IDEA: Our doubts are sometimes put to rest when God gives us a new perspective.TEXT: "I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what he will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said, 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith' " (Habakkuk 2:1-4).

PURPOSE: To help listeners recognize that doubt may have as much to do with our perspective as our situation does.

How much difference can a new perspective make in the way we handle life?

What are some examples?

I. Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you wondered what God was doing, and then discovered that He had given you a new way of looking at the situation?

That happened in the life of a prophet named Habakkuk. What was it that happened in the prophet's experience that caused God to give him a different perspective?

Habakkuk thought that God would give him another answer that he would argue with, but instead God gave him a new perspective.

II. What do we learn from the new perspective God gave Habakkuk?

What do you think is involved when God said to the prophet, "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it"?

God is saying that the vision isn't only for the prophet, but is for everyone.

Habakkuk is to be patient. God's timing may seem slow, but it's certain.

Have you ever found it difficult to wait for God's answer?

III. God gave two basic answers to the prophet that led to a new perspective.

The unrighteous person will ultimately fail. You can count on that.

Because God is indeed all-powerful, there is a moral foundation to the universe. The unrighteous ultimately are brought down to defeat.

The righteous shall live by his faith.