Today, we are challenged by the experience of the early church. This is the pattern, the only pattern, that we have to go by. Many in the church today will readily say “I am a believer on the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” but how many can say that you are a Spirit filled believer on the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? How many can say that you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and His power? How many can say that you know that you have been baptized into God’s Holy Spirit and that He has empowered you by His might? … that you no longer live but now it is Christ who lives in you? … that it is not your power, not your strength, not your might that you live from day to day, but it is the power of God given to you after He took you and baptized you into His Holy Spirit?

We find, in the book of Habakkuk a prophet in a state of confusion. How could God who created this earth… who rules and reigns over the affairs of the earth stand back and watch it be destroyed? How could a holy God, who knows no sin or evil, allow evil to triumph over what belongs to Him? For the prophet, this was perplexing; it left him with a heavy burden for the people of God. And to make matters worse, on top of all of this, God told the prophet what He was about to do. “I will raise up another nation, your enemy, to fight you…to war against you until you are a conquered people again.” How could God who loves His people, whose nature is agape (unconditional love) send their enemy among them to destroy them?  It was mind boggling. Yet, we know God. He does all things by His will. He has a purpose. And if it is His purpose to do things this way to get what He wants, then so let it be. He will get what He wants from His creation.

By now in your Christian life, you ought to know that God does not do things by our popular standards.  There are times when you think you know Him…when you think you know which way He is going to go, only to find that you are sorely mistaken.  God can not afford to allow mankind to predict Him.  Not that He is keeping anything secret but because He is sovereign, because He is God.  And He can do whatever He wants to do, whenever He wants to, how He wants to and He does not need man’s permission to do it.  And whether you like it or not … whether I like it or not, God’s will shall be done.

God is getting you back to a life of faith. The only way He can deal with us is through faith. You have got to believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. A lot of folk have stop believing, given up because of trials and sufferings. A lot of folk have given in because their way has been hard. They have stood back and wondered why God? …when God? …are you going to help? They are stuck in the natural. They need to have faith. What they are going through want let them see what God has already planted in their spirit. The hurt is so bad.  The trials are so great. The needs are so many that they are unable to look into their own spirit for what God has said He will do. God is trying to show you something. He will always see you through no matter the hurt, the pain or the disappointment. He is able to supply all of your needs. But you have to trust Him to do the work.

God has a time. Habakkuk, I am not going to answer you the way you want me to answer you. I know that you want me to move right now but I am not going to do it your way. Your victory, your deliverance, your answer is going to come to pass in my time. This is the road to spiritual maturity. Will you wait? Will you trust me? This is where many of us fail the test. God wants to bring us to a place of absolute trust in Him. He wants to bring us to a place where we are solely governed by His Spirit and by His word. God is seeking to break our dependence upon the things of the flesh. He allows evil to come. He allows trouble to come. He allows dark places to come. He allows dry places to come. He allows valley experiences to come. He allows temptations to come. He allows hurt to come. He allows sickness to come. He allows the attacks of the enemy to come. And then He tells us that He is the God who will deliver us, but it is going to happen in His time. Will you wait on God?

God has a purpose for His timing. Isaiah 30:18 “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.”  You are going to find that many times you are going to find yourself in positions that only God can deliver you from. Then He will get all the glory. He will be glorified. You are going to find that you are going to be in situations where only the grace of God is keeping you. Then you will know who is blessing you…who is keeping you. God has a time that He will move in your life. He has an appointed time.  Therefore, it is time for you to turn loose. Let go. Trust God. Say, yes to God’s will for your life. Say, have you way, God. I will trust you.  When you are ready, I am ready.

Today, the Holy Spirit of Christ is searching throughout to find those who will commit themselves to living the kingdom of heaven life here on earth. We are Jesus’ disciples today. We are His followers today. We are the Church, the body of Christ in the earth today. If we are going to be successful, as individuals and as the Church, in what we do for Him; if we are going to be victorious over the work of the enemy; if we are going to bear fruit and bring glory to God then we must learn to live His life, the kingdom of heaven life here in the earth. Jesus said, John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Why go on is the question. You have done all you know how to do to live for God and have failed. Why go on? You have experienced the fiery attacks of the enemy and can not understand why. Why go on? You have done all you know how to do to overcome that one thing that so easily beset you and have yet to overcome. Why go on? You have prayed again and again, Farther, I am sorry for my sins. Yes, there are some Christians who still have sins that they are dealing with. There are even some brothers and sisters who are broken by their sins. With tears they cry to God for forgiveness. Many ask God to forgive them only to fall again within the same week. They have reached the place where they are asking, what’s the use in going? And there are others who are tired — tired of the devil, tired of being weak, tired of falling, tired of repenting, tired of the attacks of the enemy, tired, tired, tired. What do you do? Be honest. Tell God just how you feel. Then from your brokenness take one step at a time. Walk right out of what you are going through one step at a time.

Paul in II Cor 13:4 writes, “For though he (Jesus) was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.” The same thing that took place in Jesus now takes place in us. Through faith in and surrender to Christ Jesus, our old man has died with Jesus on the cross. We no longer rely on our own power to live for God, nor our wisdom nor intelligence nor good works. Now the life and power of God flows through us by the Holy Spirit. We are still weak, but at every place of weakness, we rely on the life and power of God to overcome and to do what we know God wants us to do. This is the very essence of the born again experience. God in you is your new life. God in you is your power. God in you is your faith. God in you is your strength. God in you is your new life. Those of you who are weak today, I pray that you will stay weak in self and stay in Jesus Christ. When you are your weakest, Christ is His strongest in you. In your weakness learn to rely on the life of God in you. Believe God and believe His word, then by faith He will empower you to overcome.

When Jesus was faced with persecutions; when He was faced with great suffering; when He was faced with death on a cross, you do not hear Him crying for deliverance. By His power He could have come down.  By His power He could have delivered Himself. By His power He could have ended all suffering and walked away from all the pain.  But instead, He looked up, and in prayer said to the Father, be glorified…be glorified! Saints, you have a choice.  You can cry for God to end the hurt and pain that you are going through. You can pray and fast and pray until the enemy leaves you alone. You can petition God to stop the attacks of the enemy -or- you can look up and cry Father be glorified. Though it overwhelms you. Though you see no end. If you can just stay focused on whose you are, then everything you go through will work together for good.