Amazed and Confused: When God's Actions Collide With Our Expectations (InScribed Collection)
Heather Zempel
Language: English
Pages: 224
ISBN: 1401679234
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Most people have prayed for something or someone in earnest, seeking God’s will, only to be left confused by God’s response. Sometimes we ask, “Why would a good God allow bad things to happen to good people?” In Amazed and Confused, Heather Zempel tackles this question head-on by exploring the book of Habakkuk.
When the prophet Habakkuk prayed that God would bring change to the backsliding nation of Israel, this issue came to the forefront. Habakkuk begged God for revival and that He would turn the hearts of faithless people back to Him.
God’s answer to Habakkuk was, “Take a look at the nations and watch what happens! You will be shocked and amazed” (1:5, The Voice). The vision God gave Habakkuk was one of warfare and exile. How do you respond when God answers your prayers in a way that seems out of line with his character and promises?
Amazed and Confused proceeds systematically through the book of Habakkuk, exploring the prophet’s prayer, God’s response, and the prophet’s journey from confusion to worship. This interactive Bible study is the perfect choice for those who are hurting and confused about God’s responses to their prayers.
Features include:
- Helpful guidance on a question without an easy answer
- Practical tools for studying the Minor Prophets
- Easy-to-understand, accessible language
it was God’s choice that the bad guys would win, which didn’t seem fair. It’s as though grace went missing when Habakkuk’s prayers went wild. It’s as though grace went missing when Habakkuk’s prayers went wild. Jesus once told a story about the master of a large estate who needed to hire workers for his vineyard. He went to the market, made an offer to some men looking for work, and hired them to work the entire day for the normal day’s wage. The agreed-upon wage was most likely one denarius.
against him, and life has knocked him down a few times, but Aaron consistently picks himself back up, squares his shoulders, locks eyes with God, and dares to embrace Him once more. Today, Aaron has endured thirty years of wrestling with God, but he clings to 2 Corinthians 4:7–10 to make sense of it all; he recognizes he is simply a clay pot in which Jesus’ “resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power.” In John 11, we see a vivid description of a God who breathes life back into the
righteousness necessitates a relationship with Jesus Christ. What we believe and how we act are inextricably linked. If we are people of faith, we will live faithfully; and faithfulness is living by faith. As we live in Christ, we will receive life by faith. ROMANS Paul sent a letter to the church in Rome to remind them that it wasn’t about what they could do for God; rather, it was about what God had already done for them. Containing the New Testament’s most comprehensive explanation of God’s
and gutted and sawed in two. None of them received all that God had promised . . . He had something better in mind. What do we do when we don’t receive all that God promised? In the first thirty-four and a half verses of Hebrews 11, we see the stories of those who found God to be the Deliverer. Their stories ended happily ever after. They believed God could and God would—and God did. But in the second half of verse 35, we begin to find those who stood strong in faith in the midst of pain and
reviewed. We need to find ways to capture our story and remember God’s work in a way that broadens our view and shifts our perspective. Journaling helps us see more of God’s hand, which enables us to worship Him more. Like Habakkuk, we can remember God’s works and worship Him for His ways, so that we can return to a place of awestruck wonder at His character. WRATH AND MERCY Habakkuk includes an interesting request: “As You unleash Your wrath, remember Your compassion” (3:2). The NIV simply