Waterworld: A Response to "The Perfect Storm" PART V

Conclusion: Using the Storm Spear

Habakkuk made a decision to accept the opportunities that God provided through the crisis he faced while assaulted by the Babylonians. Knowing that God intended to bring good things out of evil times and evil situations, Habakkuk surrendered his understanding to God and met the oncoming storm head on.

13 You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
Selah 14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.

Today, God is still capable of delivering His people out of the Perfect Storm and crushing the leaders of the “land of wickedness.” He will defeat the Perfect Storm using “its own spear”, so to speak, by raising up the Stormborn to remix the Christian faith in a post-Christian world, in post-modern ways, using post-scale methodology. He will equip His peopele with whatever strength we need for victory.

17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights. [1]

Habakkuk knows that God is in control, despite what he sees with his natural sight – the “fig tree does not bud”, etc… - but instead he chooses to rejoice in the Lord who makes his “feet like the feet of a deer…[and] enables [him] to go on the heights.” This may very well prove to be a promise of our fleetness and adroitness in the midst of the Perfect culture Storm where nothing is certain except God’s promise to be with us. Note that there is not only a promise for deftness here, but also Joy, which is frequently lacking in many churches during times of crisis.

At the end, however, I believe we’re still left with more than our decision to fight-or-flight, more even than our hope that the Stormborn leaders can lead us back into shore after the Storm. I believe we’re left with unshakable confidence that God will be His people through any Storm, helping us navigate bad weather and giving courage in the face of crisis.

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[1] Habakkuk 3.13-14, 17-19 NIV