WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:21.000
You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help, you know, God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. Let's listen in.
2
00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:31.000
All right. Good morning, church. Y' all doing good this morning, man? Worship was good, wasn't it? Oh, so good. Well, hey, I'm so glad to be here with y'.
3
00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:32.000
All.
4
00:00:31.000 --> 00:15:14.000
As Pastor Tim just mentioned, my name is Kyle Fisher. I'm one of the pastors over at High Ridge, High Ridge, and Graham, so. So part of the High Ridge family. And I'll say I've been really excited to come over here to Longview. I don't know if y' all consider us Cousin Eddie's over in Graham or we should consider y' all Cousin Eddie's. I'm not really sure, but either way, we're all part of the family, right? So I've been looking forward to come here and to be with y' all and. And I'll share with y' all this, like, my heart excitement about being here is that about two years ago, when I started working at High Ridge, Graham, my wife and I, we're not from around Texas at all. And so I got to meet Pastor Tim for the first time, man. He told me about 10 jokes in 30 seconds was first thing. And then. And then after that, I gotta hear his heart for the Lord, and I gotta hear his heart for the church, but not just the church, but also Longview, like, the community as a whole. I thought, man, this guy is awesome. Like, he's a guy that's, like, worth following. He's a guy that's doing a great job of making church what it's all meant to be about. Jesus and one another and reaching the lost, right? And so as soon as he texted me a couple months ago about coming up here to speak, I immediately told him, yes, I would love to, because it really is an honor for me to be able to be here and to see Longview, but also to be able to be with this incredible church family. So thank you all for having us. I also, before I do any, I want to guest preach anytime. Before I do any messages, I do like to introduce everybody to my family. So I have a picture up here I would like to show y'. All. This is. Everybody say, aw, right? Even those who are watching online. You can type in awe in the comments. All right. So this is my wife Ellen. Ellen's actually down here in the front row for the service. We've been married for 11 years this month. Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. We've been happy for three of them, but we're making it work. And then. I was kidding. I didn't run that joke by her before I decided to tell it. Then we have Sutton, who's in the pink shirt. She's seven. She's our oldest. And then our youngest is Leighton. She's four. She's actually Leighton's in the kids area. Sutton's able to join us this morning. And so always love being. Being able to have my family here with me. And so after church today, if you guys happen to see me, my wife, or girls in the lobby, like, please come say hi. My wife and I will say hi back. My girls kind of wild cards. But just know that we are happy to see you guys. Okay. I would love to go to God, a word of prayer, and then I'm just gonna just dive into the message for today. God, we thank you so much for loving us like you do. We thank you for giving us sound mind. We thank you for the blood of Christ. We thank you for being greater than anything else on this earth, for being alive and active today. And so I pray as we study your Word, that how alive you are and how active you are will just come alive in this message, God, in your word, and it will truly change the way that we live, that feel that we think so that we can live lives according to you and your truth. God, I pray you get all of us out of the way, move our hearts, our minds and souls out of the way and just do what only you can do. In Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Well, hey, church with us. Being a family of churches at High Ridge, I thought for this message, I could invite you all in to what we are doing this summer over at High Ridge Graham. Over at High Ridge Graham, we are doing this series called Uncommon, with the little tagline of uncommon books with common problems. And the whole idea behind this series is that we are diving into uncommon books in the Old Testament, ones that are sometimes overlooked or not looked at as much. And we're gonna see that even in these uncommon books, God's word speaks a lot into the problems and things that we encounter today. And that because God was alive and active and speaking into those issues thousands of years ago, or for some of them, that he's still alive and active and speaking to the same problems and issues that we even face today. And so if you guys want to go ahead and turn to the book of Habakkuk, this morning, we're going to be diving into the uncommon book of Habakkuk, one that's often overlooked in the Old Testament. So if you have your Bible flip over there, the High Ridge app, go ahead and flip over to Habakkuk, because we're going to be in Habakkuk chapter one. We're going to read the whole thing here in a moment. Now, because Habakkuk is an uncommon book, one of the things I wanted to make sure to be clear with y' all is just some background context things. Okay? One is Habakkuk is considered one of the 12 minor prophets in the Old Testament. You got 12 minor prophets and you also have five major prophets. All right? The major prophets being those bigger books like Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Okay. Then you got the smaller prophets, minor prophets like Habakkuk, Something that's important to understand. Habakkuk is not considered a minor prophet because he's like some intern for the major prophets. Okay. The minor prophets are simply called the minor prophets because their books are smaller. That's it. Right? So while the message in there may be in a book that's smaller, it is not any less significant than what you would read in the major prophets. Now, as we go through Habakkuk 1, one of the other things you're going to notice is that it's almost written like a journal entry between Habakkuk and God. And it's you. You'll see this back and forth conversation, and it's like. It's like God and Habakkuk are allowing us to step in and read just this personal interaction that Habakkuk is journaling and having with God. And what's really cool about it is hopefully that all of us can see is that the way Habakkuk interacts with God is how God wants us to interact with him as well. Like there meant to be a conversational relationship here. Okay. Not just a be quiet kind of thing, which I'll get into here in a few minutes. Getting ahead of myself. All right. Already preached one service, so I'm a little antsy and excited to get going with this one. All right. And so we're going to read it. It's going to be like a journal. Then the third thing, it kind of gives us some history context. And I have a picture of a map I want to show y'. All. So during Habakkuk is written in 605 BC. Okay, so this conversation between God and habakkuk is around 605 BC. Now, if you look in the east, you see Babylon. Babylon began to grow as, like, a very powerful empire. And they begin to make their way up, as you can see, through Assyria. And you see Nineveh that might remind you of, you know, Jonah. He cried out or talked to Nineveh about repenting. Well, eventually they end up going back to old ways. Babylon comes up, defeats Assyria, who was the powerhouse of the day. And then Babylon makes their way through Syria. I believe they also fight Egypt. And they're basically showing that they are the new powerhouse in this entire area, that the Babylonian empire is not to be messed with. And so in 605 BC, we know the Babylonian empire has finally made their way to Judah. And they're at Judah's back doorstep. And so as Habakkuk is talking with God, you gotta understand, like, Habakkuk is sitting there and there, him and all God's people, Judah, they're like, man, what's going to happen? Is the Babylonian empire going to come in and completely destroy us and kill us? Are they just going to take us and make us slaves? Are they just going to give us a threat and then they're going to go back home? Like, what is going to happen with us? And so. And so in all of Judah, you have government corruption, kind of like America, you also have. Sorry, did I hit too many? Whatever. Okay, all right, so then you have corruption amongst the people in Judah. You have these people in Judah who are lawless, sinful, like, they don't care about following God anymore. And there's just like, a lot of unsettled, and there's not a lot of rest. And it's like, hey, this common problem that they're dealing with today or that they were dealing with in 605 BC. 2,600 years later, we are still wrestling with the same things. You think about government or the way that people are interacting, or we think about America's culture and how Christianity is kind of fading in a way. And it's just there's all these uncertainties and unsettledness going on. That's what Habakkuk is dealing with here. All right, so as we dive into Habakkuk chapter one, I want us to understand that this is like a journal entry that we're reading between him and God. But it's also because there are so many hard things happening in the midst of their Lives currently. Does that make sense? Y' all with me? Okay. All right. I'm going to take a drink here, and then we are going to read through all of chapter one. I'm going to stop at certain points, but just. Just prepare yourself. We're going to read 17 verses here. Habakkuk, chapter one, verse one starts off with. This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision. How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen. Violence is everywhere. I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I'm surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous. So that justice has come has become perverted. Hey. These first four verses, Habakkuk's crying out to God. It's very clear. He's like, God, like, what are you doing? Why are you not stepping in here? Why does it seem like nothing's happening? Like, you're not around, you're not moving, you're not working. Why are you allowing this evil? What is. What is happening? Have we all not been there before? Right the moment she's crying out to God. Verse 5, then it picks up with the Lord's response. It says, the Lord replied, look around at the nations. Look and be amazed, for I'm doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it. Highlight that, underline it, asterisk by it. Like, we're gonna come back to that. That is a extremely important verse, like in the entire all of scripture. Okay, then God continues to say, I'm raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the world and conquer other lands. They are notorious for their cruelty and do whatever they like. Their horses are swifter than cheetahs and fiercer than wolves. At dusk, the charioteers charge from far away. Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey. On they come, all bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind, sweeping captives ahead of them like sand. They scoff at kings and princesses and scorn all their fortresses. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them. They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply guilty, for their own strength is their God here. God's response to Habakkuk is, hey, I'm actually. It may seem crazy here. But I'm actually using the Babylonian empire to fulfill some plans and purposes that you wouldn't even get yet. And then God goes on to explain to Habakkuk, who the bab, who the Babylonian people are. God's helping Habakkuk see, like, hey, I see the kind of people they are. Like, their time is coming. But I have a plan. I have a plan that I'm using them for. For something, a purpose you can't even fathom yet. So then in verse 12, Habakkuk responds back to God, Oh, Lord, my God, my holy one, you who are eternal. Surely you do not plan to wipe us out, O Lord, our rock. You have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins. But you are pure and cannot stand the side of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they? Are we only fish to be caught and killed? Are we only sea creatures that have no leader? Must we be strung up on their hooks and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate? Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in front of them. These nets are the gods who have made us rich, they will claim. Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquest? Chapter one ends right there. If you continue reading chapter two, the conversation keeps going. But at the end of chapter one that we are considering this morning, you see that Habakkuk is wrestling with God here. He's coming to God. God. I don't understand what's going on. And God's like, here's, like, part of my response. And then Habakkuk's like, yeah, but I still don't get it. Like, why are you allowing this? I understand we're getting punished, but like, God, come on. Like, there has to be something else going on here. This doesn't seem to make any sense in the way that I can comprehend and understand the way things are in life. And it doesn't make sense that you would act this way. And Habakkuk is just struggling with God. If you go back and look through, out of those 17 verses in chapter one, Habakkuk is talking in 10 of them. And in the midst of those 10 verses, we see Habakkuk ask God 11 different questions. Have any of us ever been there before with God? You're struggling. You're wrestling with God. You have these questions and things going on around you. You don't understand. Things happen to you. Personally, maybe things happen to family members, maybe it comes to sickness, death, heartache, job stuff, financial things, marriage, kids. Like there's things happening. You're just like God, why? And maybe you know God's truth like Habakkuk did, but you're still like God. I don't, still don't understand why. Something that we need to understand here this morning that's gonna play into everything else we're gonna talk about is simply this. And I'm gonna put it on the screen for you guys so you guys can write it down, is that God's ways can be difficult to understand. God's ways can be difficult to understand. And that's the reality as believers. We need to understand that is that because God is sovereign, that he is all places at all times, all knowing, right? He is powerful, but he's all powerful. Everything about him. Like we cannot fully gather what God is doing. At times it's like he's playing three level chess and we haven't even sat down at the checker table yet, right? And so there will be moments in life where we have to wrestle with God, I don't understand what you're doing. And we sometimes will try to run into like trying to figure it out and try to think that we know what's best and do our own thing. And so Habakkuk is facing the same thing we are, where he is dealing with something like God, I don't understand why you're doing what you're doing. But Habakkuk, it will ultimately come to a place that we all have to choose to come to. While we may not have the job to figure out everything as God is doing, we do have a job as Christians every single day. And that job is to surrender. Surrender. Habakkuk has to wrestle with that. We have to wrestle with that. Coming to these moments in life where we say, God, I don't understand what you're doing. God, I don't necessarily agree with what you're doing, but I'm not God, I don't know best. And so I have to surrender. Think about surrender. Church surrender reflects trust, does it not? We say that we may put our give our life to Jesus. We put our trust in him as our Lord and Savior. But does your surrender in your day to day life actually reflect the life that trusts in God? Or does your surrender show that you reflect trusting in yourself? Now, because the word surrender can often be a Christianese word that people say, you know, sometimes on platform and Bible study and scripture that we can Sometimes just mess up our view of really what surrender is meant to all be about. And so we could, this morning, just take a few minutes here. I wanted to clarify some things about surrender just to help us as believers make sure we're living this out. Okay, so the first thing I wanna say about surrender is this, is that surrender and questions can coexist. Surrender and questions can coexist. Thank you for saying it was good. I didn't come up with it, but thank you.
5
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:15.000
Yeah.
6
00:15:15.000 --> 00:33:27.000
Okay. So surrender and questions can coexist. Hear me out. Look at Habakkuk, 10 verses, 11 questions. He is coming at God with all these questions and all these uncertainties, but he still ultimately chooses surrender. And so I think what we can learn from Habakkuk and even David in the Psalms, even Job, in the first part of him talking with God, there is this question dynamic that God allows between us and Him. Surrender doesn't mean that we have to sit down and shut up. Surrender means that in the midst of our questions, we continue to follow after what he's calling us to do. Right? So don't think that surrender means. You just have to be quiet, man. If you have doubts, questions, frustrations, come to God with them. And here's one thing I really believe is true, is that God allows us to come to him with questions because of the relationship dynamic that he wants between us and Him. Think about your marriage. There's questions in the midst of it, right? Your kids, you ask them questions. Your friendships. There's questions in any relationship you have. Sometimes serious questions, sometimes easy questions, sometimes silly questions, but there's still questions there. Why? Because of the relationship. I think God allows us to ask him questions in the midst of surrender because he desires for that relationship with us. He wants us to be close to him because as we surrender with our questions, God's Word will speak things into you. And he will speak through His Word into you. And then if you happen to have the Bible handy, the Holy Spirit is right there inside of you to speak to you, remind you of some truth in scripture as well. And God will encourage your heart if you come to him with questions and listen to the responses. A story that I shared with the first service. I didn't initially plan on sharing this, but I don't know. I just want to share with you. Just me being honest with my struggle with surrender and asking God questions. Because a few years ago, before we came to Graham, Ellen and I were in our family. We were at a sermon at a church, and things were honestly kind. Of just difficult and not going how I envisioned it. And our family had to move states and it was just a whole bunch of stuff going on. And I remember there was daily I was, I was coming to the church office and just wrestling with God. Like, why did you do this? Like, what's going on? Like, what's the point of, what's the point of everything here? Like, did you just dragging my family around? Like, what are you doing? Right. Just being honest. Just real hard questions. Like, I was struggling with God and there was one morning where I got to the church before anybody else did and I was sitting in my office and I was having one of those wrestling with God moments asking questions. And I remember thinking to myself, gosh, if I don't want somebody to walk in here and interrupt me right now. Cause I just mentally am not, I can't engage with people right now. And I'm just. Me and God are just at odds, it feels like. And so actually I got up from my office and I walked across the church lobby and I went to the farthest bathroom that I could find. And I remember I opened up the stall and I turned around and locked it and I leaned against the wall and there in the bathroom stall, I just sank to the floor and just started crying, like sobbing, crying. I was like, God, I just don't, I don't get you right now. I don't understand. And I was just wrestling with those questions and the real emotion that comes with it and just struggling with God, like, Gotta Surrender to youo. But I'm really struggling with these questions and you'd right now. And one thing I learned though, I remember from that moment is that once the tears calmed down, the emotions calmed down, I took a deep breath, I opened this stall door and I walked back to my office. Because I knew that regardless if I was struggling with surrender and asking God questions, I knew what he wanted me to do that day though. And that was to be faithful to him and the way that I loved him and the way I loved the people around me. And so one thing that I think I learned through that whole situation and season was that even in the midst of struggling with surrender and asking questions, man, a lot of times we don't have to get our questions answered in order to then surrender. It's like in the midst of the questions, just dust yourself off at times, go and live your day to day life. Because regardless of what you're struggling with, you can still go love people and love God in the way that you live your life. The way you interact with your coworkers, your family, your friends, so you don't have to wait till the questions are done before you surrender. You can surrender in the midst of that as well. A second thing I wanted to share with you, all about surrender is that surrender and control cannot coexist. Surrender and control cannot coexist. So while surrender and questions can, when it comes to control, it cannot exist here. When I was thinking about this in a way to try to articulate it, I actually thought about how at the end of the day, I'll go sit in my recliner and I'll prop my feet up and I'll grab the TV remote. And when I have that remote, I'm in control of the tv, right? As long as my wife and kids let me. Right? Right. Like, I tell them when we can watch Bluey sometimes. But when I have that remote control in my hand and I'm watching it, man, I can flip through whatever TV stations I want to flip through. I can fast forward, I can rewind, I can pause, I can mute. I can turn it up, I can turn it down. When I hold that controller, I can. I am in control. And I thought, man, how often as believers do we hold onto a spiritual remote to try to control things in our life that God wants us to drop and let go of? Like, think about. Like think about the seasons in life that. That we try to fast forward and hurry up and get through when God's like, no, no, no. Surrender to me into this because I'm trying to grow you right now. You're not going to grow in the way you need to grow. If you hurry up and rush past this, this season of life, like those seasons where maybe marriage is hard, friendships are hard, the job is hard. It can be easy to want to dip out and say, I'm out of here and want to do your own thing. And I really think in those moments that God is trying to say, hey, let go of control. Like, let me handle this. I just need you to grow right now. Right? Or there's moments where we try to hold on to that control or. And instead of listening to God's voice and surrender him, we mute him. We turn him off. I'm not going to listen to what you tell me because right now, because I know you're gonna tell me things I don't wanna hear and I don't wanna surrender. So we try to mute the voice of God or think about the volume. Like, we put ourselves around people sometimes when we struggle with surrender and control we put ourselves around people who tell us things we wanna hear. So we turn the volume up of the people in our life that we tell us things we wanna hear so that we can drown out the voice of God telling us to surrender and be obedient to the things that we don't like. When it comes to surrender church, we cannot say that we are fully surrendered to God while we still hold on to anything, any our life. And so today I want to just encourage and challenge you to think about what control are you holding on to that God is telling you, let go of. Let God work in you, let God move in you. And while it really. Honestly, guys, it really is so hard and it sucks to surrender even and like, let go of control. But I will tell you, like, more growth will happen if you let go of control. More life change will happen if you let go of control. Let God do his thing. The third thing is this. Surrender when it's painful. Surrender when it's painful. And honestly, I got this from Habakkuk. Think about him having to choose surrender when it's painful. He's like, is the Babylonian army coming? Are they gonna destroy us? And ultimately they end up doing that. And Habakkuk has to still surrender to God even in the midst of pain. I then thought about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane the night that he was arrested, right? The night he was put on trial. Betrayed the night before. Whenever he was hung up on the cross the very next day, Jesus knew all the pain, all time, the. All the torment, all the betrayal, all the spiritual sin and shame that he's about to carry for all of us. And so that last, that night, before he's arrested, Jesus is praying in the garden of Gethsemane asking God if there's any other way that you can make this happen. Like, let it be. But ultimately, God, let your will be done. I thought about Jesus, our Savior, our Lord and Savior, God in flesh with us. Like he surrendered to the Father even when it was painful. So why do we think that we should do otherwise? We are not called to surrender when it's convenient or comfortable or easy. We're called to surrender even when it's painful. Even when it's painful. When you get the diagnosis from the doctor, I mean, I just did, okay, I just did a funeral on Friday for a lady who passed away, and she was only 48. And I did not know her personally, but some of her family goes to our church. They asked me if I could do the funeral. And as I Sat down with the family to kind of learn some more about her. What I found out was that when she was a child, she was diagnosed with leukemia. And she wasn't completely cleared until I think she was, like, 19. And then when she was at the age of 40, she was put on kidney dialysis, and she had to have a kidney transplant. It was on the list. In the midst of that, she was growing a tumor in her shoulder. Guys, this woman was going through it, man, almost her entire life. It wasn't just like a season. And when I sat down with her family and I talked to them, I was like, hey, can you share me some things about Mandy? And you know what? Some of the first things they shared with me was how she led so many people to Jesus, how they told me that she would want to make sure that I shared the gospel at this funeral service, that she loved the Lord. It was like this woman who went through so much pain all throughout her entire life. Her life, though, when her family looked at her life, all they saw was Jesus. That doesn't happen without surrender, even when it's painful and difficult and hard. And even when it comes to surrendering when it's painful. I wanted to be able to share with you guys just a word of encouragement that God really just kind of really showed me. Like, not even two months ago, I think it was. I have this picture I wanna show you guys of. Okay, so. Okay, so take a look at this picture. And I'm not from Texas, all right? Especially not West Texas. So I've seen cactuses, but I've never seen a flower grow on top of a cactus. Have y' all seen this before? Of course y' all have, right? Like, I'm the idiot in the room. Okay. Okay, so. But when I. When I was on this ranch and they were showing us, like, around, and I saw that, I was like, hey, can y', all, like, stop real quick? And I went over and I took a picture of it. Cause that was just mind blowing to me. I'm like, cactuses are always ugly, and they just are hurt. You know, they cause pain. But how is there such, like, a beautiful flower growing on top of it? And I just. I was mesmerized by it, right? And as. And as I was sitting there just looking at the picture and they were riding around in the golf cart, this thought came to my mind. There's beauty in pain. And I know you should probably lean into a dramatic moment right now, but I wanna tell you, my first thought was, kyle, that is the Cheesiest line that you have ever thought of in your life. There's beauty and pain. Like, what does that even mean? That sounds like something would get tattooed or put on Instagram to inspire people, right? So I was just. I was. Honestly, I was sat there, I was like, there's beauty and pain. Like, what does that even mean? Like, okay, there's a beautiful flower with the painful cactus, but, God, is there something here that I'm missing? And as I was wrestling with that, I really feel. I feel like the Holy Spirit put some in my heart. I want you guys to hear this. There is beauty in pain because there isn't anything that I can't redeem or restore. And I want you guys to hear that again. As I was thinking about how there's beauty and pain, this is what I really feel like the Spirit put on me. There is beauty and pain because there isn't anything that I can't redeem or restore. And one of the things God opened my heart and reminded me of, whenever we surrender to him, even in the painful moments, he can take that painful moment that we surrender to Him. He could turn it into a beautiful testimony that can show off his greatness and glory that will not only draw you closer to him, but it'll help draw people closer to him, which is why we. What we are called to do in this life. Amen. So, Church, there is beauty in pain, and it's not because we have the strength and we can strap on our belt and go run through hell on our own. No, no. There's beauty and pain because when we surrender the pain to the Lord, he can redeem and restore the brokenness in your marriage. When you surrender the painful things with your kids, he can redeem and restore that. When you surrender the painful things with your work, your walk with Christ, Church, whatever it might be, when you surrender those painful things over to him, he can come in and bring redemption and restoration in ways you never could on your own. If you're in this room right now, I'm telling you, if you have been wrestling with addiction for years, I'm telling you, if you're watching online, hear me out right now. If you will surrender that painful addiction to the Lord, he can redeem and restore it in only the way that he can. So hear me out, Church. We surrender even when it's painful. Not because we're just supposed to as Christians, but because of what God wants to do through that pain and how he wants to bring beauty from ashes and all these things that go with it. Church as. As we kind of close out talking about the surrender piece here, there's one thing I want to hit on real quickly, and that is that surrender is a daily choice. Okay? Surrender is a daily choice. Don't. Hey, listen, don't just live a life of Sunday surrender. Want to surrender here today. Surrender things over the Lord. That is awesome. But guess what? You got to wake up tomorrow and live tomorrow. Surrendered as well. Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. You can't take up the cross unless you surrender to him. Once you surrender to him daily, you can take up the cross daily, which helps you follow him daily so you can live the Christian life that we are all called to live. Surrender, surrender and questions can coexist. Surrender and control cannot coexist. Surrender even when it's painful. Surrender is a daily choice. Will you surrender things over to the Lord? Now, as I was thinking about this message and I was studying Habakkuk and thinking about surrender, a question did come to my mind that I wanted to just throw out there to y', all, and it's a question that's I'll put on the screen, if we could, is, why is God worth surrendering to? And why? I mean, just because Kyle said so, and he was the one preaching that Sunday. So I guess we got to. You know, it's like, why? Why is God worth even surrendering to? And there was something I realized in the book of Habakkuk that helped answer this question for me personally, and I wanted to see if it maybe help encourage you as well, because I want to put Habakkuk, chapter one, verse five, back up on the screen. It says that the Lord replied, look around at the nations. Look and be amazed. For I'm doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it in the context of this. Remember, God is talking to Habakkuk about him using the Babylonian army to fulfill big plans and purposes. Okay? This is in 605 BC. And what I want us to understand here is that God's greatness is that he can speak into Habakkuk in the moment, but his words can also be something that he's going to fulfill hundreds of years later. That's what's so cool about God's word being alive and active like Habakkuk. Yeah. This is written 2600 years ago, and God was speaking into Habakkuk, but what he was speaking into Habakkuk 2,600 years ago. He was actually going to bring to more so fulfillment 600 years later so that now we can then, for the past couple thousand years, experience the fullness of what he was talking about in Habakkuk 1 5. And if I'm sounding confusing, bear with me. I want you guys to look up on the screen. I have Acts, chapter 13. Paul says, Brothers, listen. We are here to proclaim that through this man, Jesus. Everybody say Jesus, there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God's sight. Something the law of Moses could never do. Be careful. Don't let the prophet's words apply to you. For they said, look, you mockers, be amazed and die. For I'm doing something in your own day. Something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you that about it. Paul is referencing Habakkuk 1:5 here. You know what this tells me? That while God was talking Habakkuk about the Babylonian army, he was also referencing the fact that in 600 years, he was going to come to this earth born of a virgin, be fully God, fully man, live a perfect, sinless life where he was then going to go and die on a cross, taking the sin and shame of the entire world on his shoulders so that once he finally died, our relationship with God can finally be restored and redeemed and made right again. But God's like, hey, he's not done yet. Okay? He's gonna then three days later, rise from the grave to show everybody that there is absolutely nothing that is greater than him. Death itself couldn't even stop him. That every other prophet has ever been alive is now dead in the grave. But Jesus Christ is more than that. He is God in flesh because he rose from the dead and is alive and active in our lives today. If God would have told Habakkuk that, Habakkuk would have laughed like, whatever, God, like, that's what, 600 years from now? Are you gonna do what? No way. But we see, According to Acts 13, Jesus Christ Himself is the full fulfillment of Habakkuk 1:5. Now, what does this have to do with surrendering? Kyle, come on, get to it. You're running out of time. All right, so here's my plea. Why is God worth surrendering to? Because he always had the cross in mind. Habakkuk tells me that God had the cross in mind while he was talking to Habakkuk about a very big struggle that Habakkuk and God's people were walking through, that God still had the cross in mind. Church, I Should encourage us today to know that because God had the cross in mind, he had our relationships with him in mind. Your relationship, your relationship. Even people in the balcony who are sitting in the back. God even had you in mind. All right. God had the whole town of Longview in his mind. He had everybody's watching online this morning in his mind. God had the cross in mind because he had all of us on his mind. Even he was talking to Habakkuk, which tells me he's worth surrendering to because he was willing to die so we could be brought back to him. God is so good, Church. He is so worth surrendering to. And it's not because of who we are, but because of who he is. This morning, what do you need to surrender over to God? What do you need to fully hand over to him? Let me pray for you. God, we thank you so much for this morning and for this time that we have to just study your word. We thank you for how you move through worship and through giving and through a message. And so I pray that we won't just shut you off right now, but continue to lean into what you're trying to do. God, we thank you for being so good to us. In Jesus Christ's name, Amen. Amen.
7
00:33:27.000 --> 00:35:32.000
Can we give it up for Pastor Kyle? Thank you for that word. One thing we never want to do is miss an opportunity to give you a chance to respond. So I'm going to ask you to close your eyes, bow your heads again, and maybe you're sitting here thinking like, I, I heard surrender, but I don't really know how or I, I, I know that I hear about a relationship with Jesus and that's what I need to focus on. But I, I haven't let go yet. And so if that's you, I'm going to encourage you to pray this prayer. Just repeat after me. Church, all of us, let's say it together. Jesus, I believe your Son of God that you died and rose for my sins. Come into my heart. Lead me. Thank you for saving me in Jesus name. With every head bowed, every eye closed, if you prayed that prayer, will you raise your hand? We're not going to call you out. We're not going to do anything. If we see it, just raise your hand. Let me see it. Thank you, Lord. If you look up, if that was you, if you raise your hand, there's a message that you can text, text. I prayed to 844-HRCTXT. We're not going to give out your information. We won't make it weird. We won't be overloading you, but we want to tell you about that step you took and what comes next. We want to encourage you with that church. I'm going to have you stand up, going to pray for you. I'm going to call the elders and their spouses up, too. If you guys need prayer, please come up here. This is part of the surrender that I struggled with for so long, was coming up and getting prayer. But I'm going to let you guys know this is where you want to come. If you're carrying something, they pray for you, they care about you. They carry the weight of this church. So I'm going to pray real quick and then dismiss you. Lord, we thank you for today. We thank you for the message. We thank you for what you're doing. Lord, we ask that we surrender not just today, but this week, that we trust you in Jesus name. And everybody said amen. You're dismissed.
8
00:35:32.000 --> 00:36:13.000
Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv or you can check out our website@highridgelv.com lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.
1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:21.000
You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help, you know, God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. Let's listen in.
2
00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:31.000
All right. Good morning, church. Y' all doing good this morning, man? Worship was good, wasn't it? Oh, so good. Well, hey, I'm so glad to be here with y'.
3
00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:32.000
All.
4
00:00:31.000 --> 00:15:14.000
As Pastor Tim just mentioned, my name is Kyle Fisher. I'm one of the pastors over at High Ridge, High Ridge, and Graham, so. So part of the High Ridge family. And I'll say I've been really excited to come over here to Longview. I don't know if y' all consider us Cousin Eddie's over in Graham or we should consider y' all Cousin Eddie's. I'm not really sure, but either way, we're all part of the family, right? So I've been looking forward to come here and to be with y' all and. And I'll share with y' all this, like, my heart excitement about being here is that about two years ago, when I started working at High Ridge, Graham, my wife and I, we're not from around Texas at all. And so I got to meet Pastor Tim for the first time, man. He told me about 10 jokes in 30 seconds was first thing. And then. And then after that, I gotta hear his heart for the Lord, and I gotta hear his heart for the church, but not just the church, but also Longview, like, the community as a whole. I thought, man, this guy is awesome. Like, he's a guy that's, like, worth following. He's a guy that's doing a great job of making church what it's all meant to be about. Jesus and one another and reaching the lost, right? And so as soon as he texted me a couple months ago about coming up here to speak, I immediately told him, yes, I would love to, because it really is an honor for me to be able to be here and to see Longview, but also to be able to be with this incredible church family. So thank you all for having us. I also, before I do any, I want to guest preach anytime. Before I do any messages, I do like to introduce everybody to my family. So I have a picture up here I would like to show y'. All. This is. Everybody say, aw, right? Even those who are watching online. You can type in awe in the comments. All right. So this is my wife Ellen. Ellen's actually down here in the front row for the service. We've been married for 11 years this month. Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. We've been happy for three of them, but we're making it work. And then. I was kidding. I didn't run that joke by her before I decided to tell it. Then we have Sutton, who's in the pink shirt. She's seven. She's our oldest. And then our youngest is Leighton. She's four. She's actually Leighton's in the kids area. Sutton's able to join us this morning. And so always love being. Being able to have my family here with me. And so after church today, if you guys happen to see me, my wife, or girls in the lobby, like, please come say hi. My wife and I will say hi back. My girls kind of wild cards. But just know that we are happy to see you guys. Okay. I would love to go to God, a word of prayer, and then I'm just gonna just dive into the message for today. God, we thank you so much for loving us like you do. We thank you for giving us sound mind. We thank you for the blood of Christ. We thank you for being greater than anything else on this earth, for being alive and active today. And so I pray as we study your Word, that how alive you are and how active you are will just come alive in this message, God, in your word, and it will truly change the way that we live, that feel that we think so that we can live lives according to you and your truth. God, I pray you get all of us out of the way, move our hearts, our minds and souls out of the way and just do what only you can do. In Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Well, hey, church with us. Being a family of churches at High Ridge, I thought for this message, I could invite you all in to what we are doing this summer over at High Ridge Graham. Over at High Ridge Graham, we are doing this series called Uncommon, with the little tagline of uncommon books with common problems. And the whole idea behind this series is that we are diving into uncommon books in the Old Testament, ones that are sometimes overlooked or not looked at as much. And we're gonna see that even in these uncommon books, God's word speaks a lot into the problems and things that we encounter today. And that because God was alive and active and speaking into those issues thousands of years ago, or for some of them, that he's still alive and active and speaking to the same problems and issues that we even face today. And so if you guys want to go ahead and turn to the book of Habakkuk, this morning, we're going to be diving into the uncommon book of Habakkuk, one that's often overlooked in the Old Testament. So if you have your Bible flip over there, the High Ridge app, go ahead and flip over to Habakkuk, because we're going to be in Habakkuk chapter one. We're going to read the whole thing here in a moment. Now, because Habakkuk is an uncommon book, one of the things I wanted to make sure to be clear with y' all is just some background context things. Okay? One is Habakkuk is considered one of the 12 minor prophets in the Old Testament. You got 12 minor prophets and you also have five major prophets. All right? The major prophets being those bigger books like Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Okay. Then you got the smaller prophets, minor prophets like Habakkuk, Something that's important to understand. Habakkuk is not considered a minor prophet because he's like some intern for the major prophets. Okay. The minor prophets are simply called the minor prophets because their books are smaller. That's it. Right? So while the message in there may be in a book that's smaller, it is not any less significant than what you would read in the major prophets. Now, as we go through Habakkuk 1, one of the other things you're going to notice is that it's almost written like a journal entry between Habakkuk and God. And it's you. You'll see this back and forth conversation, and it's like. It's like God and Habakkuk are allowing us to step in and read just this personal interaction that Habakkuk is journaling and having with God. And what's really cool about it is hopefully that all of us can see is that the way Habakkuk interacts with God is how God wants us to interact with him as well. Like there meant to be a conversational relationship here. Okay. Not just a be quiet kind of thing, which I'll get into here in a few minutes. Getting ahead of myself. All right. Already preached one service, so I'm a little antsy and excited to get going with this one. All right. And so we're going to read it. It's going to be like a journal. Then the third thing, it kind of gives us some history context. And I have a picture of a map I want to show y'. All. So during Habakkuk is written in 605 BC. Okay, so this conversation between God and habakkuk is around 605 BC. Now, if you look in the east, you see Babylon. Babylon began to grow as, like, a very powerful empire. And they begin to make their way up, as you can see, through Assyria. And you see Nineveh that might remind you of, you know, Jonah. He cried out or talked to Nineveh about repenting. Well, eventually they end up going back to old ways. Babylon comes up, defeats Assyria, who was the powerhouse of the day. And then Babylon makes their way through Syria. I believe they also fight Egypt. And they're basically showing that they are the new powerhouse in this entire area, that the Babylonian empire is not to be messed with. And so in 605 BC, we know the Babylonian empire has finally made their way to Judah. And they're at Judah's back doorstep. And so as Habakkuk is talking with God, you gotta understand, like, Habakkuk is sitting there and there, him and all God's people, Judah, they're like, man, what's going to happen? Is the Babylonian empire going to come in and completely destroy us and kill us? Are they just going to take us and make us slaves? Are they just going to give us a threat and then they're going to go back home? Like, what is going to happen with us? And so. And so in all of Judah, you have government corruption, kind of like America, you also have. Sorry, did I hit too many? Whatever. Okay, all right, so then you have corruption amongst the people in Judah. You have these people in Judah who are lawless, sinful, like, they don't care about following God anymore. And there's just like, a lot of unsettled, and there's not a lot of rest. And it's like, hey, this common problem that they're dealing with today or that they were dealing with in 605 BC. 2,600 years later, we are still wrestling with the same things. You think about government or the way that people are interacting, or we think about America's culture and how Christianity is kind of fading in a way. And it's just there's all these uncertainties and unsettledness going on. That's what Habakkuk is dealing with here. All right, so as we dive into Habakkuk chapter one, I want us to understand that this is like a journal entry that we're reading between him and God. But it's also because there are so many hard things happening in the midst of their Lives currently. Does that make sense? Y' all with me? Okay. All right. I'm going to take a drink here, and then we are going to read through all of chapter one. I'm going to stop at certain points, but just. Just prepare yourself. We're going to read 17 verses here. Habakkuk, chapter one, verse one starts off with. This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision. How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen. Violence is everywhere. I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I'm surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous. So that justice has come has become perverted. Hey. These first four verses, Habakkuk's crying out to God. It's very clear. He's like, God, like, what are you doing? Why are you not stepping in here? Why does it seem like nothing's happening? Like, you're not around, you're not moving, you're not working. Why are you allowing this evil? What is. What is happening? Have we all not been there before? Right the moment she's crying out to God. Verse 5, then it picks up with the Lord's response. It says, the Lord replied, look around at the nations. Look and be amazed, for I'm doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it. Highlight that, underline it, asterisk by it. Like, we're gonna come back to that. That is a extremely important verse, like in the entire all of scripture. Okay, then God continues to say, I'm raising up the Babylonians, a cruel and violent people. They will march across the world and conquer other lands. They are notorious for their cruelty and do whatever they like. Their horses are swifter than cheetahs and fiercer than wolves. At dusk, the charioteers charge from far away. Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey. On they come, all bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind, sweeping captives ahead of them like sand. They scoff at kings and princesses and scorn all their fortresses. They simply pile ramps of earth against their walls and capture them. They sweep past like the wind and are gone. But they are deeply guilty, for their own strength is their God here. God's response to Habakkuk is, hey, I'm actually. It may seem crazy here. But I'm actually using the Babylonian empire to fulfill some plans and purposes that you wouldn't even get yet. And then God goes on to explain to Habakkuk, who the bab, who the Babylonian people are. God's helping Habakkuk see, like, hey, I see the kind of people they are. Like, their time is coming. But I have a plan. I have a plan that I'm using them for. For something, a purpose you can't even fathom yet. So then in verse 12, Habakkuk responds back to God, Oh, Lord, my God, my holy one, you who are eternal. Surely you do not plan to wipe us out, O Lord, our rock. You have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish us for our many sins. But you are pure and cannot stand the side of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they? Are we only fish to be caught and killed? Are we only sea creatures that have no leader? Must we be strung up on their hooks and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate? Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in front of them. These nets are the gods who have made us rich, they will claim. Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquest? Chapter one ends right there. If you continue reading chapter two, the conversation keeps going. But at the end of chapter one that we are considering this morning, you see that Habakkuk is wrestling with God here. He's coming to God. God. I don't understand what's going on. And God's like, here's, like, part of my response. And then Habakkuk's like, yeah, but I still don't get it. Like, why are you allowing this? I understand we're getting punished, but like, God, come on. Like, there has to be something else going on here. This doesn't seem to make any sense in the way that I can comprehend and understand the way things are in life. And it doesn't make sense that you would act this way. And Habakkuk is just struggling with God. If you go back and look through, out of those 17 verses in chapter one, Habakkuk is talking in 10 of them. And in the midst of those 10 verses, we see Habakkuk ask God 11 different questions. Have any of us ever been there before with God? You're struggling. You're wrestling with God. You have these questions and things going on around you. You don't understand. Things happen to you. Personally, maybe things happen to family members, maybe it comes to sickness, death, heartache, job stuff, financial things, marriage, kids. Like there's things happening. You're just like God, why? And maybe you know God's truth like Habakkuk did, but you're still like God. I don't, still don't understand why. Something that we need to understand here this morning that's gonna play into everything else we're gonna talk about is simply this. And I'm gonna put it on the screen for you guys so you guys can write it down, is that God's ways can be difficult to understand. God's ways can be difficult to understand. And that's the reality as believers. We need to understand that is that because God is sovereign, that he is all places at all times, all knowing, right? He is powerful, but he's all powerful. Everything about him. Like we cannot fully gather what God is doing. At times it's like he's playing three level chess and we haven't even sat down at the checker table yet, right? And so there will be moments in life where we have to wrestle with God, I don't understand what you're doing. And we sometimes will try to run into like trying to figure it out and try to think that we know what's best and do our own thing. And so Habakkuk is facing the same thing we are, where he is dealing with something like God, I don't understand why you're doing what you're doing. But Habakkuk, it will ultimately come to a place that we all have to choose to come to. While we may not have the job to figure out everything as God is doing, we do have a job as Christians every single day. And that job is to surrender. Surrender. Habakkuk has to wrestle with that. We have to wrestle with that. Coming to these moments in life where we say, God, I don't understand what you're doing. God, I don't necessarily agree with what you're doing, but I'm not God, I don't know best. And so I have to surrender. Think about surrender. Church surrender reflects trust, does it not? We say that we may put our give our life to Jesus. We put our trust in him as our Lord and Savior. But does your surrender in your day to day life actually reflect the life that trusts in God? Or does your surrender show that you reflect trusting in yourself? Now, because the word surrender can often be a Christianese word that people say, you know, sometimes on platform and Bible study and scripture that we can Sometimes just mess up our view of really what surrender is meant to all be about. And so we could, this morning, just take a few minutes here. I wanted to clarify some things about surrender just to help us as believers make sure we're living this out. Okay, so the first thing I wanna say about surrender is this, is that surrender and questions can coexist. Surrender and questions can coexist. Thank you for saying it was good. I didn't come up with it, but thank you.
5
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:15.000
Yeah.
6
00:15:15.000 --> 00:33:27.000
Okay. So surrender and questions can coexist. Hear me out. Look at Habakkuk, 10 verses, 11 questions. He is coming at God with all these questions and all these uncertainties, but he still ultimately chooses surrender. And so I think what we can learn from Habakkuk and even David in the Psalms, even Job, in the first part of him talking with God, there is this question dynamic that God allows between us and Him. Surrender doesn't mean that we have to sit down and shut up. Surrender means that in the midst of our questions, we continue to follow after what he's calling us to do. Right? So don't think that surrender means. You just have to be quiet, man. If you have doubts, questions, frustrations, come to God with them. And here's one thing I really believe is true, is that God allows us to come to him with questions because of the relationship dynamic that he wants between us and Him. Think about your marriage. There's questions in the midst of it, right? Your kids, you ask them questions. Your friendships. There's questions in any relationship you have. Sometimes serious questions, sometimes easy questions, sometimes silly questions, but there's still questions there. Why? Because of the relationship. I think God allows us to ask him questions in the midst of surrender because he desires for that relationship with us. He wants us to be close to him because as we surrender with our questions, God's Word will speak things into you. And he will speak through His Word into you. And then if you happen to have the Bible handy, the Holy Spirit is right there inside of you to speak to you, remind you of some truth in scripture as well. And God will encourage your heart if you come to him with questions and listen to the responses. A story that I shared with the first service. I didn't initially plan on sharing this, but I don't know. I just want to share with you. Just me being honest with my struggle with surrender and asking God questions. Because a few years ago, before we came to Graham, Ellen and I were in our family. We were at a sermon at a church, and things were honestly kind. Of just difficult and not going how I envisioned it. And our family had to move states and it was just a whole bunch of stuff going on. And I remember there was daily I was, I was coming to the church office and just wrestling with God. Like, why did you do this? Like, what's going on? Like, what's the point of, what's the point of everything here? Like, did you just dragging my family around? Like, what are you doing? Right. Just being honest. Just real hard questions. Like, I was struggling with God and there was one morning where I got to the church before anybody else did and I was sitting in my office and I was having one of those wrestling with God moments asking questions. And I remember thinking to myself, gosh, if I don't want somebody to walk in here and interrupt me right now. Cause I just mentally am not, I can't engage with people right now. And I'm just. Me and God are just at odds, it feels like. And so actually I got up from my office and I walked across the church lobby and I went to the farthest bathroom that I could find. And I remember I opened up the stall and I turned around and locked it and I leaned against the wall and there in the bathroom stall, I just sank to the floor and just started crying, like sobbing, crying. I was like, God, I just don't, I don't get you right now. I don't understand. And I was just wrestling with those questions and the real emotion that comes with it and just struggling with God, like, Gotta Surrender to youo. But I'm really struggling with these questions and you'd right now. And one thing I learned though, I remember from that moment is that once the tears calmed down, the emotions calmed down, I took a deep breath, I opened this stall door and I walked back to my office. Because I knew that regardless if I was struggling with surrender and asking God questions, I knew what he wanted me to do that day though. And that was to be faithful to him and the way that I loved him and the way I loved the people around me. And so one thing that I think I learned through that whole situation and season was that even in the midst of struggling with surrender and asking questions, man, a lot of times we don't have to get our questions answered in order to then surrender. It's like in the midst of the questions, just dust yourself off at times, go and live your day to day life. Because regardless of what you're struggling with, you can still go love people and love God in the way that you live your life. The way you interact with your coworkers, your family, your friends, so you don't have to wait till the questions are done before you surrender. You can surrender in the midst of that as well. A second thing I wanted to share with you, all about surrender is that surrender and control cannot coexist. Surrender and control cannot coexist. So while surrender and questions can, when it comes to control, it cannot exist here. When I was thinking about this in a way to try to articulate it, I actually thought about how at the end of the day, I'll go sit in my recliner and I'll prop my feet up and I'll grab the TV remote. And when I have that remote, I'm in control of the tv, right? As long as my wife and kids let me. Right? Right. Like, I tell them when we can watch Bluey sometimes. But when I have that remote control in my hand and I'm watching it, man, I can flip through whatever TV stations I want to flip through. I can fast forward, I can rewind, I can pause, I can mute. I can turn it up, I can turn it down. When I hold that controller, I can. I am in control. And I thought, man, how often as believers do we hold onto a spiritual remote to try to control things in our life that God wants us to drop and let go of? Like, think about. Like think about the seasons in life that. That we try to fast forward and hurry up and get through when God's like, no, no, no. Surrender to me into this because I'm trying to grow you right now. You're not going to grow in the way you need to grow. If you hurry up and rush past this, this season of life, like those seasons where maybe marriage is hard, friendships are hard, the job is hard. It can be easy to want to dip out and say, I'm out of here and want to do your own thing. And I really think in those moments that God is trying to say, hey, let go of control. Like, let me handle this. I just need you to grow right now. Right? Or there's moments where we try to hold on to that control or. And instead of listening to God's voice and surrender him, we mute him. We turn him off. I'm not going to listen to what you tell me because right now, because I know you're gonna tell me things I don't wanna hear and I don't wanna surrender. So we try to mute the voice of God or think about the volume. Like, we put ourselves around people sometimes when we struggle with surrender and control we put ourselves around people who tell us things we wanna hear. So we turn the volume up of the people in our life that we tell us things we wanna hear so that we can drown out the voice of God telling us to surrender and be obedient to the things that we don't like. When it comes to surrender church, we cannot say that we are fully surrendered to God while we still hold on to anything, any our life. And so today I want to just encourage and challenge you to think about what control are you holding on to that God is telling you, let go of. Let God work in you, let God move in you. And while it really. Honestly, guys, it really is so hard and it sucks to surrender even and like, let go of control. But I will tell you, like, more growth will happen if you let go of control. More life change will happen if you let go of control. Let God do his thing. The third thing is this. Surrender when it's painful. Surrender when it's painful. And honestly, I got this from Habakkuk. Think about him having to choose surrender when it's painful. He's like, is the Babylonian army coming? Are they gonna destroy us? And ultimately they end up doing that. And Habakkuk has to still surrender to God even in the midst of pain. I then thought about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane the night that he was arrested, right? The night he was put on trial. Betrayed the night before. Whenever he was hung up on the cross the very next day, Jesus knew all the pain, all time, the. All the torment, all the betrayal, all the spiritual sin and shame that he's about to carry for all of us. And so that last, that night, before he's arrested, Jesus is praying in the garden of Gethsemane asking God if there's any other way that you can make this happen. Like, let it be. But ultimately, God, let your will be done. I thought about Jesus, our Savior, our Lord and Savior, God in flesh with us. Like he surrendered to the Father even when it was painful. So why do we think that we should do otherwise? We are not called to surrender when it's convenient or comfortable or easy. We're called to surrender even when it's painful. Even when it's painful. When you get the diagnosis from the doctor, I mean, I just did, okay, I just did a funeral on Friday for a lady who passed away, and she was only 48. And I did not know her personally, but some of her family goes to our church. They asked me if I could do the funeral. And as I Sat down with the family to kind of learn some more about her. What I found out was that when she was a child, she was diagnosed with leukemia. And she wasn't completely cleared until I think she was, like, 19. And then when she was at the age of 40, she was put on kidney dialysis, and she had to have a kidney transplant. It was on the list. In the midst of that, she was growing a tumor in her shoulder. Guys, this woman was going through it, man, almost her entire life. It wasn't just like a season. And when I sat down with her family and I talked to them, I was like, hey, can you share me some things about Mandy? And you know what? Some of the first things they shared with me was how she led so many people to Jesus, how they told me that she would want to make sure that I shared the gospel at this funeral service, that she loved the Lord. It was like this woman who went through so much pain all throughout her entire life. Her life, though, when her family looked at her life, all they saw was Jesus. That doesn't happen without surrender, even when it's painful and difficult and hard. And even when it comes to surrendering when it's painful. I wanted to be able to share with you guys just a word of encouragement that God really just kind of really showed me. Like, not even two months ago, I think it was. I have this picture I wanna show you guys of. Okay, so. Okay, so take a look at this picture. And I'm not from Texas, all right? Especially not West Texas. So I've seen cactuses, but I've never seen a flower grow on top of a cactus. Have y' all seen this before? Of course y' all have, right? Like, I'm the idiot in the room. Okay. Okay, so. But when I. When I was on this ranch and they were showing us, like, around, and I saw that, I was like, hey, can y', all, like, stop real quick? And I went over and I took a picture of it. Cause that was just mind blowing to me. I'm like, cactuses are always ugly, and they just are hurt. You know, they cause pain. But how is there such, like, a beautiful flower growing on top of it? And I just. I was mesmerized by it, right? And as. And as I was sitting there just looking at the picture and they were riding around in the golf cart, this thought came to my mind. There's beauty in pain. And I know you should probably lean into a dramatic moment right now, but I wanna tell you, my first thought was, kyle, that is the Cheesiest line that you have ever thought of in your life. There's beauty and pain. Like, what does that even mean? That sounds like something would get tattooed or put on Instagram to inspire people, right? So I was just. I was. Honestly, I was sat there, I was like, there's beauty and pain. Like, what does that even mean? Like, okay, there's a beautiful flower with the painful cactus, but, God, is there something here that I'm missing? And as I was wrestling with that, I really feel. I feel like the Holy Spirit put some in my heart. I want you guys to hear this. There is beauty in pain because there isn't anything that I can't redeem or restore. And I want you guys to hear that again. As I was thinking about how there's beauty and pain, this is what I really feel like the Spirit put on me. There is beauty and pain because there isn't anything that I can't redeem or restore. And one of the things God opened my heart and reminded me of, whenever we surrender to him, even in the painful moments, he can take that painful moment that we surrender to Him. He could turn it into a beautiful testimony that can show off his greatness and glory that will not only draw you closer to him, but it'll help draw people closer to him, which is why we. What we are called to do in this life. Amen. So, Church, there is beauty in pain, and it's not because we have the strength and we can strap on our belt and go run through hell on our own. No, no. There's beauty and pain because when we surrender the pain to the Lord, he can redeem and restore the brokenness in your marriage. When you surrender the painful things with your kids, he can redeem and restore that. When you surrender the painful things with your work, your walk with Christ, Church, whatever it might be, when you surrender those painful things over to him, he can come in and bring redemption and restoration in ways you never could on your own. If you're in this room right now, I'm telling you, if you have been wrestling with addiction for years, I'm telling you, if you're watching online, hear me out right now. If you will surrender that painful addiction to the Lord, he can redeem and restore it in only the way that he can. So hear me out, Church. We surrender even when it's painful. Not because we're just supposed to as Christians, but because of what God wants to do through that pain and how he wants to bring beauty from ashes and all these things that go with it. Church as. As we kind of close out talking about the surrender piece here, there's one thing I want to hit on real quickly, and that is that surrender is a daily choice. Okay? Surrender is a daily choice. Don't. Hey, listen, don't just live a life of Sunday surrender. Want to surrender here today. Surrender things over the Lord. That is awesome. But guess what? You got to wake up tomorrow and live tomorrow. Surrendered as well. Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. You can't take up the cross unless you surrender to him. Once you surrender to him daily, you can take up the cross daily, which helps you follow him daily so you can live the Christian life that we are all called to live. Surrender, surrender and questions can coexist. Surrender and control cannot coexist. Surrender even when it's painful. Surrender is a daily choice. Will you surrender things over to the Lord? Now, as I was thinking about this message and I was studying Habakkuk and thinking about surrender, a question did come to my mind that I wanted to just throw out there to y', all, and it's a question that's I'll put on the screen, if we could, is, why is God worth surrendering to? And why? I mean, just because Kyle said so, and he was the one preaching that Sunday. So I guess we got to. You know, it's like, why? Why is God worth even surrendering to? And there was something I realized in the book of Habakkuk that helped answer this question for me personally, and I wanted to see if it maybe help encourage you as well, because I want to put Habakkuk, chapter one, verse five, back up on the screen. It says that the Lord replied, look around at the nations. Look and be amazed. For I'm doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it in the context of this. Remember, God is talking to Habakkuk about him using the Babylonian army to fulfill big plans and purposes. Okay? This is in 605 BC. And what I want us to understand here is that God's greatness is that he can speak into Habakkuk in the moment, but his words can also be something that he's going to fulfill hundreds of years later. That's what's so cool about God's word being alive and active like Habakkuk. Yeah. This is written 2600 years ago, and God was speaking into Habakkuk, but what he was speaking into Habakkuk 2,600 years ago. He was actually going to bring to more so fulfillment 600 years later so that now we can then, for the past couple thousand years, experience the fullness of what he was talking about in Habakkuk 1 5. And if I'm sounding confusing, bear with me. I want you guys to look up on the screen. I have Acts, chapter 13. Paul says, Brothers, listen. We are here to proclaim that through this man, Jesus. Everybody say Jesus, there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God's sight. Something the law of Moses could never do. Be careful. Don't let the prophet's words apply to you. For they said, look, you mockers, be amazed and die. For I'm doing something in your own day. Something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you that about it. Paul is referencing Habakkuk 1:5 here. You know what this tells me? That while God was talking Habakkuk about the Babylonian army, he was also referencing the fact that in 600 years, he was going to come to this earth born of a virgin, be fully God, fully man, live a perfect, sinless life where he was then going to go and die on a cross, taking the sin and shame of the entire world on his shoulders so that once he finally died, our relationship with God can finally be restored and redeemed and made right again. But God's like, hey, he's not done yet. Okay? He's gonna then three days later, rise from the grave to show everybody that there is absolutely nothing that is greater than him. Death itself couldn't even stop him. That every other prophet has ever been alive is now dead in the grave. But Jesus Christ is more than that. He is God in flesh because he rose from the dead and is alive and active in our lives today. If God would have told Habakkuk that, Habakkuk would have laughed like, whatever, God, like, that's what, 600 years from now? Are you gonna do what? No way. But we see, According to Acts 13, Jesus Christ Himself is the full fulfillment of Habakkuk 1:5. Now, what does this have to do with surrendering? Kyle, come on, get to it. You're running out of time. All right, so here's my plea. Why is God worth surrendering to? Because he always had the cross in mind. Habakkuk tells me that God had the cross in mind while he was talking to Habakkuk about a very big struggle that Habakkuk and God's people were walking through, that God still had the cross in mind. Church, I Should encourage us today to know that because God had the cross in mind, he had our relationships with him in mind. Your relationship, your relationship. Even people in the balcony who are sitting in the back. God even had you in mind. All right. God had the whole town of Longview in his mind. He had everybody's watching online this morning in his mind. God had the cross in mind because he had all of us on his mind. Even he was talking to Habakkuk, which tells me he's worth surrendering to because he was willing to die so we could be brought back to him. God is so good, Church. He is so worth surrendering to. And it's not because of who we are, but because of who he is. This morning, what do you need to surrender over to God? What do you need to fully hand over to him? Let me pray for you. God, we thank you so much for this morning and for this time that we have to just study your word. We thank you for how you move through worship and through giving and through a message. And so I pray that we won't just shut you off right now, but continue to lean into what you're trying to do. God, we thank you for being so good to us. In Jesus Christ's name, Amen. Amen.
7
00:33:27.000 --> 00:35:32.000
Can we give it up for Pastor Kyle? Thank you for that word. One thing we never want to do is miss an opportunity to give you a chance to respond. So I'm going to ask you to close your eyes, bow your heads again, and maybe you're sitting here thinking like, I, I heard surrender, but I don't really know how or I, I, I know that I hear about a relationship with Jesus and that's what I need to focus on. But I, I haven't let go yet. And so if that's you, I'm going to encourage you to pray this prayer. Just repeat after me. Church, all of us, let's say it together. Jesus, I believe your Son of God that you died and rose for my sins. Come into my heart. Lead me. Thank you for saving me in Jesus name. With every head bowed, every eye closed, if you prayed that prayer, will you raise your hand? We're not going to call you out. We're not going to do anything. If we see it, just raise your hand. Let me see it. Thank you, Lord. If you look up, if that was you, if you raise your hand, there's a message that you can text, text. I prayed to 844-HRCTXT. We're not going to give out your information. We won't make it weird. We won't be overloading you, but we want to tell you about that step you took and what comes next. We want to encourage you with that church. I'm going to have you stand up, going to pray for you. I'm going to call the elders and their spouses up, too. If you guys need prayer, please come up here. This is part of the surrender that I struggled with for so long, was coming up and getting prayer. But I'm going to let you guys know this is where you want to come. If you're carrying something, they pray for you, they care about you. They carry the weight of this church. So I'm going to pray real quick and then dismiss you. Lord, we thank you for today. We thank you for the message. We thank you for what you're doing. Lord, we ask that we surrender not just today, but this week, that we trust you in Jesus name. And everybody said amen. You're dismissed.
8
00:35:32.000 --> 00:36:13.000
Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv or you can check out our website@highridgelv.com lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.
