Let’s Suppose
Do you often play the game
Let’s Suppose? It goes like this:
we imagine all the negative things that can
possibly happen to us around a given set of
circumstances in our lives.
“Suppose I lose my job.” “Suppose
I get cancer.” “Suppose I lose my
mind.” “Suppose…” You get the
idea.
The Hebrew prophet Habakkuk saw
the events in his day as Babylonians came knocking
on the front door of Jerusalem.
Let’s suppose, “the fig tree does not bud” (3:17).
Suppose, “There are no grapes
on the vines.”
Suppose, “The olive crop
fails.”
Suppose, “The fields produce no
food.”
Suppose, “There are no sheep in
the pen.”
Suppose, “There are no cattle
in the stalls” (v.17).
How would you have responded to
these “supposings” if they were taking place in your
life?
Habakkuk did not have the
solution, so he confidently handed them over to the
Lord. He was confident of the
unchanging attributes of God. “God comes from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His
splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full
of His praise. His radiance is like the sunlight; He
has rays flashing from His hand, and there is the
hiding of His power. Before Him goes pestilence, and
plague comes after Him. He stood and surveyed the
earth; He looked and startled the nations. Yes, the
perpetual mountains were shattered, the ancient
hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting” (Habakkuk
3:3-6, NASB 1995).
Habakkuk was saying in effect,
“Let’s suppose the LORD God is greater than all of
these other “supposings” of the storm of life.”
The prophet summarized his
conclusions with these words.
“The Sovereign LORD is my strength; He makes my feet
like the feet of a deer. He
enables me to go on the heights” (v. 19, NIV).
Yeh, but God…
But let’s suppose that the
Bible really is the inspired, inerrant Word of God.
But let’s suppose that what God
has revealed about Himself is absolute truth.
But let’s suppose the LORD God
is the sovereign One over the events of the world.
But let’s suppose He did create
the heavens and the earth.
But let’s suppose Jesus is the
God incarnate, God with us.
But let’s suppose He did come
to this earth and live a perfect life according to
the righteousness of God.
But let’s suppose Christ died
for our sins as a divine substitute on the cross
paying the debt for all our sins.
But let’s suppose God justifies
the sinner who believes on Jesus Christ as his
Savior.
But let us suppose that the
eternal God is our refuge, our shield and our
strength, and all other philosophies of religion and
humanism are false and useless.
Therefore, let every knee bow,
of those in heaven and earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD
to the glory of God the Father.
The next time you are inclined
to play Let’s Suppose, turn the tables in your mind,
and walk by faith trusting in the LORD God to enable
you to see your circumstances from His perspective.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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