Amen. Thank you, Brother Joe. Go ahead and take your Bibles to the book of Habakkuk. Maybe you still have your finger there. Habakkuk chapter 3 is where we're going to be and I want to… Just take a look here real quick. I'm interested, I've heard some things this morning already about Thanksgiving. I've heard some things about what people have eaten. How many of you had traditional, you just had the traditional turkey as meat on Thanksgiving day? You had traditional turkey? All right, a lot of hands there, okay. How many of you went the ham route? You went maybe a honey ham or a honey baked ham or something? I heard some other things. How many went chicken? You went chicken? A few hands out there, okay. I heard some went the lamb direction. I heard as well a tomahawk steak. Boy, if that doesn't make your mouth water, my goodness. Somebody showed me a picture of that before the service. I'm like, look, we're too close to lunchtime. Don't be showing me that right now. I remember a few years ago, I was listening on the radio, and there was somebody who was talking about what they were gonna have for Thanksgiving. I thought it was a joke, but they were very serious. And I don't know if you've heard of Tofurkey. You heard of Tofurkey? Tofu, not a fan. Not a fan. Has anybody had Tofurkey? Anybody had Tofurkey? I don't think I would try it. I've tried a lot of things on the mission field. I don't know that that rings a bell with me, but anyway, I hope that you did have a good Thanksgiving. Of course, Thanksgiving is more than just food. It's about being with loved ones and talking about the Lord, and hopefully you were able to take some time to go around the table and talk about some things that you're thankful for. things the Lord has done for you. All right, we're in the book of Habakkuk this morning, and I wanna encourage you today. I want this message to be an encouragement to you, and it may sound like when this message begins, where's the encouragement, Brother Scott? Well, just hang with me, okay? Hang with me, all right? Let's go ahead and look at Habakkuk chapter three. As Brother Brandon just read, And starting in verse 2 of Habakkuk chapter 3, the Bible says this, In the midst of the years, make known in wrath, remember mercy." And notice these verses. God came from Timmon and the Holy One from Mount Paran, Selah. His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light. He had horns coming out of His hand and there was the hiding of His power. Verse 5, before Him went the pestilence and burning coals went forth at His feet. Verse six, he stood and measured the earth, and he beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, and perpetual hills did bow. His ways are everlasting. When you hear those verses, you say, Brother Scott, what does that have to do with anything? Well, we're gonna get there, we're gonna get there. Hang with me just for a second. I don't know if you've ever experienced this. Chances are if you've known the Lord for any length of time, you have gone to the Lord, about a particular thing. It could have been something that was close to you that was related to a job type situation, where Lord, I need you to do this on my behalf, or Lord, would you allow this? Maybe it was a particular move, a change in your life, a geographical location. Lord, would you allow us to move to this location, or to get this house, or to do this thing? Chances are you have gone to the Lord about a specific prayer requests, or at least I hope that you have. You know, we do serve a God that wants to have a relationship with us. He is a relational God. And I think this is an important point because In my viewpoint, our society is becoming less and less relational. You've probably heard before, even though we're connected like we have never been before in history, there just seems to be somewhat a coldness sometimes that slips into our interactions. You know, I think about how kiosks are popping up all over the place. Have you seen this? I had a couple of experiences with kiosks this past week, and usually I'm like, hey, let's get in and get out. So if I can go in, put my order in, and get it quicker, I'm all about that. But I'll tell you, I had two instances in which I used a kiosk that the thing just broke on me. I went in, and I guess it was Sheetz. How many of you capitalized on that cheap gas this week? Has anybody done that? Boy, there's cheap gas at Sheetz. I'm just letting you know. It may be all gone now, but anyway, they're running a special this week. So I went in, I thought, you know, I'll go in, saving some money on gas, I'll go into the convenience store, maybe get me a little something. I went in, there's no line at the counter, but there's a man standing there, he didn't look too interested in helping anyone, so I thought, you know what, I can check out faster than this guy could probably help me. And so, I go up to the kiosk, and I'm like, okay, where's, you know, scan my thing, and then all of a sudden it says, see an attendant. I see an attendant. Boy, that's the whole idea of a kiosk. I'm trying to get in and get out, and I look back over, and the place where there were no people, there's a line. And so I'm standing here, the only attendant that's available, and I'm waiting patiently, and finally, sir, can you help me? Oh, beep, you know, and then he lets me, and I go on my merry way. I went to Dunkin' to grab a cup of coffee, and I ran in. There was no register. Usually sometimes there's a kiosk and a register. There was no register. go in, and I'm looking, there are two employees behind the counter. And so, I'm kind of looking up the menu, I'm kind of smiling, looking up at the menu, they're not acknowledging me, recognizing me, I'm like, okay, they want me to use the kiosk, I'll use the kiosk. So, I type it in, and, you know, it, you know, paid, all that, you know, all of a sudden, they hear a ding on their, they look down at their computer, print off a little, They go, they make it, put it on the coffee, turn around. Man, that was the coldest cup of coffee I've ever had. I was hoping for maybe a thank you for your business or something like that. The interaction. I'm so glad that when we call out to the Lord, we don't get some type of automated messaging system. Aren't you? Boy, we live in that day. Boy, you want to call your credit card company? Good luck. You want to call your bank? Good luck. Speak to an attendant. Speak to an attendant. Speak to an attendant. I don't know how many of you have done that, but I've done that. So, you know, we serve a God that is ultra-relational to us. And so, therefore, we can take requests to the Lord. Therefore, we can go to and plead for the cause of sick loved ones or things that we need and so forth and so on. And what do we know about that? Well, we know that God does answer prayer. We've seen that as a church, have we not? Boy, we counted some of the ways this past Tuesday night in our praise service, just the many ways that we have seen the Lord work in our lives, and I'm so glad God answers prayer. He doesn't have to, but He does. He cares for us. So we know that God answers prayer. We know, though, that sometimes He tells us to wait, and this is the part that sometimes makes us uncomfortable, doesn't it? Boy, we don't like to wait. We live in a day in which is instant access to things in a way Well, we just get conditioned for that. But sometimes the Lord answers, He just says, hey, wait. And sometimes we have to wait. But then there are some times when we take a request to the Lord, it's important to us, and we repeatedly go to Him. And sometimes He just simply says no. sometimes he closes that door for many times reasons that we are unsure of. And you know, that is exactly what is happening in this passage. And I want to develop this thought just a little bit because in Habakkuk's life, he found himself in a similar situation where he was pleading for something that ultimately would not be granted. But in spite of how he was not receiving what he wanted, he was able to find joy in ungranted prayer requests. It's an interesting thought, is it not? So let's take a look at this this morning. And as we get into this, there's so much that could be said about this small book, but I want us to know, number one, who Habakkuk was. Who was this obscure prophet in the Old Testament? Maybe you noticed as you looked for the passage, you were having a little bit of difficulty locating it. I mean, it's not a passage maybe that we read all that often. It's only three chapters, but nonetheless, this was a person that was used of God in a special way. Habakkuk lived some 600 years before Christ, and he lived, from what we understand, in and around Jerusalem. He would be used of God to be the Lord's spokesperson. That's truly what he was. He carried God's message to his people. But as so often we see in Scripture, there were some times that these prophets were given a message that didn't always agree with them. Well, I want you to tell my people this. Lord, are you sure? This is what I'm going to do with my people. Lord, are you sure? I think about Jonah, right? And he's the classic example of a prophet of the Lord that really struggled. He was told to go to Nineveh and preach salvation, and what did he do? He doesn't like it. He tries to find an alternate route. We think about Elijah. You know, the prophet Elijah himself, he got discouraged. There were points in his life where it wasn't all that savory, the message that the Lord had given him. And so when we look at Habakkuk, we notice that he was just simply a messenger of God. You know, when I think about that, Habakkuk served the Lord with the ministry and message that God had him in his time. I think about how in our lives, how we can relate to that. The New Testament tells us that we as Christians are ambassadors of Christ. Wait, so what are we? We are His representatives to the world around us. And you know, at the end of our lives, the best thing that could be said of us is that we just simply did what the Lord wanted us to do with the lives that we lived. that we live them for his glories. And so we can connect, even with an Old Testament prophet this morning, in that he was a messenger of the Lord. But what do we notice about Habakkuk? What do you notice at the beginning of this book? Let's look at it. Habakkuk chapter one, notice a couple of things that are very apparent from the very first verses that we read here. I want you to see, we saw who Habakkuk was, but I want us to see what was his struggle. Notice verse 1 of chapter 1, the burden which Habakkuk, the prophet, did see. Drop down to verse 3, he says to the Lord here, this is him speaking, why dost thou show me? Now, iniquity goes on to list some things. So, what becomes very clear from the get-go is that Habakkuk is at a struggle point in his life. He is struggling with something. Well, there's another way we could say that. He was just stressed out. He has a noisy heart, so to speak. You ever had that? It just seemed like you're being pulled different ways. It seemed like maybe your responsibilities were just all pulling you certain directions, or every aspect of your life contains some element of conflict, and maybe it's family-related, job-related, or something else. It's just like, I feel like there's a lot of turmoil in my life. That's where Habakkuk is at right now. Boy, yeah, it's true, he's a messenger of the Lord. Boy, it's true that his life has been dedicated to honor and represent the Lord, but boy, even in this faithful man of God, there's a struggle that's taking place. Let's see more specifically what that struggle was. We see that he was a messenger, but what struggle did he have? Notice a couple of things here. Number one, we see that his struggle, he had a struggle with where the Lord had him. You see this word, you can tell from the get-go in chapter 1, verse 1, he says, the burden which Habakkuk, the prophet, did see. This is Habakkuk writing these words. And how does he classify the message that the Lord has given him for his time? What's a burden to him? And he goes back, he says, Lord, why are you showing me these things? What's happening here with the prophet? Oh, he's struggling. You see a prophet that is having a hard time with what the Lord is communicating to him. He was struggling with where the Lord had him. But notice number two in verse two, he was struggling with the Lord's silence. What does he say in verse two? He says, O Lord, how long shall I cry? and wilt thou not hear? Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save?" See, the Lord was showing Habakkuk a vision of how the Lord was going to correct God's people. And Habakkuk is struggling with that vision. It's a burden to him. And not only that, he takes that vision back to the Lord, and he says, Lord, let's change it. Let's do something else. Let's not do that. Lord, why aren't you answering me? You know what Habakkuk's problem was? He was conflicting two things. He was conflicting God's silence with ignorance. What does he say here? He doesn't say, Lord, you're not responding. He says, Lord, you don't hear me. Boy, Lord, don't you want to save? He's questioning the Lord's omniscience. But what do we know about the Lord? Obviously, we know from Isaiah 59 and verse 1, behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is His hear heavy that it cannot hear. So, how does this apply to us? Well, to go back to the original thought that there are sometimes the Lord, for sometimes we don't know why, closes the door on a request maybe that we have or that is close to us. And sometimes that can put us in a place that Habakkuk is in right now where he's sort of questioning what God is doing. He's sort of, Lord, didn't you hear me when I called out and I asked? Lord, I did that repeatedly. And maybe you found yourself thinking the exact same thing. I'm thankful this isn't the end of the story in Habakkuk's life, and we're tracing that, but he is struggling. What else is he struggling with? Look at verse 3 and 4. What does the Bible say? He says this, and caused me to behold grievance, for spoiling violence are before me. And there are that raise up strife and contentions." Verse 4, therefore, the law is slacked and judgment doth never go forth. For the wicked doth compass about the righteous, therefore, wrong judgment proceedeth. He's struggling with the condition of the world around him. What else is he struggling with? He's struggling with understanding God's sovereignty. Look at verse 12 and 13. of the same chapter, 12 and 13. What happens here, he says, aren't thou not from everlasting, O Lord? My God, mine Holy One. We shall not die. Again, this is a direct note on God's impending judgment on Israel in the Babylonian captivity. That's when Habakkuk was a prophet. The Lord says, listen, my people are going to be carried away in 70 years of captivity. Habakkuk doesn't like that prophecy. He says, Lord, this makes no sense. Lord, we're not going to die. What is he doing here? He's questioning God's ability to orchestrate success in and for his people. And then last of all, he was struggling with acceptance of this vision. Look down at verse 17. So many great things in here. I encourage you to go back and read the book of Habakkuk some other time. But notice verse 17, shall they therefore empty their net and not spare continually to slay the nations? Ultimately here, Habakkuk has asked for something and God is closing the door. He is saying no. There's a conflict in Habakkuk's heart. Lord, it's just not fair. Lord, it in no way makes sense. Lord, You have claimed this people. You brought us out of Egypt. Lord, You survived us in the wilderness. Lord, You gave us a land. Lord, You sustained us. You've given us a place that we put Your name there, Jerusalem. Lord, You've allowed us many successes. You gave us David as king. Lord, You have done so many wonderful works. You're gonna allow us to be corrected by way of a pagan nation? Taken away into Babylonian captivity? Lord, what are you doing? All of these words represent a conflict in Habakkuk's heart. But you know what the beauty of this small book is, is that Habakkuk doesn't stay here. Habakkuk is definitely at a low point but God encourages his heart, and he does it with one sentence. I want you to see this. Look at what happens next. Notice how God encouraged him. How does God turn the corner in Habakkuk's life? Does he do it by reprimanding him, saying, Habakkuk, get your act together. What is your problem? You are a prophet of Jehovah. No, he doesn't do it that way. Look at how God encouraged him. Look at chapter two and verse four. Boy, there's this great little nugget here as the Lord is giving the prophecy down through chapter two, and we won't read all of this, but I want you to just see the one line that I believe was directed to Habakkuk specifically. Notice chapter two in verse four. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him. but the just shall live by faith." Boy, that's huge. Habakkuk didn't need a long litany of chastisement from the Lord. You know what he needed? He just needed to be reminded that Habakkuk, whenever you don't see the full picture, you need to remember that the lifestyle of a follower of me is a lifestyle of faith. Boy, that's so profound. That's so simple. But you know what Habakkuk's ultimate problem was? It was rooted in doubt. Lord, I can't see it for myself, so Lord, I can't, just doubt? The Lord lovingly comes back and says, hey, let me remind you what the lifestyle of a follower of me is. It's a lifestyle of faith. You know, when I go to the store and I need something, maybe you're at a clothing store or something, you have a question about something, what do you do? You take a second to assess where the people are who know what they're doing, right? You're looking for a worker. And how are workers generally deciphered? Well, usually they have on some type of uniform. At least they should, hopefully they do. And they got a red shirt, you know, okay, well, we're in Target, where's the red shirt people, right? We need some help here or you're somewhere else. And you say, okay, I, you know, I'm looking for that black uniform or that suit or that tag that describes and lets everybody know exactly who they are and what they stand for and how they can help. Well, you know, when we look at the uniform of the Christian, when we look at the armor of a Christian, that the Apostle Paul describes in the book of Ephesians, don't forget, he mentions the shield of faith. Boy, you know, faith is really defined in those moments when it's darkest, isn't it? Boy, that's really a good measure of our faith. Boy, when we can't see the outcome, when it doesn't make sense to us why the Lord may have closed that opportunity or closed that door. It's a really foundational thing, but it was a reminder that Habakkuk needed to hear. And how does he respond? Well, he responds in faith. Let me show you that. Let's get back to our text that we were looking at here just a moment ago. We see how God encourages him, the just shall live. We live by faith. How did Habakkuk respond? Habakkuk responds with a song of faith-filled praise to the Lord. Look at verse 1 of chapter 3, and these are the verses that we just look at. And notice what it says, chapter 3 and verse 1, a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, upon Shigenath. Now, you look at the last verse of Habakkuk, and you see something interesting. The Lord God is my salvation, and He will make my feet like Heinz' feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places to the chief singer on my stringed instruments. Wait, there's a lot of people who believe that the book of Habakkuk was meant to be almost a song that was meant to be sung. So in a very real sense here, Habakkuk has gone from a place of, Lord, I don't understand why that door is closed, Lord, you know how I've taken it to you, Lord, I'm desperate, what shall I do? God says, hey, live by faith, follow me, trust me, and what does Habakkuk do? It's almost like he pins this song unto the Lord, this song of praise. So, we're seeing here in Habakkuk a transformation, a place going from that of despair to a place of joy found in ungranted prayer. Boy, we know the joy that can be found in answered prayer, right? I mean, we know that. Boy, there's nothing that can lift our spirits more when we sense that God has done something specifically for us. Wow, Lord, that's amazing. You are to be praised and glorified and uplifted. Boy, we know what that feels like. But Habakkuk here is describing something to us that is anti-human nature. Boy, it's anti-human nature to get to a place of praise when a prayer has not been granted. So, how does he get there? Well, let's look specifically then. Notice that he responds in faith three different ways, and I want to see these, and then we'll be done this morning. Notice back at verse 3, he describes, God came from Timon, the Holy One from Mount Paran, Sila. The glory covered the heavens and the earth was full. of His praise. You read down through this passage, you see that word selah mentioned three times. What does it mean? It means to stop and to think about it. What's interesting about this word is that outside of the 71 times it's mentioned in the book of Psalms, this is the only other time in Scripture that it is mentioned in the Old Testament. So what does that tell us? That tells us that the Lord wants us to stop and to consider what's being said here. Now, immediately when we read that verse, maybe it doesn't trigger a thought. What does Timon have to do with Mount Paran? Well, this is a reference back to the giving of the law. This is a reference back to God's covenant promises with his people. And so what is, in faith, Habakkuk doing here? Well, he is praising the Lord for God's promises. That's really what he's doing. He's going big picture and he's saying, hey, Lord, I know I've zoomed in on this one thing, but Lord, I'm gonna back out and I'm gonna just for a moment praise you for how you have kept every promise that you have made. You are a covenant-keeping God. And he looks back in the history of Israel and he sees the progression of how the Lord gave the law and covenanted with his people and gave certain promises and how those promises and those covenants continue to progress through the Old Testament, through Abraham and the Davidic covenant. And then we get to what the Lord promised in the Messiah. And really, this is something that all of us can get excited about, not just Habakkuk. Why is that? Because we see the salvation story told through the Old Testament, through those covenants, and manifested in the answer of a Messiah found in Jesus Christ, the Lord. Well, you know what a great thing to do when the Lord maybe closes a window on a request that we have, is to step up in faith to the Lord and say, you know what, Lord? This is one thing that maybe you didn't allow, but may I praise your name because there are promises that you have kept that have affected me specifically in regards to my eternal destiny. Oh my, we serve a God of our salvation. and Habakkuk recognizes that, and he praises the Lord as a covenant-keeping, promise-keeping God. What else does he do? In verse four, you'll notice by praising God for his power, look at verse four, and his brightness was as the light, and he had horns coming out of his hand, and there was the hiding of his power. There's a direct reference there to God's glory coming down on Mount Sinai, and you remember the people said, oh, we can't bear it, and then, Moses says, I wanna get even closer to it, and what does God say? God says, I can't allow you, but maybe to see my hinder parts, and Moses' face shines as the brightness. We remember all of that. What is that talking about? It's just simply, our God is a powerful God. And Habakkuk here is reminded not only that he is a God of great promises, he is a God of great power. Just a few days ago, we spent some time in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. How many of you have ever heard of Bethlehem Steel? You've ever heard about that? I'll tell you, you want to go to a place with a lot of history, you can walk around and see. Bethlehem Steel is a fascinating place to visit. We had a few days, like I said, and so we went up there and stayed a few nights. We enjoyed learning some of the history about the steel making plant. And I learned some things that I had never known before. At its height, some 30,000 workers were involved with Bethlehem Steel. Most of the high rises in New York City are from the steel that was produced at Bethlehem Steel. Bethlehem Steel started producing steel in 1850. And they went for the next 150 years until 1995, they were shut down for various reasons. The World War I and World War II, many of the weapons and warships that were produced for America were produced by that plant. Even doing some research, it's fascinating to see the billows and the towering machinery that they have there that spans virtually miles. Amazing to think about the power that was on that site. I watched an interview that took place between some of the workers that used to work down where the coal would be transferred and then made into iron and then made into eventual steel and they were talking about the amount of heat and the pressure that would be found in those places. And they were describing the conditions and they were describing the blast of the furnace and the shining of the light. It was fascinating to hear about. There's no doubt Bethlehem Steel has had a direct impact on America. But you know, it's amazing a display of human power that that is, that is simply just what it is. It's human power. It's just a display of man's power. May we not forget that the divergence between man's power and God's power, it's not even on the same map. Or we may look at something and say, well, look at what man was able to do. And then we step back and realize, okay, where did that ability come from? Well, that came from God. Boy, when God reveals his power, what does that look like? And we have a whole book that describes that. And certainly you've seen God's power in your life in relation to answers to prayer. And Habakkuk finds himself admiring, praising God for his amazing power. 2 Chronicles 29 and verse 11, thy, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, for all that is in heaven and in earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all." I want you to see the final praise that Habakkuk gives, and we find this in verse number 6. Look down. It says here, continues his song of praise, he stood and measured the earth. He beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered. perpetual hills did bow. His ways are everlasting." His praise here climaxes talking about how the Lord brought Israel into the promised land. He mentions here the everlasting God. We've seen a God of promise, and Habakkuk is praising Him for being such. We've seen a God of power, and Habakkuk praises Him for such. But he ends with speaking to the fact that we serve a God of permanence, everlasting God. Habakkuk knows that the Lord has shut the door on this prayer request. He knows that there's nothing he can say to maybe change the Lord's mind, and he knows that his vantage point is blurred and obscured. And he knows that the Lord sees things from another vantage point. He's come to a place where he can walk in faith, and he can do that by praising the Lord in these three different ways. In closing, not too long ago, I guess it was about three, four weeks ago, I took a trip and sort of called it the journeys of Paul. We visited a lot of the places that Paul established churches. It was fascinating on many different fronts. I learned a lot. in the travels, but one of the places that we visited was Ephesus. And, of course, Ephesus is located in Turkey. And we went up to the site in the morning, and we toured around. On our way back in, this was...much of the sightseeing that we did and walking around was kind of on our own, but there was one tour that we took, and it happened to be at Ephesus. transportation was provided for us. We got in a bus and we went up and on our way back, coming back, they said, hey, we're going to just take a moment and we're going to stop by a rug making facility. And I'll tell you, I was not very excited about a rug making facility. I'm here to see old things, and I'm here to excavate and see things, and I'm excited about that. But they said, we're going to stop off and see some rugs. And so, that's what we did. We got off the bus, and we walked up, and this gentleman came out, and he said, let me tell you about the process of making a Turkish rug. I had no idea. Evidently, Turkish rugs are very valuable, high quality. So he begins to tell me about this. He walks us over to some ladies who were seated right in front of some of these what would be rugs. And so they're seated there and he's talking and these ladies are taking strands and they're moving so quickly. I got out my phone to just do it on slow motion so I could go back later and watch how they were tying off and cutting things. It was, I had no idea so much work went into rug making. But anyway, the man's talking and I'm looking on and I'm looking at the complexities of all of this and he says this, you know, these rugs will take years to make. I thought, oh my soul. I said, oh yeah, yeah, this lady here, she'll finish this probably sometime next year. I thought, man, what a project. I looked at that rug. It didn't look like a rug. I mean, there was all kinds of, you looked at the bottom, I thought, man, how in the world is this gonna be something that someone will spend $70,000 on? These Turkish rugs are pretty expensive. But how would somebody, how is this gonna, amazing to me. You've heard the illustration of how a tapestry works. Well, you've got one side at the end of the tapestry and it's amazing. You think, wow, who could have the foresight to do that? You turn it over and what do you see? You just see utter confusion. You say, oh my soul. How could that ever produce something that fits within the master story. You know, I think that's the lesson for all of us this morning. To not get discouraged when the Lord closes a door. And to remember that it's a part of a master story that goes beyond us. To realize that God is working in ways that sometimes that we will not understand even till we get to glory. The question for us this morning is when we encounter those moments when God closes a door, can we respond as Habakkuk responded in faith and just simply praise the Lord for His power, His permanence, His promises? Let's bow our heads this morning for prayer. Maybe you're here today and Whereas Thanksgiving is normally an encouraging time for you, maybe it wasn't so encouraging season for some reason. Maybe you're here today and maybe you've enjoyed some blessings, you were able to recount some things the Lord has done for you the past year, but maybe there's a glaring something, a door that did not open that maybe you were praying would or that you hoped would. And maybe today, the Lord has allowed us to be encouraged from the life of Habakkuk, to remember that even in difficult times when we can't see the big picture, we can walk in faith and praise Him, receive joy in ungranted prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray that, Lord, this invitation time would be blessed of You. Lord, I pray that You would cement the truth found in Habakkuk on each of our hearts. And we ask these things in Christ's name, amen. As you stand to your feet this morning, if God's spoken to your heart, the altar's open, we're gonna sing a few stanzas of I have decided to follow Jesus. Lord's spoken to your heart, the altar's open, you come. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back. The world behind me, the cross before me. The world behind me, the cross before me. The world behind me, the cross before me. No turning back, no turning back. All right, well on your way out this morning, don't forget about our missions tree that is out there, our schedules that we have back there as well to keep up with church events, and then our cantata flyers that are available this morning as well. Let's pray and ask God's blessing as we go our separate ways. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the blessing of being able to be in your house today. Lord, the admonition we can receive from your word. I pray, Lord, that we would not be just hearers, but Lord, we'd be doers. Lord, help us to find new ways to praise your name daily. Keep us safe as we go our separate ways, Lord, and bring us back, Lord, safely tonight for our 5.30 service. Be with our pastor. I pray that you would bring encouragement to his heart and heal him quickly. In your name we pray. Amen. You're dismissed.