[Habakkuk 1:5] The LORD replied, "Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it.

My PERSPECTIVE is limited, but God's VISION isn't.

[Isaiah 55:8-9] "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. [9] For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

A God whose wisdom isn't GREATER than MINE isn't much of a God.

[Habakkuk 1:6] I am raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the world and conquer other lands.

Sometimes the hardest part of faith isn't God's SILENCE, it's God's METHODS.

[Habakkuk 1:7-11] They are notorious for their cruelty and do whatever they like. [8] Their horses are swifter than cheetahs and fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their charioteers charge from far away. Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey. [9] "On they come, all bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind, sweeping captives ahead of them like sand. [10] They scoff at kings and princes and scorn all their fortresses. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them! [11] They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply guilty, for their own strength is their god."

God's POWER over evil doesn't mean His APPROVAL of evil.

[Habakkuk 1:12-13] O LORD my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal--surely you do not plan to wipe us out? O LORD, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins. [13] But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?

Don't let what you don't UNDERSTAND erase what you do KNOW about God.

[Proverbs 3:5-6] Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Trust has to come BEFORE understanding.

[Habakkuk 1:17] Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?

[Habakkuk 2:1] I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint.

Faith doesn't require all the ANSWERS; it chooses to keep LISTENING.

[Matthew 26:39] He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."

Waiting on God isn't doing NOTHING, It's remaining FAITHFUL in the meantime.

[Genesis 16:7-13] The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. [8] The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. [9] The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” [10] Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” [11] And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress. [12] This son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, and everyone will be against him. Yes, he will live in open hostility against all his relatives.” [13] Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.” She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” We run away because we don't have the faith to see ___________ ________________. Instead of running ________________ from something, God wants you to run _______________ Him. [Proverbs 3.12] For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. God ______________ us because he _____________ us. God ______________ you and _____________ you. God sees you and offers a ________________ to the problem. [Genesis 21.15-19] When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. [16] Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears. [17] But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. [18] Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.” [19] Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink. God is always __________________ to our needs. God not only sees but He __________________.

[Habakkuk 1:1-2] This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision. [2] How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! "Violence is everywhere!" I cry, but you do not come to save.

Faith isn't just believing God CAN, it's waiting when He HASN'T yet.

[Habakkuk 1:3-4] Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. [4] The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.

God would rather hear your HONEST questions than your PRETEND prayers.

[Psalm 13:1-2] For the choir director: A psalm of David. O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? [2] How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

Habakkuk doesn't complain ABOUT God, he complains TO God.

Silence from God is not the same as ABSENCE of God.

[Matthew 27:46] At about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, ["Eli, Eli,] [lema sabachthani?"] which means "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

Jesus went into the SILENCE so you'd never go through it ALONE.

Bring your questions TO God, not AWAY from God.

Faith is trusting God in the middle of UNANSWERED questions.