaf ears? But, flip back a few books to one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 33:3, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." He will answer, but Habakkuk found out what we are going to see in lesson two.

A second lesson I see is that God may answer in a way that we don't expect or even like. Habakkuk 1:5-6 tells us God's response, to which Habakkuk gives a little bit of, "That's not fair." How could Israel's enemy, the Babylonians, be used to discipline God's very own chosen people? What was God thinking? Sometimes we want an answer, but when we get it, we sure wish God would reconsider. After all, we've probably already formulated a perfect plan God could use, right?!

Well, Habakkuk went back to God a second time with his complaints (1:12 and 13). Notice he got what I consider to be our third lesson: we can ask God to help us understand Him, but we must be willing to accept His answer, even if it doesn't change. In those verses, I see a little bit of what may be manipulation in that praise (take this as personal interpretation; read Scripture and make your own prayerful judgements). Habakkuk ultimately wants to know why those that are more wicked than Judah going to be used to punish Judah. God doesn't change His mind, however. He does tell him in the second chapter that the Babylonians will also be punished and the righteous will live by faith.

If you slip over to Isaiah 26:1-6, you'll see the song of praise of the Jews returning from Babylonian captivity--the disciplinary captivity that the prophet, Habakkuk, had been told about. In Isaiah, we get to see the other side. Though God used the wicked for Judah's discipline, He wanted His righteous to live by faith.

Habakkuk rightfully went to God with his complaints on both occasions. We, too, should go directly to the throne. However, God's omniscience, omnipotence, and sovereignty will always rule in the lives of His children, and our complaining may not lead to our way. God knew the song of praise that would be sung years later in Isaiah 26. God knows the song of praise, the growth in faith, the journey to Christ likeness, that you will experience years later as well, when today His answers may be different than you expect.

We see that once Habakkuk came to an understanding that God is God, he moved to what we see in lesson four, which is our primary lesson in all of this: I am CONTENT, because God is in CONTROL of my CIRCUMSTANCES. This lesson is found in all of chapter 3. Let me close with two verses from that chapter.

     "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce to food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."             Habakkuk 3:17~18

Though life hands you lemons, will you rejoice and be joyful in God your Savior? Will you be content knowing that He is in control of all your circumstances?