Can God Be Good When Life is Not? Hope In The Dark: Week 1 with Pastor Craig Groeschel

Hope in the Dark: Embracing and Wrestling with God in Habakkuk 1

Scripture References

• Habakkuk 1
• James 1

Overview

Craig Groeschel opens a new series in the book of Habakkuk, a prophet who doesn’t speak for God to people but speaks for people to God. Habakkuk’s honest complaint—“Why don’t You seem fair?”—mirrors the questions many believers ask when life hurts. Craig weaves in raw personal stories, explains the prophet’s name (“to embrace and to wrestle”), and shows that authentic faith often lives in the tension of holding on to God while questioning Him. Chapter 1 ends without tidy resolution, inviting listeners to keep wrestling and embracing when they hit a crisis of belief.

Main Points

1. Celebration and the Story Behind the Series

• Weekend baptisms: 1,400+ people publicly declared, “the old is gone, the new has come.”
• Craig’s new book Hope in the Dark grew out of words he first wrote for a hurting coworker, Adrienne, after a miscarriage; those same words later carried him through his daughter Mandy’s prolonged illness.
• All book proceeds are being donated to the church.

2. Introducing Habakkuk: A Prophet Who Questions God

• Lived around 600 B.C.; a “minor” prophet only in length, not importance.
• Typical prophets speak from God to people; Habakkuk speaks to God for the people.
• Judah was once blessed but had slid into corruption, violence, and poverty.
• Habakkuk’s opening lament (1:2-4): “How long, Lord? … Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?”

3. Embrace and Wrestle—The Meaning of His Name

• “Habakkuk” = to embrace (cling to) and to wrestle (struggle with).
• Faith sometimes holds both: gripping God’s character while arguing with His actions.
• Craig’s warning: “This is not a sitcom sermon.” Real life problems aren’t wrapped up in 30 minutes.

4. The Crisis of Belief and Our Three Temptations

• Henry Blackaby’s term explained: when what we believe about God collides with what we see.
• Common (but unhealthy) responses:
  • Deny the pain (“everything’s fine”).
  • Walk away from God.
• Third—and biblical—option: keep wrestling while continuing to embrace.

5. When God’s Answer Seems Worse (Habakkuk 1:5-11)

• Text read:

  “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”

• God’s shocking plan: raise up the ruthless Babylonians to judge Judah.
• Application: Sometimes God’s next move initially feels like a setback, not a solution.

6. Personal Illustrations of Wrestling & Embracing

• Story: Adrienne & Danny’s long-awaited pregnancy, miscarriage, and the manuscript that became Hope in the Dark.
• Story: Mandy’s ongoing, unexplained illness; Craig is still in “chapter 1,” praying without resolution.
• Story: Seminary years—exposure to professors who doubted Scripture triggered Craig’s own crisis; a debated book (Theological Cross-Fire) rebuilt his confidence.
• Illustration: Business-class vs. economy-class “sitcom” testimony jokes highlight our desire for neat, fast blessings—life rarely works that way.

7. Permission to Question God

• One-third of Psalms, plus Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Jeremiah, Job record raw laments.
• Even Jesus cried, “Why?” on the cross.
• God would rather hear shouted questions than watch silent abandonment.

8. Moving Forward in the Valley (James 1)

• Trials develop perseverance; perseverance matures faith (James 1).
• Deep intimacy with God is forged “in the valley of the shadow of death,” not on the mountaintop.

Key Truths

• Authentic faith can question God and trust Him at the same time.
• Living faith often grows strongest in unresolved, painful seasons.
• God’s answers may initially intensify, not relieve, our tension.
• Denial and desertion stunt spiritual maturity; wrestling while embracing deepens it.
• Trials, though unwanted, can produce perseverance and completeness.

Response

• Admit your honest questions to God this week.
• Choose not to walk away; hold on to what you know of His character.
• Journal the places you’re wrestling, pairing each with a truth you still embrace.
• Encourage someone else in a similar valley—share your ongoing story, not just a finished testimony.
• Re-read Habakkuk 1 and pray it aloud, inserting your own laments.

Closing

Chapter 1 ends without closure: Habakkuk is confused, hurt, yet still calling God “my Rock.” Craig challenges listeners not to quit in chapter 1 or demand sitcom-speed solutions. The journey of hope continues in chapter 2—and sometimes real life lingers there for a long season.

“God understands your pain. He welcomes your questions. Don’t let your doubts drive you from Him; let them drive you to Him.”

Prayer

Craig prayed for those in a “chapter 1” valley—asking God to give courage to wrestle honestly while clinging to His goodness—and then led seekers in a salvation prayer, surrendering to Jesus for forgiveness and new life.