Questioning God

So it was sometime in 2017 or so that I was in my normal place, sitting by my best friend. And actually I wasn't sitting, I was standing because it was in worship. And I had had a really normal week. I had been in God's word, full of faith, praying and worshiping about to go and share God's word. And it was the weirdest thing. And I promise you, it's the weirdest thing. It hadn't happened before and it hadn't happened since. But when I was about to preach, I just had this random thought, like doubts flooded my mind. And I just thought like, what if all this stuff isn't real and crazy? No reason, just like this paralyzing fear. Like what if all this stuff that I've built my whole life on is a lie? And I have compassion for people with anxiety. I don't have anxiety. I felt anxious and I just thought, I can't preach. I looked at the exit and I thought, I just need to escape. Out of nowhere, I was just flooded with doubts. So maybe some of you can relate. Perhaps for you, it wasn't just a moment of doubt, but unfortunately for some people, it might be like a season of doubt. And for some of you, it might not have been like in a church like it was for me. But maybe you were in a hospital room and got a diagnosis that you didn't want to hear.

Or maybe you were at a funeral and you were fighting back the tears. And you were wondering, God, why didn't you do what I begged you in prayer to do? You're flooded with doubts. Maybe it was you were alone in your bedroom at 2 a.m. in the morning, crying out to God, wondering if he's even there. And you ask questions like, if God is good, and I really believe he is, but if he is, why do I hurt so much? Or you wonder, if God is so powerful and loves me, why doesn't he fix what's broken in my life? And your mind races. If God can do anything, why doesn't he do what his word says he can do? Why do I feel like he's not there when I need him most? If you've never had questions like that, you might just take a moment to praise God right where you are, because for most of us, it's not a matter of if we have a faith question or two, but it's more like when we do. And it kind of raises the question, like, what do you do when one moment you're full of faith, and then maybe something else happens, and all of a sudden, you have faith questions? What do you do whenever your doubts become louder than your faith? And so we're talking about a new book that we just released.

It's called The Benefit of Doubt, and we're talking about how asking real questions can actually help you grow in your faith. And what I wanna do is just like, very sincerely and very pastorally, even though this may be something different than you've ever heard from a pastor before, is I wanna give you permission to doubt, but not just to doubt for the sake of doubt, but to ask sincere spiritual questions in a way that can actually draw you closer to God. And I wanna show you how to do it from God's Word, how to like specifically wrestle with some of the real life pain issues that most of us go through without losing your faith in God. Because as we said in previous weeks, kind of a key point, because as we said in previous weeks, kind of a key idea behind the message of the book is that doubt isn't the enemy of faith, but doubt is often a pathway to a deeper and more meaningful faith. If you do find yourself doubting, that doesn't make you a bad Christian. It makes you a human being. And it doesn't mean that you're actually running from God. It may mean that you're really sincerely seeking God. Doubt is often a pathway to a deeper and more meaningful faith.

So let's pray. Father, I thank you for every person that you brought to hear this message. I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit would do a work in us. And God, especially for those who may be hurting, who may be struggling in their faith, who may not even know what they believe about you, would your Holy Spirit, God, draw us close to you and teach us to trust you, God, even when we have questions, God, to trust you, especially when we have questions, because you are always good and you are always with us. Draw us close, we pray. In the name of Jesus and all God's people said amen. Are you ready for the word today? If you're ready, say I'm ready. I'm ready. Online, type in the comments section, I'm ready for the word. I'm ready for the word. What we're gonna do today is I'm gonna show you just a ridiculously powerful example from an Old Testament prophet named Habakkuk. When you say Habakkuk, you almost have to act like you're clearing your throat. Like Habakkuk, that's what you kind of have to do. And so go ahead and try that, Habakkuk. Now wipe this bit off the back of your head. You want to do it right now. Habakkuk, he is the prophet that didn't understand

what was going on and still tried to trust God even though he didn't understand. And if you don't know anything about Habakkuk, he's one of the 12 minor prophets. And if you're new to like Old Testament prophets, like minor, like was he less important? Was he not good enough to play in the majors? Actually, no, minor prophet simply means the book is shorter, that's all it means. And so Habakkuk has three chapters, it's very short, but they're very power-packed chapters that teach us how to trust God even when we have very real questions. So I'll give you a little context about Habakkuk. He was a prophet in the late 7th century BC. So seven centuries before Jesus was born and this was a time of complete chaos. There was massive moral and political instability and corruption all over Judah. And the people were like totally completely out, rejecting Yahweh, the one true God. And do any of you think that our world is complicated now? Raise your hand if you think it's complicated now. Type in the comment section, the world is complicated now. If you think it's bad now, it was bad then too. Most of the priests and most of the prophets and the judges, they were like corrupt. They would take monetary bribes and then issue a judgment that would be against what was right and what was true. In the temples, the place where you're supposed

to go and worship, the temples, they had temple prostitution. And it's hard to imagine what they would have, orgies and they had idol worship. Instead of worshiping God, they'd worship these idols. And it's even hard to say out loud, but they would have child sacrifices. And so parents would literally sacrifice children to the false God, Molech, hoping that this false God would somehow give them favor. And all these people in this horrible tense time, they were terrified at a potential attack from their enemies, the Babylonians. And so here they're living in this political instability. There's corruption everywhere. They're worried about their enemies. Almost everybody is suffering. And the back of the prophet says, God, do you even care? That's essentially what he says. I'm chosen to be your prophet, to represent you. And God, it doesn't seem like you even care. You look at him and you think, did he just like take it in stride and like go, God, you do you, no problem here. No, he didn't like it at all. And you actually see him take his hurts and his questions to God. And he complained to God and asked God in Habakkuk 1, 2, he said this, he said, how long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?

God, I'm praying, I'm begging you, but it doesn't even seem like you're paying attention. He says, or how long do I cry out to you? Violence, you know, they're attacking, but you do not save. Why do you make me look at injustice? God, why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Their strife and conflict abounds. He's going, God, I'm trying to trust you, but what I see, it's hard to reconcile with who I thought you were. And what I like about Habakkuk is the dude is just honest. I mean, he's not being dramatic. He's just pouring out his hurts to God. I mean, his world has fallen apart. And he's saying, God, you don't seem to care. And that's not who I thought you were. And so I can't really understand it. And we can learn so much from watching this prophet interact with God and talk to God. And he essentially teaches us the principle that real faith isn't denying doubt. It starts with being honest about doubt. Like real faith isn't having all the answers. it's asking the questions but never ever letting go of God. And it blesses me because it shows me, like right here in God's Word, that faith and frustration can coexist at the same time. In other words, like you can not understand God or even doubt God and still believe in God.

And I know what I'm saying is gonna make some people mad because there's some Christians that think like, when you ask questions, that's just demonstrating a lack of faith in God. And I would suggest that in many cases, it's not a lack of faith in God, but it's a desire to understand God. It's a desire to truly have a deeper faith in God. And it's not dishonoring God, it's an unusual way of seeking and pursuing Him. And so what happens? To most people, maybe not you, but probably somebody you love, at some point they're touched by the Spirit of God and their eyes are opened and their sins are forgiven and they're born anew. The old is gone and Jesus makes them new. And maybe they get involved in church and they get baptized and bring their friends and they join a life group and they start serving somewhere and they're reading the Word and they lift their hands and worship, everything's great and it's good. And the Holy Spirit's leading them to do things and they're being prompted by the Spirit and they give someone, they're witnessing someone and everything's going great. And then one day something happens. Something that doesn't seem right.

The pastor that led you to Christ, changed your life, was unfaithful to his wife. And you go, was any of this true? Your friend that's struggling with infertility, your life group prays for them and prays for them and prays for them and prays for them. And one day, praise God. They conceive. And the baby doesn't make it. And you don't understand why. Or you pleaded with God to save your marriage, restore my marriage, touch my spouse. And your spouse still walked away. Or you beg God to send you a spouse. And so what do you do? You serve God faithfully. You seek God with all of your heart. You live in purity. And you're still alone. You prayed and you fasted and you stood on God's Word and you believed that he was gonna heal the person that you love. And they died anyway. And so what do you do with that? Like, you believe in God, you love God, you trust God, you felt God, you know he's there, and then he doesn't do what you thought he should do. You guys are really quiet. Is this too real? I mean, like, are you uncomfortable?

I mean, am I the only one? I mean, sometimes you just gotta just like talk about it, right? What do you do when you face questions that you can't answer? What happens is it feels like you only have two options. You tend to think to yourself, I can either do this or this. You think, okay, option number one is you deny your faith. Okay, God didn't do it, so God must not be real. You deny your faith. Or the second option is you think you deny your questions. You deny your faith, must not be real, or you deny your questions. You deny your faith. Like, okay, I put my trust in God and I prayed and I went to church and then they let me down. Or, you know, I read the Bible and God didn't do what I thought he would do, and so it must not be real. So I walk away. I'm mad at God. I'm hurt by God. I don't like the Christians. That church isn't, you deny your faith. Or it feels like your other options deny your questions. Like, just kind of push them down. Just pretend like they're not really there. And so you still kind of lift your hands and you still kind of, God's good, I think. And you try your best to smile

and act like everything's okay. But in the back of your mind, you're still going, I don't understand, God. You do your best to keep believing, but the doubts are still there. And both of those options, they feel right. I mean, like, I do this or I do that. The problem is neither one leads you to where you wanna be and they don't lead you where God wants you to be either. And so thankfully, when you look at Habakkuk, he actually shows us a third option. And I'll show you what it is. First, you deny your faith or you deny your questions or you doubt and you keep seeking. You ask questions. and you still keep pursuing the heart and the presence of a very real and good God. And Habakkuk actually shows us how to experience very real doubts and fears and frustration and continue to push into God and try to believe in him and to try to have faith in him. And you can see him doing this very thing in the meaning of his name. Say it again, Habakkuk. Habakkuk. I'm gonna have you type it online but I'm gonna tell you how to spell it. Type it online, Habakkuk, H-A-B-A-K-K-U-K, Habakkuk. This name, it's interesting, I'll show it to you in the Hebrew.

And in cemetery, excuse me, in seminary years ago, a little pastor joke, I took Hebrew and you have to read it backwards. So you, you know, English you read this way, Hebrew you read this way. And Hebrew is so rich that a Hebrew word is sometimes more like an idea than just a word. It's almost like a sentence or a meaning. This is probably not totally theologically accurate but it's almost like a short story sometimes. There's just, there's more to it. And so the name Habakkuk literally means this. It means to wrestle and to embrace. That's what the name means. It means to like, if I wrestle, I do this and I embrace, I do this. It's like the same motion with different emotion behind the motion. It's to wrestle and to embrace at the very same time. And what I love is this is what Habakkuk does. He's wrestling with God going, but you're supposed to be just and this doesn't feel just what I'm holding onto you and I'm believing you're good and I don't understand and I still try to love you and this frustrates me and I'm seeking you and God, why don't you when I know you can and I still declare that you are good. And the Bible doesn't pull any punches. It's like, I mean, the guy, he doesn't like it. He doesn't get it.

And he tells God, I don't think it's fair. So do you remember who the people were afraid of? Not the Babylonians, but the Babylonians. They're afraid of Babylonians. And so he tells God, where are you? You're not doing anything. And let me show you what God says back to him. It's shocking. This is what God says back to him. God says this, I'm raising up the Babylonians. You know, the people you're afraid of that are really dangerous. I'm raising them up, that ruthless and impetuous people who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings, not their own. They're a feared and dreaded people. They all come intent on violence. What's God saying? Essentially, you have been so unrighteous, so sinful, so far from me that I'm raising up your enemies to come and do justice upon you because you've strayed so far from me. And Habakkuk's like, well, that's not fair. I mean, but we're supposed to be the good guys, even though we're not, and I don't like this. And his response is both personal and it's emotional. But it's from his own heart, and it's full of grief and angst and questions and faith and doubt and fear and love and trust. And he gives us permission to doubt and trust.

And even in his name and what he does shows us how to wrestle with God and embrace God at the same time. Watch what he does, and you see both wrestling and embracing in the very same text. He says this, Lord, are you not from everlasting God? Like you're good, you're here before time. The Lord who was and is and is to come. Oh my God, my Holy One, you will never die. He's embracing God. You, Lord, have appointed the Babylonians to execute judgment. Oh, I don't like that. No, no, no, no, no. You, my rock, I love you. I trust you, God. You're my rock. You've ordained them to punish. I don't like this, God. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, God. You're holy, right? You're good, God. You can't tolerate wrongdoing, God. I trust your righteousness and judgment. Why then, I'm wrestling again. Why do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? You see it? I mean, it's all right there.

This is real life. This is me on the front row. I trust you. and I don't feel you. I trust you to righteousness, you're perfect, and you're confusing, this doesn't seem fair. I love you, and I don't know why you won't do something about this, God, because I know you're powerful enough to do it. Have you ever been there? I wonder if some of you might be there now. What I want you to know, pastorally, I'll tell you this pastorally, is Habakkuk shows us that you can take your hurts to God. I mean, he's big enough to handle it. If you're hurting, if you've got questions, if you don't understand, I mean, you can just, you can just, you can look at David in the Psalms, where are you, why are you doing this? And I am pretty convinced that God would rather have you yell at him than to walk away from him. Because I know Amy would rather have me yell back than to walk away, because when I walk away, things don't go well. And if you think that she might not raise her voice, don't let that pretty face fool you, she likes to work things out. And I like to hide. Last time we got in a fight, she came crawling to me on her hands and knees.

And she said, get out from under that bed, you coward, and fight like a man. Keep going, yeah. Sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I want to just show you a big picture of what's going on in Habakkuk, three chapters, right? Chapter three, he's wondering, he's wondering. Chapter, I'm sorry, chapter one, he's wondering. There is no answer, that there is no miracle. He's praying and there is no resolution. Some of you right now, you are in chapter one. What do you do when you're in chapter one? What do you do when you're in chapter one? You don't walk away from God in chapter one. You continue to take your questions to him. In chapter one, he's wondering. In chapter two, he's waiting. And if you read the text, you're gonna see him waiting. And he's wondering, there's no fun. Waiting is kind of worse, right? I don't know about you, but like, I mean, if a show buffers, I'm out, right? And some of you are waiting on real things, like you're waiting on God to provide a job with benefits because you have someone sick in your home, or you're praying for God to bring a child back to faith because they've wandered away. You're waiting God to heal someone, you're praying for him. In our home, we're praying for God to heal our daughters.

And we know he can and he hasn't. And we're waiting, waiting on God. If you're in chapter two, I want you to remember that while you're waiting, God is still working. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean he's not still with you. So chapter one, you're wondering. We see Habakkuk, he's wondering. Chapter two, he's waiting. And chapter three, we see him trusting. Very, very powerful. Chapter three, we see him trusting. And there is a powerful shift in the tone in chapter three. And it's almost like there's like a spiritual reset. The very first verse in chapter three, this is what the text says. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shiddonoth. For the record, that is a good word, Shiddonoth, not a bad word, it really is. It's just want you to know. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet on Shiddonoth, it says. And this term is actually a musical term and it describes how a song should be sung. For example, you might say like, sing this song like a love song, or jazz this one up, or sing it fast or sing it slow. And a definition of the word Shiddonoth is actually this. It's a wild, passionate song with a rapid tempo.

A cry of adoration, unwavering trust and bold confidence expressed through heartfelt worship in uncertainty. It's this like rapid cry from the heart, it's like, that's bold. And it's like, I'm believing, and I'm believing, and I'm believing, and I'm believing. One source calls Shijanah praise punctuated with exclamation marks. I like that. It's praise punctuated with exclamation marks. And I always like when someone texts Amy, she'll report to me how many exclamation marks. Like, they said this with three exclamation marks. Now, for the record, she says only one is technically correct. So I text her usually with one, unless I'm really excited, and then I say I love you with seven, because seven is the number of perfection. Just so I'll know, she'll know I chose seven. And so it's praise punctuated with exclamation marks. Shijanah is not praise for what's happening, but this is praise for who God is. It's trusting God even when you don't understand. And look at verse 16 of chapter three. Habakkuk says, I heard, and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound. Decay crept into my bones, my legs trembled. I'm resting, I don't like this. Yet, watch, I'm gonna still trust you. I wait patiently, even though I know the day of calamity

is gonna come and the nation's invading us. He's like, I don't like this. And then watch what he says. Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vine. In other words, there's no provision, the things that we would expect you to provide. Though the olive crop fails, and the field produce no fruit. Though there are no sheep in the pen, and no cattle in the stalls. Though everything that I wanted and I hoped for is not there, he says. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God, my Savior. This is Shiddonoth, this is not a half-hearted song to God. This is a cry from the depths of my soul. This is a faith that worships even when everything feels wrong. This is a faith that believes even when the eyes don't see. This is chapter three, Shiddonoth, it's praise with exclamation marks. And just to be really, really clear so you understand, this isn't making the best of a bad situation. Well, it hasn't gone, but at least we have, at least, no, no, no, this is wrestling and embracing. This is acknowledging, like, this is not good, I don't like it, there are no grapes on the vine, there are no sheep in the pen, and I declare the Lord is still on the throne.

This is praise, not for what you see. But this is just trust in who God says he is. So on that day, 2017, it hadn't happened before, and thank God it hasn't happened since. But on that day, I was about to preach, I'm holding God's Word, and all of a sudden, I was just like, oh, what if it's not real, what if it's not real? And I've got two, three minutes before standing up in front of the church that I love, in front of people that have real faith, and I'm supposed to be the guy bringing the Word, and I have doubts. So I put my head down, and I went to God and said, God, help, God, I know you're there, I'm pretty sure you're there, I knew you were there, I still think you are there, but I'm not sure if you're there God, I know you saved me, I know Jesus changed me, but I don't feel you, and I'm afraid, and I just, I mean, I just told him everything, like, I can't do this, I need you, I need you, I can't do this, I need you, I don't know if you're gonna come through, I need you, I need you, and I just walked up on the place, I gripped the Bible, and with, with the faith I had, I preached about Jesus, and as I preached about Jesus, the doubts just faded, and the faith just grew back, and it wasn't even about feeling it, it was just about believing it in a deeper place,

because I know what he did in me, and I know who he is, and I know that I'm not perfect, and I know that my heart without him is deceitful, and I know that my emotions lie, and I know that his word is true, and I know that his ways are, Higher than my ways and that my mind is incomplete with and I only see in part, but he sees in full And so sometimes I just say I don't understand and I continue to hang on And I preached about Jesus and I invited people to follow Jesus and lives were changed and I Pushed through the doubt Didn't destroy my faith that just kind of even maybe a little bit strengthened it Because I in a moment worked through it and I'm not gonna say for whatever you're facing It's gonna be that easier that quick It may be hopefully it is and it might not be there might be more questions more wrestling more praying more disgusting more talking to people more seeking God and Do it Do it Wrestle and embrace Because life is hard It's gonna be hard and you may face some doubts But doubt isn't the enemy of your faith in many times It's an invitation to a deeper and more meaningful faith And so you can't ask questions and you can still have faith because sometimes real faith Isn't found in having all the answers But it's found in not letting go of God God you're always good You're always present and even when we don't understand God we hang on to you So Heavenly Father do a work in our hearts today as only you can do As you're praying today at our church

Those who go online if if you find yourself with Questions hurts things you don't understand and You're still holding on to God, but you lift up your hand right now. Just all over the place. Just lift up your hand There's more of you than that. You're going through something. You're hanging on to God lift up your hand just an act of faith those of you that Someone you love is going through something and they may be having faith questions right now and you want to pray for them Would you just lift up your hand as an act of sin? I want to pray for somebody I love there's so many of you so God we just do that right now We we thank you that you are here right now in this moment God someone who's watching on a phone a computer. You are with them right now And God we just acknowledge there are so many things that we don't understand and sometimes we not only do we not understand But we don't like it We'll just tell you God. We don't we don't like it. We don't understand and We embrace you We keep seeking you we hold on to you We're believing that you're good we may not feel like it we believe and we're choosing to hang on to you God Would you help us? Don't would you help us? Would you would you build our faith to trust you even more? God for those that are struggling maybe walking away loved ones. I'd give us grace to love them and The truth to help lead them back to you We thank you God that you're a good God a compassionate God a God that can handle our questions And a God who continues to love us and as we draw near to you you draw near to us Work in our hearts we pray As you keep praying today I look at Jesus Before he went to the cross if you know his story He knelt down in the garden before he was gonna give his life, and he kind of had a wrestle-and-brace thing He's like God. Hey, God. Is there any other way he said like if this cup of suffering can be removed from me in other Words like I really don't want to suffer really bad, and then he's like hey yet nevertheless not my will

But your will be done like I don't want it, but I trust you. I don't want to hurt, but God I I trust you and so Jesus became obedient even to death on a cross. Why did he have to die? He was the Son of God. He was God in human form. He was without sin and He died in our place. He died in my place Jesus the Son of God Died to pay for my sins to pay for your sins, and the good news is God is so good God raised him from the dead you can imagine the disciples who thought Jesus was gonna be Like the king and then he's dead and they don't understand and they're trying to hang on And three days later three days later God proved himself faithful God is always faithful. He's always good to those of you today Faithfully is always good to those of you today that don't know where you stand with God Maybe you wonder you know if I've been too bad Am I good enough and the answer is none of us are good enough all of us are broken in our sins without Jesus But the good news is when we put our faith in the perfect work of Jesus God forgives all of our sins And makes us brand new today if you don't know where you stand with God I'm gonna just invite you to step toward Him, step away from your sins, step toward Jesus. Call on His name. When He hears your prayer, He will forgive all of your sins. You become brand new. The old is gone, the new is coming. All of our churches, those online, you say, yes, that's me. I need His forgiveness. I want to know Him. I'm stepping away from my sinfulness and I'm surrendering my life to Him. Jesus, I give you my life. That's your prayer today. Would you lift your hands high right now?

All over the place, lift up your hands and say yes. I'm giving my life to Jesus. Praise God for people today at all of our churches saying yes, Jesus, we surrender to you. Online, if you can type in the comment sections on, I am surrendering my life to Jesus. Just type that in the comment section. Together, wherever you are, just pray this. Nobody prays alone. Pray, Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins. Jesus, save me. Be the Lord of my life. Fill me with your Spirit so I can serve you and be faithful to you all the days of my life. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. Thank you for new life. I give you mine. In Jesus' name, I pray. Church, could you give some praise to God? Give Him a little sitting up praise today. Give God praise for who He is. Amen. Hey, it's Pastor Craig and Amy Groeschel with Life.Church. And if you just made the decision to give your life to Christ, this is the most important and life-changing decision that you'll ever make. And all of heaven is celebrating right now because of your decision

and we're celebrating with you too. That's right. And we want you to know that God sees you. He's with you and He loves you. He has a purpose for your life. And incarceration, it doesn't define you. It doesn't confine you because you are free in Christ. You are new in Him. Chains have been broken today. And so as a follower of Jesus, God wants us to be on this journey together. And I want you to know you don't have to do this alone. And that's why we, as your church family, we're here for you and we wanna help you grow in your faith and find your next steps. So first of all, just keep joining us for church every single week and worshiping through the Pando app. We're so thankful that you're here. When we draw close to God, He draws near to us. And so I would also encourage you, read God's word if it's available to you. And as you do, just start to pray and invite God into every single aspect of your life. And then if you feel led, you might even share your decision with somebody else. There might be a family member or a friend, and they're gonna wanna hear your story and your spiritual journey. We'd love to hear it as well. And you can send us a letter if you'd like to.

The address is on your screen. And our team will write back to you and help you grow in your faith with Jesus. And so we'd love to mail you some content about who Jesus is and help you grow in your relationship with Him now that you've chosen to follow Jesus. That's right. And God's plan for your life, it's greater than anything that you could ever imagine. In fact, Ephesians 3.20 says, God is able to do abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. Trust Him with your whole life. You will see Him work in ways you have never thought possible. Congratulations on this decision. We are your family, and you're part of the family of God.