Trusting God In Difficult Times: Confident Positioning | Rev. Elisha Satvinder

October 27, 2024

Summary And Key Points

Ps. Elisha’s sermon explores the book of Habakkuk, emphasizing its relevance to current times marked by uncertainty. As 2025 approaches, Ps. Elisha reminds the congregation of God’s sovereignty and justice amid hardship. Habakkuk’s dialogue with God serves as a model for navigating difficult questions about suffering and injustice, encouraging trust in God’s ultimate plan. While God’s justice may seem delayed, Ps. Elisha underscores that it is never absent and calls the congregation to trust God’s greater timing. He outlines five main themes from Habakkuk, each offering critical insight for enduring challenging times:

Problem of Evil: Habakkuk’s questioning reflects a common struggle today, and God’s response is a reminder to trust His ultimate justice.
Divine Sovereignty: God’s authority over creation allows Him to use nations and events, even chaotic ones, to fulfill His purposes.
Faith in God’s Timing: God’s timing is perfect, even if it feels delayed; His purposes unfold beyond human understanding.
Judgment and Mercy: Habakkuk’s prayer reveals that God is both just and merciful, balancing judgment with compassion.
Joy in Suffering: True joy comes from a relationship with God, not material security, as seen in Habakkuk’s joyful trust amid suffering.

Ps. Elisha emphasizes the need for a “confident positioning” of trust and vigilance, likening it to Habakkuk’s stance on the watchtower. This posture, he explains, requires engaging deeply with God in prayer, not merely asking for blessings but building a covenant relationship with Him. Prayer is about commitment and interceding for others, often involving patience and loneliness. It’s a means to grow closer to God, understand His perspective, and develop patience. Lastly, Ps. Elisha highlights the importance of stillness and perseverance in prayer, pointing out that spiritual growth requires quiet, focused time with God. In a noisy world, cultivating inner stillness is essential for hearing God’s voice. Watching and waiting on God’s timing builds resilience, shapes perspective, and allows openness to correction. He concludes by encouraging the congregation to prioritize spiritual disciplines, reminding them that true joy, strength, and hope lie in a deep relationship with God, not in worldly achievements or security.

Show Transcript

Good morning, everyone. Morning, morning. Good to see you all. I continue in this series, Trusting God in Difficult Times. I have parked all of us in the book of Habakkuk. It’s called a Minor Prophet, and it’s just three chapters. But, you know, God’s word is amazing. It gives us every facet of life. It helps us see things better with a greater perspective.

When we read the Bible, we always also remember to look at what was done historically, what was happening historically. So, when we read into the book of Habakkuk and we see what was happening then, actually, it’s a mirror of our society today. It’s actually a mirror of our society today. And how Habakkuk engages God is also a mirror of our heart and our conversations with God. It’s a reality.

So, we can learn a lot from this book and, of course, the scripture. But here we are at this time because we are bringing a close to the year, thinking of 2025 with all the shifts that are taking place, all the various things that happen politically, economically, socially—whatever it may be—we have to be prepared.

Why?

The underlying truth is this: The Lord is returning, and we need to be prepared.

Something that the warning comes through scripture all the time: Stay alert. Stay awake.

So, I want to just briefly kind of—because next week I want to kind of wrap up this book, so I will go to the last three verses of this chapter three of this book next week. But I want to give you an overview of this book and how it relates so significantly to all of us.

And I want you to think of the whole idea of the posture that we are called to have—a confident positioning, a posture.

So, if you’ve been here and you’re listening to the last few weeks, Habakkuk takes the place on a rampart or a watchtower on the walls of the city. He’s watching out, and he says, “I’m taking that symbolism because I’m looking out. I want to understand what God is doing. I want to understand what life is all about, especially when God seems to be silent.”

The five themes of Habakkuk are these:

The first, of course, is the problem of evil and God’s justice.

So, in this book, we see the prophet wrestling in a conversation with God in prayer. He’s wrestling. Wrestling with what?

The problem of evil.

How many of us wrestle in our hearts, in conversation, in thoughts, with the problem of the evil we see around us?

We do, isn’t it?

And Habakkuk actually asks God, “Why am I seeing all this?”

So, he’s asking God, “Why do you allow wickedness to persist? Why are you delaying injustice? Why are things not happening the way you said they would? How can you, a good God, a God of justice—how can you allow this evil to take place? How can you allow suffering to take place, God?”

And God’s response to him, if you remember—I kind of framed it—if you remember God’s response to Habakkuk, it’s amazing. He says this: My justice, and this is something we all learn, God’s justice is often delayed because God works on His time, not ours.

Okay? So, His justice is delayed but never absent. Never absent.

We must understand this clearly, yeah?

So, while all of us human beings struggle with the timing of God’s judgment, God’s justice, what are we called to do?

We are all called, ultimately, to trust God’s ultimate justice.

This is why God is returning.

Jesus returns—what does He come to do?

Judge what is right and what is wrong.

So, God’s ultimate justice comes.

Can we trust it?

Can we be confident?

Because many times, our fixation is this little space of time: 50 years, 60 years, 70 years, 90 years—however long. If you’re a Mah, maybe 100 years. However long you live.

But God doesn’t see that perspective. He sees it in eternity.

So, when we see God’s perspective, then things change.

So, Habakkuk deals with the problem of evil and justice.

But the truth is this: We must be able to see God’s ultimate justice taking place and put our confidence in it.

The second thing we see is God’s divine sovereignty.

The word sovereignty may sound a bit difficult for some of us, but it’s simple.

It’s God’s right to exercise judgment and His power over His creation because He’s God.

But that’s hard for us.

But sometimes, as people who have a position, we say, “Who said so? Because I said so.”

Have you heard that before?

“Because I said so.”

You know, “So, I said it, it’s final.”

So, we want to be little sovereigns, yeah?

So, when we understand, when we look at this book again—and throughout scripture—God’s sovereignty, His divine sovereignty.

So, Habakkuk has his conversation with God, and he actually deals with this whole idea of God’s divine sovereignty.

He’s struggling. He’s grappling with it. He’s wrestling with it.

Can we have the confidence and step back and see that God is in control of nations?

But when we look at the chaos, it’s quite hard, isn’t it?

God is in charge of the nations.

God is in charge of history.

God is in charge of events.

So, even when they appear chaotic from our perspective, He can use them.

When we read in chapter one—I gave that in our introduction three weeks ago, four weeks ago—when Habakkuk cries out to God in his first prayer, God says, “You haven’t seen anything yet. I’m sending the Babylonians to give you a good spanking because, you know My word, you know My truth, but you constantly sin against Me.”

“God, are You sending the Babylonians to deal with us?”

And that’s something he couldn’t comprehend.

“Why do You use an unjust, unrighteous, ungodly people to come and deal with us?”

So, human perspective—he can’t see it. God says, “I’m going to accomplish My purposes.”

You know, many times we get governments that we support.

Okay, let’s not stop there.

He will bring justice to all people.

So, what is this?

The sovereignty of God provides what?

If you can look at it this way, a framework.

A framework for understanding all the global events that take place today—even our own lives.

But it’s hard because we want our prayers answered the way we want them answered for the reasons we want.

Is that not true, ladies and gentlemen?

We want it that way, many times failing—as we will see later today—failing to see God’s sovereignty, God’s purpose, and God’s perspective.

The third thing we see here in this book is that faith and trust in God’s timing.

We need to have faith and trust in God’s timing.

So, the major theme of this book is actually the whole idea of having faith in God’s purposes, even when it seems to be delayed and hidden.

Chapter 2:3, He says, Though it lingers, though it tarries, though it waits, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not delay.

But we always say, Boss, your time, my time. Can you look at my time or not?

We want things to be done our way.

This passage reminds us of what?

That God’s timing is perfect.

Now, we can say that, but can we engage it, be peaceful about it, and have faith that God’s timing is everything?

How many like you—not, not like you—how many like me struggle with this?

We struggle.

Come on, we struggle with it, right?

This is reality.

But God always says, Come, reason with Me. Come on, wrestle in prayer with Me. Let’s talk.

So, this is one thing here.

We are called to this place of what?

When we see the slowness of God, there is a call to be patient.

Trusting faith that holds on to God’s promise and sees His ultimate deliverance.

The fourth thing we see is judgment and mercy.

Judgment and mercy.

Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter 3 demonstrates two things: judgment and mercy.

Please look here.

We struggle to see judgment and mercy.

We want mercy.

We want blessing.

But we often cannot see God’s dealing.

We can’t see that.

So, his prayer deals with these two things.

Why?

Now, some of you are going to be like, Oh dear me, what is Pastor saying?

And this is what I want to say.

When we look at scripture carefully and understand it and grapple with His truth, God’s judgment is real, and it’s necessary.

Habakkuk pleads for mercy in the midst of it.

So, this echoes the character of God, doesn’t it?

God is just, but He’s merciful.

This theme runs across scripture.

And finally, the fifth theme that we see in this book is the joy in suffering.

We’ll say, Oh, why cannot? How to be happy when problems? Isn’t it?

How? Is God missing something here?

Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?

So, the closing verse, the last verse of chapter 3, of the entire book of Habakkuk, verse 17, actually expresses joy and trust in God.

And we will look at it next week, even in the midst of suffering.

I need to go have some sleeping, okay?

So, even in the midst of suffering and deprivation.

I’m deprived of sleep and coffee right now.

So, I even forgot to bring my glass of water today. That’s how bad it is.

This reflects what?

The biblical theme of this: true joy and peace.

What comes from?

A relationship with God.

If you forget anything else, tattoo this upon your—um—true joy, true peace come from a relationship with God.

It is not material prosperity.

And we all pursue material prosperity.

We want material security.

Is that not true, everyone?

We want. We pursue things.

We want the security of a place, of money, of jobs, of education, of sufficiency, of a home.

Nothing wrong with all of that.

But if that becomes our place of joy, our place of peace, our place of identity, then we actually miss the greater gift, which is God.

We miss the greater gift.

And this book actually very surely brings this truth out to us to understand so that when we go through tribulation, then we can understand the words of Jesus.

And He says, In this world, you will have trouble. But be at peace. You know what? I’m here, and I’m going, and I’m getting everything ready for you.

So, if we don’t understand, if we don’t grapple with these things, we will always be struggling and saying, God, where are You? Where are You?

So, it’s not material prosperity.

It’s not external circumstances.

It’s a faith that goes beyond.

It transcends—what?

Goes beyond what we see in temporary, what is just eternal.

You follow me?

That’s the challenge here.

So, what’s the relevance of this book today?

Just three thoughts, and then I want to get into the real thing that I want to say this morning.

We look at the issues.

2025 is coming.

Why?

You’re very kind, man.

God bless you.

I thought coffee—I mean, don’t go and get coffee for me. Don’t, don’t.

Thank you. Very thoughtful of you.

We look at 2025, but we—you know, I’m writing. I’m sitting down. I’m writing five years. I’m thinking through five years for myself, family, five years.

2030 is a very critical year.

All right, very critical.

We will see Malaysia will be an aged nation.

All—all of you, 8 and above, will be an aged nation.

Things changed.

Things will change.

Shifts will take place.

Okay, AI, all these various things.

So, don’t—I’m getting old. Please don’t be so pathetic.

We must think through a bit more deeply.

We must see what God’s—what God’s asking us to grapple with and to engage.

You know, there’s so many things that are going to be more seamless.

So, we must think through all these things, and that’s where I’m thinking through the themes for next year and saying, how can I better prepare this congregation, even as we grow and mature in God, as we engage other people?

God, You’re returning.

We want to be ready.

Thank you for that underwhelming response.

Amen?

We want to be ready.

So, as we look beyond this—economic downturns, political upheavals—we, we are not stable.

Social unrest.

We look at all this.

Habakkuk’s message speaks to us so clearly.

The Bible speaks to us so clearly.

Global challenges that we face and all this.

They mirror. God has spoken.

They mirror it.

But you know, we want to play.

Those of you know, we always want the good passages that tell me, God blesses me. God heals me. Bless, bless, bless, bless, bless.

I tell you this.

These are the people—let me put a crude term here—they’re going to be caught with their pants down because it’s an unreal world that they are living in.

So, challenges, uncertainty, instability.

So, we see Habakkuk wrestling with God, and he says, God, why are You silent in the face of injustice?

Today, we struggle in many ways to understand God’s plan for our lives, our circumstances, and the world we live in.

And then the second thing is economic forecasts, global economic trends.

Wow, now the Ringgit is doing well, isn’t it?

How long?

I’m not a doomsayer, okay?

But—but, you know, think of it.

Think of it.

This place where there’s instability, inflation, job losses, AI.

My goodness, it brings a sense of insecurity to many, isn’t it?

Yeah, we are thinking, How can we eliminate some places and bring in AI to educate?

We have to move on, and—but it’s real.

And some of the truth that we see is frightening.

It’s frightening, but we have to be prepared.

And God has given us that place of saying, look, I’m warning you ahead of time.

So, economic collapse, agriculture.

He saw it. He speaks about it.

So, he declares faith and trust in God.

That’s chapter 3:17 to 19.

Like I said, I’ll talk about it now next week.

So, these last three verses offer a powerful message to all of us.

What does it say?

Joy and security, peace—all of this—are not found in economic stability, but in God’s sovereignty.

So, when we look at politics, the instability nationwide, including Malaysia, there’s a lot of uncertainty.

Rise and fall of empires.

Today, we look at history.

We read of rise and fall of empires.

Do you realize in the midst of our life we’re living, we are watching the fall of empires around the world?

Do you not realize that?

The British Empire. The American Empire.

Look at it.

They are disintegrating.

They are falling off the scams.

So, we are actually experiencing history.

We are watching this happen unfold before us.

So, how do we handle it?

So, like the Babylonians, in God’s time—and not in God’s time, sorry, in His time—okay, I’ll take water, not coffee. Yeah.

In His time, they thought nobody will destroy them.

And what was the Roman Empire called?

The Holy Roman Empire.

So, if you read Augustine’s book The City of God, he actually says, he actually talks about the city of man and the city of God.

He says our confidence is in the city of man, and we have lost our perspective of the city of God.

He said, because this city will disintegrate, and the city of God is eternal.

Everybody all right?

Okay, so we look at this.

No political power is ultimate.

No matter how arrogant a leader gets and they think they are indispensable, history tells us, Wake up.

God’s sovereignty—you’ve heard this word coming out, this term—God’s sovereignty is over history and assures all of us as believers that He is still in control.

Church, but we must have that confidence.

Even when political systems fail, God is in control.

We see the moral decay in society.

Moral decay, all these things.

Habakkuk lamented.

He said, Your people. Look at this. Look at how they failed in these areas.

So, we have moral crisis taking place in society today.

Injustice.

Violence.

Corruption.

My goodness, corruption seems to be, you know, very, very hip.

It’s like a lifestyle.

And yet Habakkuk laments, and he says, God, Your justice will prevail.

Yeah, and for us, the church today, what does it mean?

We must persevere in faith, trusting God’s justice will prevail in the end.

All right, so this book is what?

Can I have the—

It’s a powerful call to faith in times of crisis.

It’s a powerful call, and it gives us an understanding.

We see Habakkuk’s journey from doubt to trust.

He starts, he’s starting with doubt.

He’s struggling, but it’s a model for all of us to see and to embrace and to understand.

So, as the world faces even greater instability in the days to come, the message of Habakkuk—same thing—just reminds us one thing:

True joy, strength, and hope are found in God alone, not in external circumstances.

Amen?

Not in circumstances, not in external circumstances.

What else?

Joy, strength, hope.

I just confined it to these three, okay?

So, whether it’s economics, political instability, social decay—decay, decay, decay—

And don’t, don’t worry about it. I’ll, I’ll get away today, okay?

I’ll imagine it’s coffee, okay?

What is this?

The call for us is what?

This is not just NCC, dear believer, Church of God.

We must stand firm.

Can we stand firm?

Can we stand firm knowing that God is sovereign?

Will we say God is sovereign, or will we say, God, where are You?

His justice is sure, or will we say, It’s not happening the way I want it. Why? Why is this happening?

His mercy is available to everybody who seeks it.

The last verse, chapter 3:19, he says this:

The Lord God is my strength.

Actually, the word there, The Sovereign God is my strength.

And like I said, we will look at it next week.

The Sovereign God is my strength.

It resonates for us.

So, it calls us to a life of what?

Of faith.

Of hope.

Of joy.

Regardless of what the future holds.

I will deal with this at some other point, but let me ask you a question.

Look at me, dear ones.

Do you know what true joy is?

What is true joy for you?

Because if I just give us—most of us—a blank piece of paper, and I say, What’s true joy?

Mostly, everything on that paper is going to be something that is around.

Something measurable.

It’s not going to be, God is in control.

And then is why I can never find true joy, because joy is attached to something physical.

It’s attached to the wallet or to the credit card.

It’s attached to how I look, who I’m with, where I live, where I eat, where I study, where I work, what I have.

You don’t have money, you’re not happy.

We look for somebody, Do they make me happy?

Is God our true joy?

So, let’s read the Scripture.

We read this last week:

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts.

Remember I gave you the picture?

Those days, the cities had walls around them, thick walls.

The ramparts, or the watchtowers, were where the watchmen who would look out, whether it is who’s coming into the city or who’s going out, whether there was trouble coming, whether the city was going to be attacked.

They had to be alert, not watching TikTok, okay?

I will look to see what He will say to me and what answer I’m going to give to this complaint.

Then the Lord replied:

Write down the revelation.

What is—I’m going to speak to you.

So often we use this for vision casting, huh?

Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.

So, whoever is bringing the message can run with it.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time. It speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay.

Chapter 3:

Lord, I have heard of Your fame. I stand in awe of Your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day.

God, we read in the Scripture, God, and sometimes we have this pathetic—I’m saying this—pathetic, shallow prayer:

Oh God, revive us! Revive us from what?

Revival starts with me.

Can I, can I change?

Make them known. In wrath, remember mercy.

Okay, this is where I want to frame this term: confident positioning.

Number one:

Watching and waiting takes time.

When we think of this word, watching, waiting—thinking of the watchmen, watching—I’m talking about prayer.

I’m talking about engaging with God.

I’m talking about this whole dynamic of keeping ourselves watchful while the Lord is returning.

So, watching and waiting takes time.

Let me ask you a question: What is your view and understanding of prayer?

Pray, ah? No, really.

If I ask you, What is prayer?

Why do you pray?

Because I need something.

Why do I pray?

Because I want something.

Prayer, we say, conversation.

Prayer comes out of a relationship.

But if prayer is always asking, which means God is an ATM machine.

I do not have this place of con—and again, we read, he, he is struggling, he is wrestling with God.

He’s talking to Him.

How I look at prayer will frame how I walk with God.

It will influence my life.

Life.

It will influence how I pray and how I see God working in my life, in my family, in my situation, in my nation, in all of this that I’m around.

See, prayer is not a way to get what we want.

You, hey—cannot! I’ve been taught, ask, ask.

That is a selfish conversation with God.

Prayer is not a way to get what we want; it is the way in which our covenant relationship is expressed.

In watching and waiting—weeks ago, I talked about covenant.

What is covenant?

Covenant is the foundation of our relationship.

And prayer—see, he said, I will wait for it.

Covenant.

When you get married, it’s a covenant.

We have a covenant.

God makes a covenant with us.

We make a covenant with one another.

God is a covenant-maker, a covenant-keeper.

We are covenant-breakers.

Because it determines—it goes through our feeling.

I don’t like it. You know what? Don’t talk to me anymore. See you around. Bye-bye.

We don’t know because it’s based on how I find peace, how I find satisfaction, what I want in life.

Have we ever paused and said, God, what do You want me to do?

It’s always, God, do this for me.

And even revival, God, God, send revival!

Have we ever asked God, What should we do?

Prayer is based on our covenant relationship with God.

If I don’t understand intimacy, I’m a very selfish lover.

I’m a selfish lover.

I’m consumed with myself.

Why hasn’t God answered me?

Look at how many people backslide—even from us, you know why?

God didn’t answer me.

I will say again—I’ve said it many weeks already—grow up.

It’s not about you.

If we say He is God, do we walk like He is God?

Watching and waiting takes time.

Haiya, don’t ask me to look at the prayer 30-day thing. Don’t you know I am busy?

Church, we want God to answer, but we cannot give Him 20 minutes.

I think that’s sad.

I cannot read His Word. Give me shortest verse. Give me the quickest prayer.

Today, look at the families.

Sit on the table; everybody whips out handphones.

Watching takes time.

He said, I will wait for it.

Will that change in us?

Watching and waiting is lonely work.

He said, I will station myself on the rampart, on the watchtower.

He’s alone, standing in the gap for others.

Just church, can we stand in the gap for people?

For a person who is backsliding?

For a non-believer?

Will we stand in the gap?

Will we wait upon God and say to the Lord, Say, God, I’m not going to let You go. I want to see this person encounter You, come back to You.

Don’t worry, God will do what He wants to do.

Haiya, covenant relationship.

He’s sovereign.

But I must engage Him.

Him.

Waiting is lonely work.

Why?

Agonizing.

Can I go back to one here? You missed one here.

Agonizing with God on behalf of others.

How do we look at prayer?

Half of the book of Habakkuk is praying.

He’s engaging God.

How do I?

Or do I sneak into church after worship is over?

Would, would I come and say, We need to stand in the gap. We need to engage God. I need to be there.

Watching and waiting is lonely work.

But remember, it takes time.

It takes effort.

Prayer takes a lot of effort, isn’t it?

And sometimes, I just don’t want to make that effort because I want God—chop chop chop chop—come on, I prayed.

How long do I wait?

We’ll look at the last point, and I’ll talk about this.

Watching and waiting shapes perspective.

What do I mean by that?

Prayer is not mindless.

It is an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual engagement with God.

Do we know God’s Word, or do we only read the parts that we can use in prayer and say, Your Word says…

But what does the other part of the Word say?

So, when we have Bible study, it’s not so that we want to fill up, occupy your time.

It’s to say, Let’s equip ourselves.

Give a reasonable answer, a ready answer when people ask us questions about our faith.

Can we speak?

Can we say why we believe what I believe, how I believe?

But if I always want the shortest service, the quickest Bible study, then my prayer is also very shallow.

My perspective of God is shallow.

My understanding of God is shallow.

And you know what?

My understanding of problems is very narrow because I’m consumed with myself.

So, Habakkuk was overwhelmed with what?

With what surrounded him, the problems around us.

We—excuse me—we are overwhelmed.

But what happens here?

He draws closer to God.

Our prayer time is to cause us to draw closer to God.

But we actually come with a shopping list and say, Answer me.

Attention spans so short.

You see, until I come closer to God, I can never see His perspective and His sovereignty because the further I am, the perspective is mine.

Habakkuk—the whole idea is—he said, I will go on the rampart.

Not that he was going to climb up the wall.

He says, I’m going to take that position.

Why?

If I’m down on the ground, I can never see from up.

I always see from the bottom, and from the bottom, I’m just seeing the wall—the problem.

But when I climb up in prayer, I can have a perspective of heaven and say, Okay, I’m beginning to understand it, God.

Job—all the complaints, you know, and his three miserable friends that came and rebuked him.

And he says, I’ve heard. Now I’ve seen. And now I understand.

But why?

I’m down on the ground, and I do not want to make that effort.

Always remember: Watching takes time.

Time.

Engagement with God.

It’s based on covenant.

Covenant builds covenant through interaction.

You know, it’s lonely work.

Yes, it’s a journey, but God walks with us.

It shapes our perspective.

Don’t separate prayer and deep thinking.

We cannot have shallow thinking all the time.

Grab hold of this Word.

Get it in your system.

Digest it.

Hey, young people, you know how to dismiss church because you want to pass your exams.

There’s one exam coming.

Don’t fail it.

Do we not do that?

I can miss church. I can do so many things, but I will not miss work. I will not miss appointments. I will not—I will not miss it.

I know we don’t like to hear this because we want to make Christianity light, easy.

The Lord is returning, Church.

It’s not a joke.

I think that we must put some fire in our belly and say, God, I’m going to climb up, and I’m going to engage. I don’t understand everything, but I’m going to wrestle with Your Word.

Because it’s not a mindless prayer, Shandai-anai bai.

You know, oh, just pray in tongues.

Sometimes just shut up for a while and get into God’s Word and hear His Word, His voice.

Church, we cannot have mindless prayer.

Don’t separate prayer with deep thinking.

Don’t separate waiting and wrestling intellectually with problems.

Get all of God’s truth.

Get a book.

Christmas is coming.

Don’t just buy Jolly Sunday with Santa Claus.

No, I mean, think of something.

My investment, honestly, is books because I realize I don’t know a lot.

No, no, no, I’m not over yet.

So think about it.

Don’t separate between this—giving up so quickly versus holding on to God.

And that’s a great story, isn’t it?

Jacob wrestling with God and says, I will not let You go.

Yeah, we want that great posture of prayer.

But don’t let it be mindless.

Watching and waiting requires quietness.

Chapter 2:1, what does he say?

I will look to see what He will say to me.

Isn’t it sound crazy?

Look to see to hear.

Wow, that’s amazing.

It requires quietness.

A watchman needs to be alert to see, isn’t it?

You know, sometimes we see security guard.

We pass by, I’m like, anybody can walk in.

They’re on the phone all the time.

I actually said to one security guard, Why don’t you go home? I will take the salary. At least I sit down, I’ll do my work. You go home, watch your video at home.

Watchman is supposed to watch.

God says, Pray and watch.

We’re supposed to pray and watch.

But watching what?

Netflix?

I mean…

Yeah, Church, I mean, we know the answers, but yet we will not put a fire in our belly—under our butts a bit—and say, Hey, I need to shift gears here. I need to shift gears here.

Okay, there’s so much noise around us.

We are so noisy.

Our hearts are noisy.

Our minds are noisy.

Our society is noisy.

Our homes are noisy.

How can you hear when there’s so much noise?

Now, this is a secular book.

This consultant bought it for me.

So okay, quotes a lot of interesting people.

I actually found his book very good.

Let me read a bit to you.

He says, The call to stillness comes quietly.

That first sentence got me.

I said, okay, I’m going to read this, you know?

The call to stillness comes quietly.

The modern world does not.

So I wrote a note there: Think about this carefully.

He said, In addition to the clutter and chatter and intrigue and infighting that would be familiar to the citizens of Caesar’s time—he’s a stoic who wrote amazing stuff—we have car horns, stereos, cell phone alarms, social media notifications, chainsaws, and airplanes.

Our personal and professional problems are equally overwhelming.

Competitors muscle into our industry.

Our desks pile high with papers, and our inboxes overflow with messages.

We are always reachable, which means that arguments and updates are never far away.

The news bombards us with one crisis after another on every screen we own, of which there are many.

The grind of work wears us down and seems to never stop.

We are overfed and undernourished, stimulated, over-scheduled, and lonely.

Who has the power to stop?

Who has the time to think?

Is there anyone not affected by the drama and dysfunction of our time?

While the magnitude and urgency of our struggle is modern, it is rooted in a timeless problem.

Indeed, history shows that the ability to cultivate quiet and quell the turmoil inside us, to slow the mind down, to understand our emotions, and to conquer our bodies has always been extremely difficult.

All of humanity’s problems—Blaise Pascal said in 1654—stem from men’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

We walk into anywhere.

What do we first—even in the lift—like we don’t know how, like we’re going to have withdrawals if we don’t take this little idiot box out.

You know, we’re always on the phone.

A bit more.

The stillness required to become master of one’s own life, to survive and thrive in any environment—no matter how loud or busy.

I’ll read you just one more part.

Martin Luther King Jr.—Martin Luther King Jr.—observed this.

I thought, so I went and looked it up and said, wow, Martin Luther King, the activist, fantastic.

He says this, There was a violent civil war raging within each and every person between our good and bad impulses.

Of course, they did that whole, that whole thing was the Civil War.

But Martin Luther King said, He said, there’s a civil war within you, in your own heart, in your own mind, good impulses and bad impulses, between our ambitions and our principles, between what we can be and how hard it is to actually get there.

In those battles, in that war, stillness is the river and the railroad junction through which so much depends.

It is the key.

Let me read this to you, and then I’ll stop.

To think clearly.

To see the whole chessboard.

To make tough decisions.

To manage our emotions.

To identify the right goals.

To handle high-pressure situations.

To maintain relationships.

To build good habits.

To be productive.

To physical excellence.

To feel fulfilled.

To capturing moments of laughter and joy.

My goodness, this is a secular writer, yet our Lord has said it all.

Here: Stillness is the key to, well, just about everything.

To being better.

A better parent, artist, investor, athlete, scientist, human being.

To unlocking all that was capable in this life.

We can still miss—we can miss God.

That still small voice within our hearts and our minds because we do not take time.

We rush through our prayer.

Prayer is boring.

Prayer, Haiya, why should I pray?

This scripture comes to mind: Be still and know that I am God.

When I’m not still, how am I going to know that He’s God?

It’s not just Be still.

It’s a posture of hearing God wrestling with His Word.

Be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.

That’s God speaking.

Cultivate inner stillness.

We do not know how to be quiet.

I really challenge you—the year-end is coming.

Pick a day—not Sunday.

Pick a day after service.

Pick a day.

You need to take a day off, do it.

Put your phone away.

Empty notebook, just a scripture—that’s it.

Be quiet before God.

Watching and waiting requires perseverance.

Resolve is built.

Determination is required.

Time is required.

Perseverance—we need all of this to be a Watchman.

So to look and see, to hear requires single-mindedness.

Don’t rush in prayer.

I know I’ve given you all that, but we can just…

Done?

Slow down.

Don’t rush to church.

We come, we hurry-burry, we come, we don’t have time to be quiet.

We come, we… we come.

Will it hurt us to come together to pray in the morning?

Or is there noise that’s taking place all around us?

See, every morning now, I want to read a passage and discuss with the kids.

Why?

Because there also: handphone comes out, tablet comes out, this one running.

I said, Okay, we’re going to quiet down. We’re going to be still. We’re going to look at scripture. We’re going to talk together.

Worship.

Come enjoy worship.

Don’t come five minutes before it ends, and we think it’s funny.

No, it’s not.

Because we want God to answer, but we don’t know how to be still.

We don’t know how to tap that joy.

Come on, Church, we can do better than that.

Lastly.

Every… What is this?

Thank goodness.

Okay.

Waiting and watching imply being open to correction.

What do I mean by that?

God is not only looking for honesty but for humility.

Let me explain this a bit.

See, our prayer posture mostly is to get what we don’t have, right?

Yeah?

True?

Oh, come on.

Confession is good for the soul.

It’s mostly for what I want.

So we believe when there is an answer to prayer, God has agreed with what lacks in my life.

Logical assessment, okay?

But when there’s no answer, what does that mean?

God is not listening?

I’m in sin?

Don’t know which one?

But could it be, in that silent moment, God wants to work on our hearts and our minds?

God was working on Habakkuk’s heart.

So if God is not listening, ask yourself why.

Because I believe, very convincingly through His Word—not my opinion—very convincingly, because when He answers, it may not be what I want to hear.

And sometimes I’m afraid to dig the Word and engage there.

I’m afraid because I do not want to hear it.

Because I know what it’s going to ask of me.

It’s going to demand what?

When we choose to listen, our lives have to change.

We do that, right?

Did you hear me?

Yes.

If you heard me, then why are you still doing this?

Is that not our conversation with people, whether it’s at work, whether it’s colleagues, whether it’s children, whether it’s spouse, whatever it is?

We’ll say, If you heard and you understood, then why is it nothing has changed?

Now, we hear God’s Word consistently.

Could it be God is saying, I want to see change?

I’m done, actually.

You, worship team, can come.

Can we stand?

And I want us to wrestle with God a bit.

I want to say something just for the next few minutes here.

Do we understand this today, Church?

Okay, now I’m afraid.

Do we understand this?

The thing is this:

Watching and waiting implies that I’m open to correction.

Because when I don’t hear God respond to me, I often relegate it to something else.

Where is God? What’s happening? You know, somebody is cursing me. Something is happening. God is not answering.

But God is saying, I’m quiet because I want you to be quiet.

Can you switch off all the noise around you?

Maybe before you sleep, rather than have all that movie playing or videos playing, is to shut everything down and to be quiet.

And when you wake up, first thing in the morning, it’s not whip out messages.

It’s to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord. I hear You, Lord. Be with me. Go before me. I’m here, Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Imagine that is something we practice daily.

Because I—and I speak of myself—can have the tendency to think of all the things I need to get done, the people I need to see, the decisions I need to make, all these different things.

And I’m thinking, How am I going to get through this day?

And if it’s first thing: God, help me!

And I can almost hear God saying, Is that how you want to start your day?

And that’s right.

Can I be quiet?

Lord, I want to take one word from Your Word, and I want to meditate on it. Lord, speak to my heart. Let me wrestle with Your Word.

See, when we choose to listen, our lives have to change.

How I respond to God’s correction speaks of what?

My spiritual condition.

Just as the musician plays gently, can we take a few moments of being quiet?

Don’t think of lunch. Don’t think of anything else. Don’t think of anything else.

You say, God, teach me to be quiet.

Remember, and say this then:

Watching and waiting takes time.

Watching and waiting is lonely work—it’s Covenant.

Watching and waiting shapes my perspective.

Watching and waiting requires quietness.

Watching and waiting requires perseverance.

Watching and waiting imply to me being open to correction.

About New Covenant Community

New Covenant Community Church is a non-denominational church based in Sentul, Malaysia. Our church family strives to love Jesus more, connect people to God and to reconnect the disconnected. Whether you are looking for a church, want to know some new friends or get connected with people, we are the place to be. Drop us a message or visit us on Sunday at Sentul Boulevard, Kuala Lumpur.

Links:

Watch Latest Videos

Visit New Covenant Community Events