Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder, and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets, and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.

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tonight I want to take our collective

time I wonder how many people have had

to wrestle with God we’ve had to wrestle

with God let me say it’s straw more

strongly how many have been disappointed

by God God has in your in your sense let

you down

he didn’t come through for you it’s

probably something you wouldn’t readily

say out loud sounds very unspiritual but

God has disappointed you God has let you

down he hasn’t come through like you

hoped he would believed he would thought

he would well you’re not alone

the Bible has stories in it of people

who didn’t feel like God knew what he

was doing who felt let down by the deity

who felt abandoned who felt confused who

felt that God wasn’t there when they

needed him particularly if it’s

something major something that’s not

just the run of the mill but something

that was

terribly significant you felt God was

just not there for you of course this is

the question of job he wanted to know

why do the righteous suffer he didn’t

understand and even his friends couldn’t

help him out trying to figure out why he

was suffering the truth would be told me

and God have been wrestling me and God

have been wrestling with why he took

sister Evans at this particular point

when there was so much prayer so much

expectation so many signals of healing

and things went in the other direction

so the reality is most if not all have

those times in our lives when we

struggle with God when the statement

that his ways are not our ways and his

thoughts are not our thoughts becomes

very real in your situation because in

light of what happened he sure wasn’t

thinking what you were thinking in his

way sure wasn’t the ways that you had

planned things to work out so these are

real questions one biblical writer one

biblical author who raised this question

that I’ve mentioned from time to time is

the Prophet Habakkuk three chapters of

this minor prophet if your pages get

stuck together in the Bible you’ll miss

it

well it’s only a couple of pages in the

Bible I would tell you it comes after

nay hum but that won’t help many of you

comes right before Haggai and that would

help will help many of you either

but between Nahum and Haggai is the

Prophet Rebecca Rebecca gives us some of

his sentiments in verse 2 of the first

chapter when he says how long O Lord

will I call for help and you will not

hear I cry out to you violence yet you

do not save does anybody feel him here

his question is how long do I have to

pray about this talk to you about this

plead with you about this and heaven is

silent he has a question in verse 2 he

says why his first question is how long

now his question is why why do you make

me see iniquity he caused me to look at

the wickedness yet destruction and

violence are before me

strife exists contention arises he wants

to know first how long and now he wants

to know why in that our question why why

I asked that question today actually not

only did why did you take the Stephan’s

but why and one of the exams wasn’t it

discovered earlier so it could’ve been

dressed earlier that was a why – I mean

we we get to these exams every year why

wasn’t it caught earlier and it could

have been arrested so you asked why so

he says how long and then he says why to

show you how a infected an effect that

he was by his confusion chapter 3 verse

16 he says I heard and my inward parts

trembled at the sound my lips quivered

decay entered my bones and in my place I

tremble because I must wait quietly for

the day of distress for the people to

rise who will invade us to make that

short he said I’m unraveling I tremble

at the outlook of what I see coming

here’s a man a prophet of God who is

hurting deeply now the backdrop of this

book is God is bringing judgment on his

people for their idolatry and their

rebellion against him and he’s going to

use the Babylonians to bring the

judgment and the back of the Prophet is

struggling with number one the fact of

judgment and number two he’s going to

use people worse than the Israelites to

do the judging

and he can’t figure out God’s thinking I

can’t figure out God’s perspective it

makes a statement that we’ve all either

heard or said in chapter 3 verse 20 but

the Lord is in his holy temple let all

the earth be silent before him the Lord

is in his holy temple let all the earth

be silent before him in other words all

your talking is not going to be able to

figure this out all your talking your

crying your weeping your complaining and

all you got to do is read the book of

Job cuz that’s 42 chapters of talk and

in chapter 42 there are no clear in

their understanding he’s no clearer he

does not know about chapter 1 and he’s

never told about chapter 1 about why

he’s in this predicament that he’s in so

Rebekah is struggling with the why

question the how long question and the

not being able to figure it out and all

he can do is be silent

now in the secular world they would

offer us a number of suggestions about

facing this kind of situation when the

world doesn’t make sense

some would encourage us to resignation

that is well I just have to accept it

because there’s nothing I can do about

my despair so they resign themselves

what will be will be and that’s just how

it is

so that’s one approach when you’re in

despair and you don’t know your way out

of it just to resign and say yeah that’s

it another approach to dealing with

despair and disappointment is detachment

1 is resignation the other is detachment

I don’t want to think about it I don’t

want to deal with it so I’m going to

find something to distract me from it

whether it’s amusement entertainment

whether it’s drugs a relationship

whether it was something so that I don’t

have to think about it because this

distracts me this puts me in another

mental zone sometimes it’s the bed I’m

just want to sleep so that I don’t have

to think about it

the problem with detachment is your

despair and knows how to work around it

it knows how to seep in when those gaps

come it knows how to bring something to

mine or somebody say something or do

something that brings it back so you got

to keep finding more escape to detach

you from the pain of the problem under

the difficulty so some people resign

others detach then never he men look

bravado these are the one who say well

oh you chin up you you you you you gonna

be dis set just determination to kind of

just grit your teeth and just by sheer

determination

you’re gonna overrule this thing that is

crushing you so there are many ways that

people seek to beat their despair when

the questions are how long and why and

as he says I tremble in my despair but I

want to offer you through the Prophet

Habakkuk another approach when God does

not make sense when you are disappointed

with him frustrated with him when in

your quiet moments and you’re not trying

to be particularly spiritual or

religious you’re just trying to be

honest with God respectful but honest

Rebecca helps me out helps us out in

verses 17 to 19 of chapter 3 though the

fig tree should not blossom and there be

no fruit on the vines though the yield

of the olive should fall fail and the

fields produce the fields produce no

food though the flock should be cut off

from the fold and there be no cattle in

the stall well let’s pause right there

he says though the circumstances are

bleak all those are ways of talking

about things that are not working out

fig trees that don’t blossom vines that

don’t have grapes on the olives of being

coming from the olive trees and the

fields are barren not producing food all

that’s bleak says though though this is

the reality yet verse 18

I will exalt in the Lord I will rejoice

in the god of my salvation the Lord God

is my strength and he has made my feet

like Hinds feet and makes me walk on my

high places let’s spend a few moments

here I want to Center for a moment on

two words his situation is bleak his

circumstances are out of his control

because most of these problems are tied

to the fact there is no rain and he

can’t make it rain it’s out of his

control you can’t you can’t do anything

more to make it better

in our situation there was nothing we

were not willing to do and nothing that

was within our control that we didn’t

try

it was totally we couldn’t make it rain

we couldn’t make it rain he was out of

our control

that’s his situation here but then he

utters two words four important words he

says I will no stay with me here

he says I will but what he decides to do

goes the gangs how he feels

see we’ve been already told how he feels

he’s got all these questions and he says

in 16 he’s in distress so we know what

his emotions are doing they’re there

they’ve hit rock bottom no cattle no

fruit no food no no his emotions of our

flat but he makes a choice says I will

sometimes faith and feelings get along

sometime you feel faith fish Nathan

faith and feelings have become partners

and you you feel in this thing this

thing is bubbling up in you it’s in so

they’re working together but sometimes

they get divorced

your will must always be the engine your

emotions must always be the caboose the

moment the caboose is pulling the train

your journey is in trouble and that is

because you can’t always control how you

feel feelings change all the time

based on influences impact circumstances

situations happy say a glad man

frustrated irritated exacerbate you know

feelings are all over the place you’re

crying one minute you’re laughing the

next I walked in the house it’s just

walking out from the office because

yesterday I walk across the door and I

just broke out crying I just broke out

cry just weeping like a baby

I didn’t plan that that wasn’t scheduled

but just crossing that precipice I just

broke down and started crying that’s

another time I just passed by a picture

– broke I cried didn’t plan it but the

emotions took over at that moment

so you never you can never ignore the

reality of emotions emotions how you

feel is real motions are never to be

dismissed like they don’t exist

or that they don’t matter but what he

did was say I will I’m going to make a

decision in spite of my distress and

despair in spite of unanswered questions

about how long and unanswered questions

why I’m going to make a decision I will

exalt in the Lord I will rejoice in the

God of my salvation I will do that I

have made a choice as we would say in

more contemporary language to praise Him

anyhow not to praise him for what I’m

feeling but to praise Him in the midst

of what I’m feeling I will praise Him

since I will exalt in the Lord the God

of my salvation he says I will rejoice

I’m going to when you read the Psalms

you see this regularly David praising

God while in the mists of describing

pain so he’s describing pain psalm 42

you know he’s looking at all the

negatives he says but I will yet praise

Him how will yet praise he makes a

decision when God has disappointed you

let you down hurt you and you don’t

understand why and he has it at least

yet answered your questions the way I’m

gonna get through this he says is

through my praise and if I’m looking

through my feelings to give me the

motivation to praise they can’t help me

because there’s no cattle in the store

no figs on the tree no crop on the

ground my circumstances won’t give me

the that I need so you can come to

church and if the sermon is right and if

the choir is right you can get a little

ghetto you know no for by the time you

get home

that’s because you were piggybacking off

of somebody else but he’s talking about

his own will I will rejoice celebrate

the god of my salvation even though my

situation has changed

what is the result of this celebration

because with the celebration watch this

now comes a change of focus he’s talked

about his problem he hadn’t he hadn’t

dismissed his problem but what he has

done is shifted his focus I’m going to

focus on the God of my salvation in the

book of Job God from chapter 38 to 42 is

describing how awesome and great he is

to job and how job really read and

understand much and the job says in 42

he says and I’ve heard about you with

the hearing of the air but now I’ve seen

you with my own eyes and I repent in

sackcloth and ashes his God focused

didn’t change his problem but it changed

his perspective in the midst of his

problem

what happened when he by his will in

spite of his circumstances got his

praise Oh verse 19 the Lord God is my

strength when you’re in despair by the

nature of its impact on you you are weak

you need the physically weak or

emotionally weak psychologically weak

circumstantially weak you just weak you

get up and go has gotten up and gone

you’re weak he says but the Lord has

given him strength strength didn’t come

because the circumstance changed

strength came because God entered into

his equation in your despair don’t fall

into the trap of drawing from him rather

than drawing to him and then he goes

further and get this he’s gotten

strength and he has made my feet like

Hinds feet and makes me walk on my high

places

I read that again he’s given me strength

verse 18 and he has made my feet like

Hinds feet and makes me walk on my high

places

the picture here is of a mountain goat

or a mountain deer he’s talking about

high places Melton’s you have to climb a

mountain

the beauty of a mountain goat or a

mountain deer is sure-footedness while

they climb they have the unique ability

because of the strength in their legs to

climb the mountain without falling into

potholes or pits they’re able to

navigate the terrain of the mountain now

I know we would all prefer it to read

and he makes my high places disappear I

would prefer that that my high places

disappeared I would love that but what

he did was he says what God did was

strengthen my legs because he made my

feet like Hinds feet he did something

with my strength he did not cancel the

mountain he changed my footwork

both by strengthening me and showing me

how to navigate the terrain when you are

driving and you cross a bridge usually

means there is something that’s

dangerous below you a bridge is

connecting two points of contact usually

over something a body of water a valley

of some kind something that if the

bridge was not there you either couldn’t

cross it or if you try you would plunge

to disaster bridges aren’t designed to

eradicate the danger they’re just

designed as a path to get you across it

the bridge that God gives is strength

and that strength he says is the Lord

God is my strength he has changed my

footwork and makes me walk on high

places he gives me the ability to climb

this mountain and then navigate the

terrain sounds a lot like the end of

Isaiah 40 doesn’t it they they wait on

the Lord shall renew their strength they

shall mount up with wings like eagles

run I grow every walking nothing they

will they will be able to keep going

when in your own humanity you want to

quit

I would love I would love to be able to

say that when we follow God the

mountains disappear sometimes they do

sometimes they do but there are those

times when they don’t and you have to

learn to become a spiritual mountain

climber you have to ask God for

strengths but he got the strength in his

rejoicing right now and I know it’s too

early one for me I have to start my day

asking the Lord for strength for today

and to say even sometimes with tears

rolling down I’m going to praise you

anyhow don’t have to do that

have questions why I have questions

don’t understand have questions why now

a lot of reasons for those questions

that time will not allow me to get into

know where to be appropriate but just a

lot of questions we all have why

questions if you haven’t had one keep

living

there’ll be a why question and you

praise God if you get an answer because

many times he does give answers but they

don’t sometimes he doesn’t explain

himself so if I were to entitle this

time with you tonight I would simply

call it trusting God in the dark

trusting God when there’s great lack of

clarity when he has not made himself

inextricably clear you have to wonder

what he’s doing why he’s doing it why is

he doing it now why is he doing it in

this way why does it hurt so bad why

does it hurt this long praise God for

those times when he gives you a clear

answer but according to a Beck I praise

him even when he doesn’t and let him

give you new strength so what I want

from tonight’s what I want to encourage

you tonight is to make your praise a way

of life so that when you get into this

situation you don’t have to start from

scratch you don’t have to start from the

beginning because you you you beginning

your day just worshipping Him

surrendering to him and praising him but

it’s also while we need one another

because some time you need somebody to

help you praise because it just ain’t

coming out with unity it ain’t coming

out so we can encourage one another so

may God help us as we move forward in

ministry as a church and then your

individual lives to trust him in the

dark like we do in the light