In this first session we look at the acronym CALM: (Celebrate God’s goodness, Ask God for help, Leave your concerns with God, Meditate on good things). Here are the notes for the first session of the study.
To get a copy of the book click this LINK or the image of the book at the end of the notes for the session
One final comment from our last study Christian Atheist
One reason Satan’s strongholds are so powerful is that they become entrenched. This happens when Satan can get you to buy into the lie that your situation is hopeless. His goal is to get you to believe that by nature you are a drug addict or a manipulator or a negative person, that you are controlled by fear or shame, that nothing will ever change, and so on. Once you give in to and adopt this line of thinking, these fortresses become difficult to remove. Your behavior deteriorates even more since all of us act according to who we believe we are.
The only solution is to tear down these fortresses by “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Reprogram your mind and release yourself from captivity. This is how you unleash your full potential and free yourself up to then help other men rise to do the same.
The solution is twofold but straightforward. First, identify Christ’s thoughts on a matter, and secondly, align your own thinking under the rule of His truth.
Then the truth will set you free (John 8:32).
In what areas of your life do you need to take your thoughts captive?
Anxious for Nothing
Philippians 4:4-7 NIV Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The Bible is the most highlighted book on Kindle. And Philippians 4:6–7 is the most highlighted passage.
Why?
The most highlighted Scripture promises something our anxious world craves: peace. Throughout this study, we will talk about how to live in this promise of God’s supernatural peace.
We will learn what it looks like to rejoice in the Lord, how to display a spirit of gentleness, and how to give all your worries to God. We are going to study the beautiful way God guards your heart and mind with his peace. And, finally, we will be challenged to examine your personal thought patterns and do what Paul charges you to do in Philippians 4:8
Philippians 4:8 NIV Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Max Lucado is a pastor, speaker, and best-selling author who, in his own words, “writes books for people who don’t read books.” He is the pastor at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, and his message is for the hurting, the guilty, the lonely, and the discouraged.
Lucado has written almost 100 books with 130 million copies in print. He was recipient of the Charles "Kip" Jordon Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year award three times for his books. Lucado was named "America's Pastor" by Christianity Today magazine and in 2005 was named by Reader's Digest as "The Best Preacher in America." In 1988, he was hired as a minister to the Oak Hills Church of Christ in San, Texas.[4] He stopped taking a salary from the church in 1990, because he was already an established successful author.
In this study we are going to refer often to the acronym CALM:
Celebrate God’s goodness
Ask God for help
Leave your concerns with God
Meditate on good things
You get that acronym from Phillipians 4:4-8
Celebrate God’s goodness. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (v. 4).
Ask God for help. “Let your requests be made known to God” (v. 6).
Leave your concerns with him. “With thanksgiving…” (v. 6)
Meditate on good things. “Think about the things that are good and worthy of praise” (v. 8 NCV). (pg10)
When we are young we don’t have a lot to worry about. Our parents take care of us. However as we get older and it starts really in Middle School, High School. As we got older we had more responsibilities. And with more responsibility came anxiety. It wasn’t long before homework hours lengthened, friends hurt me, and I hurt them. Pretty soon I was taking my SATs, learning how to interview for jobs, paying bills.
The more responsibilities we have, the more anxious we get about life.
So how are we able to respond to Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Always? How are we supposed to do that with the pain and anxiety of life? In this session, we will see that rejoicing in the Lord does not mean we are in a constant state of excitement. We don’t have to carry a guitar around and sing worship songs all day. It’s not about plastering on a fake smile as we walk through a dark time. No, rejoicing in the Lord always is about a deep remembering. Remembering that the Lord is here, always. Remembering that the Lord is in control, always. Remembering that the Lord is not only the giver of your day but also the ordainer of every minute inside of it, always. Remembering that amidst the pressures, pain, and anxiety in life, he is sovereign, always. As we remember, I have an inkling we may discover the carefree child we used to be. Laughing a lot more. Learning a lot more. And not forgetting who is with us through it all.
Let’s read again Philippians 4:4-8
Philippians 4:4-8 NIV Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Anxiety is the continual feeling that a big storm or problem is coming. It’s a big heap of “what ifs.” The word anxiety actually comes from a Latin root that means “to choke” or “to squeeze.” It interrupts your sleep, chokes your energy, and harms your overall well-being. Anxiety is a close cousin to fear, but the two are not twins. Fear sees a threat, while anxiety imagines one.
(pg4) Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one. Fear screams, Get out! Anxiety ponders, What if? Fear results in fight or flight. Anxiety creates doom and gloom. Fear is the pulse that pounds when you see a coiled rattlesnake in your front yard. Anxiety is the voice that tells you, Never, ever, for the rest of your life, walk barefooted through the grass. There might be a snake… somewhere.
Anxiety takes our breath, for sure. If only that were all it took. It also takes our sleep. Our energy. Our well-being. “Do not fret,” wrote the psalmist, “it only causes harm” (Ps. 37:8). Harm to our necks, jaws, backs, and bowels. Anxiety can twist us into emotional pretzels. It can make our eyes twitch, blood pressure rise, heads ache and armpits sweat. To see the consequences of anxiety, just read about half the ailments in a medical textbook.
The word anxious defines itself. It is a hybrid of angst and xious. Angst is a sense of unease. Xious is the sound I make on the tenth step of a flight of stairs when my heart beats fast and I run low on oxygen. I can be heard inhaling and exhaling, sounding like the second syllable of anxious, which makes me wonder if anxious people aren’t just that: people who are out of breath because of the angst of life.
Citizens in other countries ironically enjoy more tranquility. They experience one-fifth the anxiety levels of Americans, despite having fewer of the basic life necessities.
“What’s more, when these less-anxious developing-world citizens immigrate to the United States, they tend to get just as anxious as Americans. Something about our particular way of life, then, is making us less calm and composed.”
What is the cause of our anxiety?
Change, for one thing. Researchers speculate that the Western world’s “environment and social order have changed more in the last thirty years than they have in the previous three hundred”!
Think what has changed. Technology. The existence of the Internet. Increased warnings about global warming, nuclear war, and terrorist attacks. Changes and new threats are imported into our lives every few seconds thanks to smartphones, TVs, and computer screens. Think about the information about COVID that changes with more data. Change causes anxiety.
What about the onslaught of personal challenges? You or someone you know is facing foreclosure, fighting cancer, slugging through a divorce, or battling addiction. You or someone you know is bankrupt, broke, or going out of business.
Look for these signals pg9:
We have been taught the Christian life is one of peace. When we don’t have peace, we assume the problem is within us, which leads us to feel guilty.
But while the presence of anxiety is unavoidable, the prison of anxiety is optional. When Paul writes to “be anxious for nothing,” he is referring to an ongoing state. His words could be translated, “Don’t let anything in life leave you perpetually in deep anxiety and breathless.”
Paul’s prescription for anxiety is a call to “rejoice in the Lord.” This is not a call to a feeling but to a decision.
To rejoice in the Lord, we must have a deep belief in his sovereignty over our lives. The more we believe in his control, the more we relinquish our control.
The sovereignty of God refers to his perfect governing over all things. God works in and through every detail of his creation to accomplish his divine purpose. We have the astounding privilege to be a part of this perfect plan.
Stress-related ailments cost the United States billions of dollars every year. Why do you think the nation leading much of the world in infrastructure, education, democracy, and more is also leading the world in anxiety? Why would Americans suffer from anxiety more than people of lesser developed countries?
Scripture includes many verses that can bring comfort and peace to the worried heart.
Psalms 56:3-4 NIV When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
Matthew 6:25-34 NIV “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
1 Peter 5:6-8 NIV Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
What prescription does each passage give for anxiety?
Trust
Seek God’s kingdom first because if he provides for nature which he created for you he will provide for you.
Give your anxiety to God because He cares for you.
How does the world teach us to cope with anxiety? How does the world’s solution for anxiety differ from God’s solution?
It's on him not us.
Eugene Peterson says, “[The fact] that God followers don’t get preferential treatment in life always comes as a surprise.” Have you ever expected special treatment from God? If so, how did it affect your relationship with him when you experienced hard times?
The great apostle Paul faced some hard times;
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 NIV Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Plus he had an ongoing issue that he asked God to take away and God wouldn’t do it. He told Paul that all he needed was his grace
2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Even with all this Paul still says rejoice in the Lord always. Paul wasn’t the first person in scripture to have this same mindset.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
What names does Habakkuk use for God?
the Lord
God my Savior
Sovereign Lord is my strength
Why does Habakkuk say he can rejoice in God though the fig trees wither and crops fail?
Habakkuk’s joy was not dependent on physical blessings.
The truth of God’s present strength caused Habakkuk to trust God even during the most difficult times because God is sovereign. Habakkuk, can trust God’s promises.
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
If you want to rejoice in God regardless of your circumstances, it is crucial that you learn to trust in his sovereignty. What prevents you from trusting in the sovereignty of God?
Isaiah 45:9-12 NIV “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’? Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’ “This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.
One reason Satan’s strongholds are so powerful is that they become entrenched. This happens when Satan can get you to buy into the lie that your situation is hopeless. His goal is to get you to believe that by nature you are a drug addict or a manipulator or a negative person, that you are controlled by fear or shame, that nothing will ever change, and so on. Once you give in to and adopt this line of thinking, these fortresses become difficult to remove. Your behavior deteriorates even more since all of us act according to who we believe we are.
The only solution is to tear down these fortresses by “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Reprogram your mind and release yourself from captivity. This is how you unleash your full potential and free yourself up to then help other men rise to do the same.
The solution is twofold but straightforward. First, identify Christ’s thoughts on a matter, and secondly, align your own thinking under the rule of His truth.
Then the truth will set you free (John 8:32).
In what areas of your life do you need to take your thoughts captive?
Anxious for Nothing
Philippians 4:4-7 NIV Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The Bible is the most highlighted book on Kindle. And Philippians 4:6–7 is the most highlighted passage.
Why?
The most highlighted Scripture promises something our anxious world craves: peace. Throughout this study, we will talk about how to live in this promise of God’s supernatural peace.
We will learn what it looks like to rejoice in the Lord, how to display a spirit of gentleness, and how to give all your worries to God. We are going to study the beautiful way God guards your heart and mind with his peace. And, finally, we will be challenged to examine your personal thought patterns and do what Paul charges you to do in Philippians 4:8
Philippians 4:8 NIV Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Max Lucado is a pastor, speaker, and best-selling author who, in his own words, “writes books for people who don’t read books.” He is the pastor at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, and his message is for the hurting, the guilty, the lonely, and the discouraged.
Lucado has written almost 100 books with 130 million copies in print. He was recipient of the Charles "Kip" Jordon Gold Medallion Christian Book of the Year award three times for his books. Lucado was named "America's Pastor" by Christianity Today magazine and in 2005 was named by Reader's Digest as "The Best Preacher in America." In 1988, he was hired as a minister to the Oak Hills Church of Christ in San, Texas.[4] He stopped taking a salary from the church in 1990, because he was already an established successful author.
In this study we are going to refer often to the acronym CALM:
Celebrate God’s goodness
Ask God for help
Leave your concerns with God
Meditate on good things
You get that acronym from Phillipians 4:4-8
Celebrate God’s goodness. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (v. 4).
Ask God for help. “Let your requests be made known to God” (v. 6).
Leave your concerns with him. “With thanksgiving…” (v. 6)
Meditate on good things. “Think about the things that are good and worthy of praise” (v. 8 NCV). (pg10)
When we are young we don’t have a lot to worry about. Our parents take care of us. However as we get older and it starts really in Middle School, High School. As we got older we had more responsibilities. And with more responsibility came anxiety. It wasn’t long before homework hours lengthened, friends hurt me, and I hurt them. Pretty soon I was taking my SATs, learning how to interview for jobs, paying bills.
The more responsibilities we have, the more anxious we get about life.
So how are we able to respond to Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Always? How are we supposed to do that with the pain and anxiety of life? In this session, we will see that rejoicing in the Lord does not mean we are in a constant state of excitement. We don’t have to carry a guitar around and sing worship songs all day. It’s not about plastering on a fake smile as we walk through a dark time. No, rejoicing in the Lord always is about a deep remembering. Remembering that the Lord is here, always. Remembering that the Lord is in control, always. Remembering that the Lord is not only the giver of your day but also the ordainer of every minute inside of it, always. Remembering that amidst the pressures, pain, and anxiety in life, he is sovereign, always. As we remember, I have an inkling we may discover the carefree child we used to be. Laughing a lot more. Learning a lot more. And not forgetting who is with us through it all.
Let’s read again Philippians 4:4-8
Philippians 4:4-8 NIV Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Anxiety is the continual feeling that a big storm or problem is coming. It’s a big heap of “what ifs.” The word anxiety actually comes from a Latin root that means “to choke” or “to squeeze.” It interrupts your sleep, chokes your energy, and harms your overall well-being. Anxiety is a close cousin to fear, but the two are not twins. Fear sees a threat, while anxiety imagines one.
(pg4) Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one. Fear screams, Get out! Anxiety ponders, What if? Fear results in fight or flight. Anxiety creates doom and gloom. Fear is the pulse that pounds when you see a coiled rattlesnake in your front yard. Anxiety is the voice that tells you, Never, ever, for the rest of your life, walk barefooted through the grass. There might be a snake… somewhere.
Anxiety takes our breath, for sure. If only that were all it took. It also takes our sleep. Our energy. Our well-being. “Do not fret,” wrote the psalmist, “it only causes harm” (Ps. 37:8). Harm to our necks, jaws, backs, and bowels. Anxiety can twist us into emotional pretzels. It can make our eyes twitch, blood pressure rise, heads ache and armpits sweat. To see the consequences of anxiety, just read about half the ailments in a medical textbook.
The word anxious defines itself. It is a hybrid of angst and xious. Angst is a sense of unease. Xious is the sound I make on the tenth step of a flight of stairs when my heart beats fast and I run low on oxygen. I can be heard inhaling and exhaling, sounding like the second syllable of anxious, which makes me wonder if anxious people aren’t just that: people who are out of breath because of the angst of life.
Citizens in other countries ironically enjoy more tranquility. They experience one-fifth the anxiety levels of Americans, despite having fewer of the basic life necessities.
“What’s more, when these less-anxious developing-world citizens immigrate to the United States, they tend to get just as anxious as Americans. Something about our particular way of life, then, is making us less calm and composed.”
What is the cause of our anxiety?
Change, for one thing. Researchers speculate that the Western world’s “environment and social order have changed more in the last thirty years than they have in the previous three hundred”!
Think what has changed. Technology. The existence of the Internet. Increased warnings about global warming, nuclear war, and terrorist attacks. Changes and new threats are imported into our lives every few seconds thanks to smartphones, TVs, and computer screens. Think about the information about COVID that changes with more data. Change causes anxiety.
What about the onslaught of personal challenges? You or someone you know is facing foreclosure, fighting cancer, slugging through a divorce, or battling addiction. You or someone you know is bankrupt, broke, or going out of business.
Look for these signals pg9:
- Are you laughing less than you once did?
- Do you see problems in every promise?
- Would those who know you best describe you as increasingly negative and critical?
- Do you assume that something bad is going to happen?
- Do you dilute and downplay good news with doses of your version of reality?
- Many days would you rather stay in bed than get up?
- Do you magnify the negative and dismiss the positive?
- Given the chance, would you avoid any interaction with humanity for the rest of your life?
We have been taught the Christian life is one of peace. When we don’t have peace, we assume the problem is within us, which leads us to feel guilty.
But while the presence of anxiety is unavoidable, the prison of anxiety is optional. When Paul writes to “be anxious for nothing,” he is referring to an ongoing state. His words could be translated, “Don’t let anything in life leave you perpetually in deep anxiety and breathless.”
Paul’s prescription for anxiety is a call to “rejoice in the Lord.” This is not a call to a feeling but to a decision.
To rejoice in the Lord, we must have a deep belief in his sovereignty over our lives. The more we believe in his control, the more we relinquish our control.
The sovereignty of God refers to his perfect governing over all things. God works in and through every detail of his creation to accomplish his divine purpose. We have the astounding privilege to be a part of this perfect plan.
Stress-related ailments cost the United States billions of dollars every year. Why do you think the nation leading much of the world in infrastructure, education, democracy, and more is also leading the world in anxiety? Why would Americans suffer from anxiety more than people of lesser developed countries?
Scripture includes many verses that can bring comfort and peace to the worried heart.
Psalms 56:3-4 NIV When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
Matthew 6:25-34 NIV “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
1 Peter 5:6-8 NIV Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
What prescription does each passage give for anxiety?
Trust
Seek God’s kingdom first because if he provides for nature which he created for you he will provide for you.
Give your anxiety to God because He cares for you.
How does the world teach us to cope with anxiety? How does the world’s solution for anxiety differ from God’s solution?
It's on him not us.
Eugene Peterson says, “[The fact] that God followers don’t get preferential treatment in life always comes as a surprise.” Have you ever expected special treatment from God? If so, how did it affect your relationship with him when you experienced hard times?
The great apostle Paul faced some hard times;
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 NIV Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Plus he had an ongoing issue that he asked God to take away and God wouldn’t do it. He told Paul that all he needed was his grace
2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Even with all this Paul still says rejoice in the Lord always. Paul wasn’t the first person in scripture to have this same mindset.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
What names does Habakkuk use for God?
the Lord
God my Savior
Sovereign Lord is my strength
Why does Habakkuk say he can rejoice in God though the fig trees wither and crops fail?
Habakkuk’s joy was not dependent on physical blessings.
The truth of God’s present strength caused Habakkuk to trust God even during the most difficult times because God is sovereign. Habakkuk, can trust God’s promises.
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
If you want to rejoice in God regardless of your circumstances, it is crucial that you learn to trust in his sovereignty. What prevents you from trusting in the sovereignty of God?
Isaiah 45:9-12 NIV “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’? Woe to the one who says to a father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to a mother, ‘What have you brought to birth?’ “This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.
Bible Study Audio
