Effie Darlene Barba

Habakkuk began with the prophet questioning God as to why He had not intervened as the people became more evil.  Then, he questioned God because God told him of His plan to allow an evil nation to take the nation captive.  Yet, God’s response was “the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. The just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2: 20,4)  Then, as he pondered of all that God had done, Habakkuk concluded. “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.  Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation”  (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Why?  How?  His Answer:

“The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.”  Habakkuk 3:19.

We cried because we watched our country moving so fast away from God.  Then we cried as we watched the bitterness and fighting between factions.  Suddenly in a matter of days, life suddenly became darkened by a virus that is spreading out of control.  Fear, panic, anxiety rises among the people.  Yet, we have laid aside the bickering, fighting to help each other.  My friend saw one lady pull out her card and pay for a father’s groceries when he didn’t have enough.   Our lives suddenly slowed.  We are forced to reconsider our lives.  Amid the turmoil, we have a moment we can reflect on our own lives.

though the fig-tree not bloom I will rejoice

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Our human nature tends to always try to take advantage of God’s lovingkindness.  Or at the least we tend to expect His goodness to give us everything we desire, as though we somehow deserve it.  Then we become angry, frustrated, disobedient, and critical whenever God tells us no or wait.  Our faith goes muttering on about how unfair God has been.  Or in some cases, we worry, fret, and try to fix it ourselves. We don’t trust Him or His promises.  Then again, when we fail, we try to blame God for our failures.  Meanwhile He patiently waits for us to ask for His help.  Just like a loving father would do.  In so many ways we abuse the Goodness of God. Despite that He remains faithful to those who know Him.  Then the question must be. How do we really stop abusing the goodness of God?

Let me propose 8 actions we can take to alleviate our abusing the goodness of God. Not only will these actions stop our abusing the Goodness of God, they will bring us into a sweet fellowship with Him.  When the fear, hostility, and lack of faith we have created in our own hearts is gone, then we can overflow with His peace, joy, hope, and love.  We are the ones who are blocking the flow of God’s rivers of life by our own rebellious hearts.  This is true of those of us who know Him as Lord and Savior.  We clog up the pipelines with our own bitterness, so His lovingkindness within us cannot flow outwardly to others nor can it bring forth joy in our own hearts.

1. Set aside time to spend with God each day in a quiet place.

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My plan had been to move on to discussing “How to Not abuse the goodness of God”.  However, I believe it best to those around us who are constantly questioning God’s goodness.  They surround us.  But even more tragic, we see that same tendency within our own hearts.  A crisis occurs and we question if God is truly kind.  Or perhaps, we think,  He doesn’t really care about us or our situation.  However, isn’t that what the Israeli nation did as they went through the wilderness?  How quickly they forgot His loving-kindness and His miracles.    Do we not as a nation and as a people do the same thing?  When there is a tragedy, such as the 911 attack on the world trade centers, mass shootings, hurricanes, and now the coronavirus; people who never spoke of God before suddenly blame all that is bad on Him.

They proclaim this as proof that God does not exist.  Because if He did exist, they say and if He is truly good, then none of this could happen.  With that they suddenly feel so justified.  But if He did not exist, the blame lies fully on humanity who has self-destroyed the earth, the planet, and each other.  Living proof of devolution rather than evolution.  Therefore, how is it that they cannot see,  it is  the acts of a humanity who deny God who are the real problem.

And how can they or we look upon and blame the only One who so graciously prevents us from plunging completely into the abyss: God Himself.  “their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste” (Deuteronomy 32:35). His Goodness is all that holds us from falling.

Questioning God’s Goodness

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Certainly, I would want to tell you, never ever could I abuse the Goodness of God.  He who gave everything that I might be saved.  Loving me with a depth of love I cannot comprehend, He called me to be His child.  Furthermore, He has been there to guide me every step of the way.  He never ever left me alone.  Even in the darkest valleys of my doubt or rebellion, He remained.  So, how can I ever abuse the goodness of God?  Yet, I have. And if you are honest, most likely you have as well at some point.  And the world?  Yes, the world seems hell bent in their abuse of the goodness of God.  Yet, He has remained faithful.

Part of the problem is our somehow believing we deserve the goodness of God to be poured out upon us regardless of our behavior, devotion or love?  It is as if we feel He owes us everything our little hearts can desire, but with no accountability for our own actions.  I would say this is a postmodern ideology.  But, alas, it has been the plight of mankind from the days of Adam and Eve.  His goodness and kindness poured forth upon them.  He walked in the Garden with them, providing for their every need.  Yet, they wanted more.  They wanted to be like God.  The creature wanted to be the creator, at least of their own destiny.

Don’t we do that?  Our heart crying out, “How dare God suggest that He know what is best for my life?”  Even when we don’t say it out loud, we say that all too often with our actions, our fears, our lack of faith, and our grumbling.

The Depravity of the Human Heart

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The book of Romans is a beautifully laid out apologetical letter written by Paul the apostle explaining and defending the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He answers the critics by presenting an airtight case for God’s Perfect Justice, Righteousness, and Grace.  Indeed, he presents clearly 6 demonstrations of the Perfect Righteousness of God Revealed.  Why?  As He says near the beginning.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”  (Romans 1:16-17 NET)

There are various branches of study, or in other words approaches, to bible study. Each with a different focus.  Theology focuses on the study of God, His divine nature, and the doctrines associated with Him.  The emphasis is on learning more of who God is throughout scripture.  Exegesis is the approach of critical analysis of a text of scripture, considering its cohesiveness will other scriptures and its context.  Apologetics is defending the scripture against all the critics.  Two of the greatest apologetic preachers were Paul and Stephen.  Stephen was stoned, most likely by Paul’s decree, after delivering an amazing sermon defending the authenticity of Christ Jesus as God’s son from scripture.

Soon thereafter, Paul met Christ as Paul was heading out to persecute the Christians.  He had a depth of knowledge of the old Testament, unmatched by few.  Then he went away for a time and was taught by Jesus through the Holy Spirit, as he prepared for the ministry that would be his to the gentile nations.

He cannot be perfectly righteous were He not also just in every decision.

Romans 3:21-26 (NET)

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