Throughout the latter half of John’s Gospel we’ve seen the incredible importance of the local church. In John 13 Jesus washed the disciples’ feet—something normally done by one’s self or by a slave—and then he had the audacity to tell them to do the same for each other. Serving one another in the church is simply not optional: the Lord himself commands it. He gave a new commandment to the disciples when he told them to love one another. That in itself is not new; what is new about the commandment is what this love must look like: love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34). Love in the church must be sacrificial. In John 14 Jesus promises to send the Spirit who will lead and guide and direct the disciples. In chapter 16 he promises that though they will be put out of the synagogues and lose their social capital on account of the name of Jesus, yet they will have the Spirit of God in their midst. In chapter 20 after he rose from the dead Jesus appeared to ten of his disciples (Thomas was absent) and breathed on them and told them to receive the Spirit. In this very first gathered assembly, assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, he promised them that the Spirit would empower and lead and guide them in their mission.

When we read 1 Corinthians 5, we hear significant echoes of this. Paul writes to the church in Corinth for a number of reasons, and in chapter 5 he deals with an issue of sexual immorality in the church involving a member of that church engaged in an affair with his step-mother. The man is unrepentant of his sin—this is key—and the church has done nothing about it. Paul then says something about their gathered assembly that is quite extraordinary:

For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 5:3–5 ESV

Though Paul was not physically present in Corinth he was present spiritually. He says how: when the church in Corinth assembles in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present. How does assembling in the name of the Lord Jesus result in Paul’s spiritual presence? The promise is that when we assemble in the name of Jesus, Jesus is present in a unique and powerful way. Since every believer is also in God’s presence and since his presence is made manifest in his assembly, God’s people are somehow present spiritually. This is that great cloud of witnesses we read about in Hebrews 12:1, and especially in Hebrews 12:18–24.

Paul instructs the church to deal with the man when they are assembled in the name of Jesus. Specifically, they are to “deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh”. Because he remains in unrepentant sin and is acting as a hostile (to God) unbeliever, they must remove him from their assembly. They are to deny him access to the community of believers by excommunicating him. This puts him outside of the Holy Spirit’s temple on earth, as Paul called the church in Corinth in chapter 3 of this letter (1 Corinthians 3:16–17). This action is what it means to “deliver him over to Satan” by removing him from the protective confines of the church.

Though this seems harsh to modern ears, Paul’s aim was the man’s salvation. Being unrepentant means there was little or no evidence the man was a believer and so he was to be treated as an outsider by being excluded from the assembly of Jesus. Paul’s aim is clear: “so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” The good news in this story is that the church did this very thing, though perhaps a little too well. In his second letter Paul had to urge them to forgive the repentant sinner and reaffirm their love for him and welcome him back into the church (2 Corinthians 2:5–11).

In his instruction to them to practice the final step of church discipline, Paul referenced an earlier letter he had written to them (which we do not have):

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

1 Corinthians 5:8–13 ESV

Paul had to clarify that his point was not to go around judging unbelievers. The aim of the church’s insistence on holiness is not to conform the culture around them to a Christian understanding of moral and ethical behavior, but of purifying those inside the church. As he put it, we, the followers of Jesus, have nothing to do with judging outsiders. Instead, our pursuit of holiness is within the church. For this reason, he says, they must not associate with a person “who bears the name of brother”, that is, one who claims to follow Jesus but lives in unrepentant sin. He clarifies that the issue is not simply sexual immorality but also greed, idolatry, revilement (abusive language!), drunkenness, and swindling. In other words, if a brother or sister in Christ is engaged in unrepentant sin—this is key—that person must be dealt with, even if it includes the drastic step of excommunicating that person from the assembly of Jesus.

Part of this excommunication means having nothing to do with that person, and this is the truly difficult part. Paul says we are not even to eat with such a person. Again, he does not mean an unbeliever who does unbelieving things. He means a person who has so persisted in his or her sin that a local church has deemed it necessary to remove that person from the church. This is the final, last-ditch effort in calling a person who bears the name of brother to repent. (Paul is following the instructions of Jesus given in Matthew 18:15–20.)

Church discipline does two things. First, it shows us God’s mercy. Paul says in this chapter that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6). Just as yeast or leaven will work its way through a batch of dough all on its own, so sin, if left unchecked, will work its way through an entire church. Whatever the sin, if it is tolerated in one or two or a few, that sin will eventually become rampant throughout a church, so purging the church of unrepentant sin is an act of mercy by God.

The second thing church discipline shows us is the value of the local church. God in Christ is creating for himself a people—a holy people. Jesus did not die to leave us wallowing in our sins. His death, burial, and resurrection were not so that we would remain enslaved to sin. Jesus died to set us free and he has given us church discipline to urge us on to love and good works, to urge us on to holiness, to urge us to live in the newness of life that is ours in Christ. He has given us his church as the primary means of our growth as God in Christ through his Spirit is making all things new, beginning with us.

The mission Jesus has given his church is to make disciples, followers who faithfully follow him. This includes evangelism and it includes teaching them to obey what he has commanded. We must value what God values, and God values our holiness. Just as God shows great patience with us, so we must show great patience with one another. It is only when no other avenues of disciple-making remain when a brother or sister persists in sin without repentance that we must take this drastic step. Knowing this ought to encourage each one of us to allow others in the church to speak into our lives, to exhort us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, to walk with us as we strive to follow Jesus faithfully. He has given us his church; let us not waste such a wonderful gift.

I’ve always been a “word guy”. I love words. I love the interplay of words and the nuances of meaning between closely related words. For example, there is a difference between a bracket and a brace. A bracket holds something up while a brace provides stability and strength. A table may have a brace to keep each leg from moving while a bracket holds up a shelf. Aren’t words amazing? That may not be the most amazing example, but it’s something that fascinates me. This is one reason I love the apostle John’s writings so much. I enjoyed studying and preaching through both Revelation and John’s Gospel because John often uses wordplay to make a point. He is not the only writer to do this! Consider the opening verses of Psalm 84:

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah

Psalm 84:1–4 ESV

The psalmist declares that God’s dwelling place—the temple in Jerusalem—is lovely, or beloved. It is a place that is greatly desired. Not only does the psalmist’s soul long for it, his heart and flesh sing for joy for it. Every fiber of his being loves the temple, where God is. So desirable is God’s dwelling place that even sparrows and swallows nest in it. This psalm was written during the time of Solomon’s temple, which included the temple proper as well as the walls and buildings that made up the outer and inner courts. Birds can nest in nearly any nook and cranny and the psalm says they nested in and among God’s temple. Hear the psalm’s point: even birds want to be near God! This is why the psalm declares that those who dwell in God’s house are blessed, or happy. There is joy and delight in being near God. This happiness flows from the experience of God’s goodness.

This is an amazing image the psalm gives us. It is good to be near God! Notice how the psalm begins, however: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!” The name “LORD of hosts” means “LORD of armies”—the Warrior God who commands a limitless army of soldiers! Think of what the psalm is saying! The place where the Warrior God who commands unstoppable armies dwells is lovely. This reminds me of one of my favorite Douglas Adams quotes:

It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the expression “as pretty as an airport”.

Douglas Adams, “The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul”

If the Lord is the Warrior King who leads a vast army, then his dwelling place is a barracks. I think Adams’ quote would just as easily apply to a barracks as it does to an airport. How could such a place be described as lovely, yet alone be desired? The psalmist answers this very question:

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Psalm 84:10–12 ESV

The Lord God bestows favor and honor upon his people. His grace is poured out on them. While a barracks may represent danger and even death to his enemies, the presence of God represents life and blessing. The place that is the most dangerous place for an enemy of God to be is the place that is safest place for God’s people to be: in his presence.

As we saw in our sermon last Sunday (you may listen or watch here), Jesus is the one who can transform the danger of God’s presence into the blessing of God’s presence. Because of what Jesus did in his life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, we experience the fullness of God’s never-ending presence in our lives. It is in his presence through Jesus by the power of his Spirit that we find his dwelling place to be our dwelling place. It is in his presence that we find our eternal protection. While this life may wound us, and it often does, these wounds are temporary. Through it all we may rest under the protection of the LORD God of hosts. While you’re there, take a look around. It’s lovely.

We’ve all looked at evil around the world and wondered why. Why does God allow evil? We must be careful in asking this question because as much as we want to limit this question to other people, we cannot limit it in this way. What is really being asked is why God allows the sins of others to go unchecked. We don’t really ask why God allows our own sins to go unchecked. As we’ve seen in the prophet Habakkuk, Habakkuk asked about the sins of others, too.

Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?

Habakkuk 1:3a ESV

God’s answer was to point out that he is actively working in this world to bring about justice and righteousness, which includes punishing evil, and tells Habakkuk that even if he were to tell Habakkuk all that he was doing, Habakkuk wouldn’t believe him. God tells him that he has raised up the Babylonian empire as a means of dealing with evil, even as Babylon itself is evil. Babylon was being raised up to bring about God’s justice against other evil nations. This didn’t completely satisfy Habakkuk so he asked another question:

You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

Habakkuk 1:13 ESV

Here his question focuses on Judah. Sure, God may use Babylon to punish other evil nations, but Babylon is turning on Judah! Why does God “idly look at” this and do nothing? Surely Judah is “more righteous”—or more accurately, less unrighteous—than Babylon! Again God answers him by pronouncing swift judgment against Babylon for all its evil. Habakkuk finally understands that God is bringing justice to all evil nations through an evil nation he is raising up, and this includes his own nation of Judah. Habakkuk no longer asks questions, but instead writes a hymn of praise.

He says he’s heard the report concerning God and his power and the result of this hearing is fear (3:1). He calls upon God and his character: “in wrath remember mercy” (3:2). God’s appearance in judgment is frightening and magnificent (3:3) and God uses even “natural” phenomena such as pestilence and plague to bring about his purposes (3:5). His anger and rage causes even mountains to tremble in fear as he uses the physical world as part of his acts of judgment (3:6–12). God’s justice will be seen in the eventual salvation of his people and in the utter destruction of the nation God is using to bring judgment against the world (3:12–14). Then the hymn says this:

I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. ^{To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.}

Habakkuk 3:16–19 ESV

Habakkuk now understands—even if only marginally better—that God is holy and is doing far more in the world than meets the eye. His wrath and justice poured out on nations, including on Judah, is good and right, even as it results in suffering and pain. He declares that he is in fear of what is coming. He knows it is unstoppable, for “You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger” (3:12). Who can stop him from doing so?

He lists several things that will happen (the word “though” can also be translated as “since” or “because”): the fig tree will not blossom, fruit will not be on the vines, the olive harvest and crops will not yield their food, flocks and herds will be destroyed. This is because Babylon is coming and no one will stop them. To say this another way, the coming invasion by Babylon will destroy the economy of Judah. Habakkuk’s response to the work God is doing is to rejoice in the Lord, to take joy in the God of his salvation. Only the Lord can make his feet like the deer’s, able to tread on high places. He’s saying that in the midst of incredible suffering and destruction, there is only one who can enable him to stand and not slip and fall.

The truth is there is no righteous nation today. Each nation on earth is unrighteous, even if it is unrighteous in ways different from other nations. This means judgment is coming on all nations, including this one. While it is foolish to declare a natural disaster to be God’s judgment or to say that an economic downturn is a sign of God’s displeasure (to say this would be to also say that good weather and economic prosperity are signs of God’s good pleasure), it is clear that God is doing a work in this world that we cannot fully fathom or understand.

God’s geography is different from ours. There is no holy nation today, at least not in our understanding of geography. However, there is one nation that is holy and righteous, one that is free from judgment, for that holy nation is the nation Jesus purchased with his own blood:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

1 Peter 2:9–12 ESV

This nation is one without borders. Its citizens are found in every geo-political nation on earth. It functions under a very different constitution than other nations, that being the law of Christ. When Peter instructs the citizens of this holy nation to keep their conduct among the “Gentiles” honorable, keep in mind that “Gentiles” means “nations”. God’s people are scattered all over the globe, and are to live honorable lives that reflect God’s glory as they live among the various nations on earth.

Every single person on planet earth lives in a nation that is dying, a nation with an expiration date. We do not know all that God is doing, nor would we believe it if he told us!, yet nations are raised up and brought down according to God’s perfect plans for his world. We and we alone have a message of hope. We must live out this hope as we proclaim the good news that in Christ those who were once not a people can join the people of God and escape coming judgment. Like Habakkuk, in Christ God and God alone can keep our feet from slipping even when destruction comes.

The prophet Habakkuk cried out to the Lord for all the violence and injustice he was seeing—violence and injustice that seemed unchecked by God. He wondered why God would “idly look at wrong” (Habakkuk 1:3). God responded to him by telling him that Habakkuk wouldn’t believe all that God was doing about evil and wickedness in the world, even if God were to tell him. God is ever at work though rarely and without depth can we see what it is God is doing. You can read more about that interaction here. Habakkuk responded to God’s answer.

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. You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?
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.

Habakkuk 1:12–2:1 ESV

He repeats his previous assertion through his question: if God is so powerful and so righteous and holy, why does he allow evil and wicked men to continue in their evil and wicked ways? Habakkuk’s concern was the danger Babylon posed to Judah. He questions why such a wicked person such as Babylon (the nation being personified as an evil man) should be allowed to swallow up “the man more righteous than he”. It is clear that the nation of Judah is not actually righteous; what he really means is that Judah is not quite as evil as Babylon, if for no other reason than that there are some who are faithful to God in Judah, whereas there are none in Babylon. He then accuses God of allowing humans to behave like lower animals (“You make mankind like the fish of the sea…”). The result of this is Babylon is able to just scoop them up like fish in a net. If God won’t do something about this, who will?

The Lord answers him, telling him to write the answer on tablets so that all may read and hear what the Lord says (2:2). He assures Habakkuk that the time is coming:

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.

Habakkuk 2:3 ESV

God then pronounces the coming judgment on Babylon. He declares Babylon is “puffed up”—arrogant—but the righteous person shall live by his faith in God (2:4). The judgment is pronounced through five “woes”. First, Babylon will be judged for his excessive greed (2:6–8), for heaping “up what is not his own”. Babylon’s wealth was stolen wealth and God promises that those from whom the wealth was stolen will suddenly arise and reclaim it. Because Babylon plundered many nations, it will be plundered.

The second woe is for relying on that ill-gotten wealth for protection (2:9–11). Through his evil Babylon has forfeited his life and the reckoning is coming.

The third woe is for his violence and injustice (2:12–14). Rather than acting in a manner that revealed God’s character, Babylon’s wickedness obscured it, yet God promises that “the earth will be filled the knowledge of” him.

The fourth woe is for his violence against his neighbors (2:15–17). This violence will be turned back against Babylon. The “cup” they have made the nations drink will be forced upon Babylon.

The fifth woe is for Babylon’s idolatry (2:18–20). The foolishness of idolatry is made plain in how an idol comes into existence: it is shaped by the human hands that make it. The crux of the problem is “its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols”. Not only does an idol owe its existence to a mere human who fashioned it, it’s not even fashioned all that well: it cannot even speak! Then God declares a truth that ought to bring great joy to his people:

But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.

Habakkuk 2:20 ESV

Unlike the idols Babylon made and then worshiped, the Lord God of Israel is real and alive and active and very present in his holy temple, and he is not silent! Whereas Babylon’s idols were speechless blocks of wood and clay and metal, the one true God is not speechless and he commands all the earth to keep silence before him. This is because the Lord has something to say to the nations. He is the one who deserves honor and praise. He is the one worthy of worship and adoration. He is the one who ought to be feared and pursued.

God assures Habakkuk that Babylon’s evil will not go unpunished. Judgment is coming, even if it comes after God allows still more misery to be inflicted on the world by that nation of evil men. As great as that judgment will be, God indicates something greater still is coming: himself. If the earth would be silent before him and would submit to him and worship him, the earth would then receive him. Implicit in God’s words to Habakkuk is the offer of his grace and mercy, of his salvation. God is offering himself to the world. What is greater than coming judgment? God is.

While judgment is coming for all the Babylons of the world, whether nations or individuals, the promise of God is that all who will come to him in faith will never be cast out (John 6:37). Let us never forget that the gospel is, primarily, a proclamation of good news, of the victory of Jesus over the forces of sin and death. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus defeated the enemies of God and his people. While judgment is a very real thing that is coming to the world, God beckons the whole earth to come to him and be silent.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 5:24 ESV

How many times have we looked around our tiny spheres of existence and wondered what in the world was going on? None of us has to look very far to see chaos and social injustice and brokenness all over the place. Each one of us has the innate sense that the way this world is is not what it ought to be. The world should not be like this. Anger and violence and racism and poverty and unfaithfulness and lying and corruption and greed and malice and war and hostility are everywhere, and these things ought not to be. This has led to many skeptics to ask the question: if God is so good, then why is the world so bad? The accusation is often implicit though it is frequently made explicit: if God can prevent evil but doesn’t, he’s either not good or he’s not real. As believers we can also wonder why the world is allowed to continue with such evil everywhere. This is not a new question.

Sometime before 605BC, when the Battle of Carchemish took place, the prophet Habakkuk asked this question. The northern kingdom of Israel (also called Samaria) had been conquered in the year 722BC, though it had suffered many defeats prior to that. Around 734BC many of the people had been taken into exile by Tiglath-Pileser III, the powerful king of the most powerful nation on earth at the time: Assyria. Then between 729–724BC many more were taken into exile by Shalmaneser V and Sargon II, two more Assyrian kings. By then the northern kingdom of Israel simply ceased to exist, along with the ten tribes of Israel that made up that kingdom.

Over the next hundred years or so the kingdom of Judah remained with a king descended from David on its throne, just as God promised. By Habakkuk’s time political power was shifting and Judah faced many threats—both internal and external. Egypt’s power was rising as it had become the dominant force in the region. Assyria’s power was rapidly fading. By the early 600s BC (remember, years count down in BC so 700BC is 100 years before 600BC), Assyria was in disarray as Babylon started its rise to power along with Egypt.

Habakkuk sees the evil in his own nation as social justice is perverted and he sees evil surrounding his nation as those with power used it to oppress, steal, kill, and destroy.

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.

Habakkuk 1:2–4 ESV

Habakkuk cries out to God for help and wonders why he won’t do something about all the evil and suffering in the world. Notice his claim in his question: “why do you idly look at wrong?” Why do you just sit there, doing nothing, when evil is everywhere? Also notice his perspective: why does Habakkuk have to see iniquity? Why are destruction and violence paraded before Habakkuk’s eyes? He’s claiming that he can clearly see all that is wrong with the world while God—apparently—just seems to stare at the same evil but does so “idly”—unmoved by it. The problem for Habakkuk is he cannot see the world as God sees it. Rather than get angry and lash out against Habakkuk for his cries and complaints, God lets him in on a little secret: he’s not idle.

Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!

Habakkuk 1:5–11 ESV

God tells him to do exactly what Habakkuk claims he’s been doing: look and see what God is doing! He tells Habakkuk that even if he were to tell Habakkuk exactly what he’s doing Habakkuk would not believe him. God says that rather than idly watching what’s going on, he’s actively directing human history. He is raising up the Chaldeans—Babylon—which requires that he also lower Assyria. It is no surprise to God that Assyria’s power is being destroyed because God is shifting it to Babylon for his purposes.

God acknowledges what he has done to this end. They are a “bitter and hasty nation”. People rightly fear them. They have an advanced army as their horses are a tremendous advantage in battle, allowing them to simply outrun and overwhelm the foot soldiers they fight against. The outcome of this superiority is they “gather captives like sand”. They laugh at those who oppose them, for none have been able to resist them. God also includes a detail that indicates their eventual destruction: the real god they worship is their own military power, and one thing God has demonstrated repeatedly is that military power of kings and nations are truly as nothing to him. He is, after all, the one who raises up kingdoms and destroys kingdoms. He puts kings on thrones and he removes kings from thrones.

Rather than sitting there idly watching evil do evil things, God is actively working in this world. He’s working at the macro level, moving nations about as he sees fit, to accomplish his purposes. He’s also actively involved in individual lives, guiding and directing history as he sees fit, to accomplish his purposes. The truth is that neither you nor I can see what God sees—and we wouldn’t believe it if we could!

We can be comforted by God’s response to Habakkuk’s cries. As we see injustice and evil and chaos in our own little worlds and as we see injustice and evil and chaos in the broader world, we can trust that God is not idle. He is actively and intimately involved, guiding and directing the world, and in the end we will see his sovereign hand at work. We can take great comfort in the wisdom John Piper wrote several years ago:

God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.

John Piper

Take heart, Christian. God is at work in your life. You may—may!—be aware of two or three things he is doing through your circumstances, but know there are at least 9,997 other things he is doing, things that you wouldn’t believe, even if he told them to you.