When Money Feels Safer Than God (What are you really trusting?) | Season 10 Ep 6

The scariest kind of danger is the kind that feels like safety. We open Habakkuk 2:9-14 and sit with a blunt warning from Scripture: “woe” to the person who builds a big house or a whole empire with dishonest gain. When money becomes the shield, faith quietly shifts from God to wealth, and what looks like success can turn into deep sorrow and a collapsing foundation.

We walk through why the Book of Habakkuk still feels so current when the news is heavy, people act unjustly, and corruption looks untouchable.
We also pull in supporting Bible passages, such as 1 Timothy 6:10, and then land on a practical question: what are you building, and what is it built on? 

If this challenged you, share it with a friend, subscribe to Grab The Faith, and leave a review so more people can find this Bible study and keep the faith with us. What’s one area where you’ve had to choose trust in God over trust in money?

Transcript

Welcome To Grab The Faith

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Hey all, thank you for joining us here at Grab the Faith, where we try to grab the faith and run with it. Join us as we try to learn a little more, grow a little more, and live a lot more. I'm your host, Bobby Gentry Goodwin. Stay tuned for this week's episode. Good evening, good evening, good evening, and welcome to Grab the Faith, the podcast where we study this Bible. We study the Word of God, and this Word of God has been enriching us. So thank you for joining me tonight as we just dive back into our study for this season, the book of Habakkuk, this Old Testament book who has been encouraging us, who has been teaching us, who has been strengthening us along the way. Y'all enjoying this study? I sure am enjoying this study. I am encouraged, y'all. As I've been reading and studying this incredible book, short book, but I am encouraged by this short book. It is so timely, right? Like there is many things that go out of style. You know, you can see my hair, I'm natural hair today. I got my natural curls out. And for many, many years, I would never have my natural hair out, right? Because straight was the style, right? That flat on that press and curl, it used to be called press and curl back in the day. And honey, that press and curl was in style. And nobody wore natural hair, but it went out of style. But what never goes out of style, what

Why Habakkuk Still Hits Home

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is always relevant is this word of God. And as we are studying this book of Habakkuk, its relevancy is jumping off the page for me. And I hope it's jumping off the page for you. It is a living, breathing word of God. The only book that you read that will read you. So I'm encouraged tonight, and I hope you've been encouraged in this study too, because I've been reassured, y'all. I've been reassured time and time again that evil will never prevail. See, we all know that the devil is a liar, honey. He comes to kill, steal, and destroy. We all know that. But sometimes when we look at people living in the world, doing really unjust things, right? They're corrupt, they're greedy, they're unethical. It really does burden the heart. And that's exactly where Habakkuk landed, right? All this evil around him has started to burden his heart. And that just did not sit well with him. And I don't know about you, but I'm telling you, sometimes I turn on the news and I see the news, and it just burns, it just leaves a burden on my heart because people are hurting. And there's people out there that just don't care. But we learn here in the book of Habakkuk, time and time again, that evil will never prevail. God is still in control. There is no escape clause for those who do people wrong. So I'm encouraged now more than ever that our gracious God has reminded us in this book time and time again that he is just and that his justice will show up.

When Evil Burdens The Heart

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But we have to stand in faith. We have to believe him. We have to believe what he says, that he is in control, that he has all power. How do we stand in the faith that we prove we profess? Hebrews 11 and 1 says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So listen, let me start off by reminding you to keep the faith. Keep the faith saying, stand on, stand in faith, read about it, meditate on it, study this word of God so it can increase your faith. Even you can ask God for it. You know, one of the one of the scriptures in the word of God said the person came to God and said, Help my unbelief. We can even go to ask God to increase our faith. Listen, saints, we're driving back into this book study, but I just want to encourage you to keep the faith. Now let's go on to the book of Habakkuk as I'm just going off already on a tangent.

The Just Shall Live By Faith

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Okay. Last week we left off with God beginning to answer Habakkuk. And we're gonna pick up right into this the midst of this answer because God and Habakkuk is having this back and forth, back and forth. And we learned last week or in the weeks before that God has a dialogue with his people, okay? We talked to him and he talks to us. Thank God for that. And he is talking to this prophet, right? He's telling him he came, Habakkuk came with some questions, and God came with some answers. So we're picking up right in the middle of God's answer to Habakkuk, right? So we're actually at Habakkuk's second question. So if you want to learn more about the first question or or how he answers it initially, that second question, go on back in these previous lessons. But we already learned that God has answered Habakkuk, that the just shall live by faith, which is stated in the old testament, in this old testament book. The just shall live by faith. Now, if you've been in Christianity for a minute and you've been following Jesus, you know that scripture is so uh widely used, it's widely talked about. The just shall live by faith, the just shall live by faith. That shows up here in this old testament book, but it is repeated several times in the new testament. What does that tell us? That it's so important that God brought it back. It's so important. God reminded several times in the New Testament, right? And honey, when my daddy used to tell me something three times, three times, you best be listening. So God tells Habakkuk exactly, right? That that with this righteous living, right? He has this comparison, righteous living, unrighteous living last time. But here in this study, in this study, he talks about what unrighteous living looks like, right? He's talking about what the woes are, right? He's telling us woes, this type of unrighteous living, God is very clear, woe to you who live this way. So I want us to study tonight what are these woes, right? Because we don't want no woes attached to our behavior, okay? What is God so clear about in saying, woe to you who lives this with this type of way? He's very clear about that. So we want to be clear about what causes God to say woe to you, okay? And he lists them out some major ways of living unjustly, right? That should be cautionary highlights to us.

What “Woe” Really Means

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So, what does woe mean anyway? Woe primarily refers to great sorrow, distress, or misery. That's the English version, right? The English definition: great sorrow, distress, misery. But the biblical version, honey, it packs a punch. It states a potent declaration of impending judgment. Y'all get that? It ain't just distress, honey. It is a potent declaration of impending judgment, divine penalty and deep sorrow.

Reading Habakkuk 2:9-14

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Now I am reading Habakkuk chapter 2, verses 9 through 14, and I will be reading from the New Living Translation. However, the woe to is outlined in the King James Version. So in the New Living Translation, it says what sorrow. But in the King James Version, it says, What what? I mean, in the King James Version, it says, Woe to you. If you have your Bibles, go on and join me. And Habakkuk chapter 2, verses 9 through 14, which says this New Living Translation, what sorrow awaits you who build big houses with money gained dishonestly? You believe your wealth will buy security. I'm just gonna pause there. You believe your wealth will buy security. Let that sink in. Let that sink in, saying what sorrow awaits you who build big houses with money that is gained dishonestly. You believe your wealth will buy security, putting your family's nest beyond the reach of danger. But by the murders you committed, you have shamed your name and forfeited your life. The very lives, the very stones in the walls cry out against you. That's that big house. The very stones in the walls cry out against you, and the beams in the ceiling echo that complaint. What sorrow King James Version, woe to you, woe to you. What sorrow awaits you who build cities with money again through murder and corruption? Has not the Lord of Heaven's army promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all in vain. For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of God. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of his most holy word.

Wealth As A False Safety Net

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Woe to you, woe to you. What are you woe to you? What sorrow awaits you who build big houses with money gained dishonestly? Woe to you. Oh, this is tax is just heavy on my heart. See the there are people on the other side of these woes. There are people on the other side of these woes, y'all, that is focused on the wrong thing. They're focused on the monetary gain. They're focused on money in a way that it breeds dishonesty, it breeds corruption, it breeds greed. Just so they can have a big house. Woe to you. See, they are working overtime doing evil so they can pad their pockets. They are working overtime so they can have a nest egg for their children. But they working in a dishonest manner. They manipulate people, they stealing from people, they're doing things, saints. That is not just they're not living by faith in God, they're living by faith in money. I pause because the word of the Lord says, Your belief, you believe your wealth will buy security. Now, listen, y'all, not all of us is deceptive, not all of us is stealing and chill cheating and doing all of that. Not all of us is doing that. But what happens when you put your faith in your wealth? What happens when your wealth becomes your safety net? What happens when you put your trust and your faith and wealth and not in God? See, I believe before people got to that woe to you, their goals was misaligned, their faith was misaligned. I believe that sometimes people who steal, sometimes they didn't start off stealing, they started off with just wanting security, they started off with just wanting some things, and they couldn't get those things, and so in put instead of putting faith in God, they put faith in money, and then they started planting seeds, and the seed led to a woe-to-year. See, this text is talking about Babylon and the Chaldeans and all of that, but I do think it has some implications for us. I know it has some implications for us. Sometimes when they can't see another way, they make their own way. Because sometimes when people start off robbing a corner store, they end up robbing a bank. Sometimes when people start off grabbing a purse, they end up scamming seniors. See, it escalates. And when it gets to that point, they're working overtime at it, right? They're working overtime at doing evil. They've already built their big house. And they're walk driving down their circular driveways, and they're opening up their door to their hardwood or marble floors or their big fancy four years. And they're walking outdoors to their big, huge, Olympic-sized pools, and they're looking around their gated communities, and they're feeling good. They're feeling like they've made it, but they're not considering how they made it. They're plotting, they're planning, they're finding loopholes, they're casing neighborhoods, sketching things out. Have you ever been around somebody like that? That is always looking for opportunity for deception, how they can come up, working overtime, right? On how they could manipulate and mastermind a situation for their benefit, working overtime to try to evade justice, to get over on somebody, to secure gain dishonestly. Well, God is reminding us here woe to you, you evildoers. Go on and build your big house with your circular driveway, your mansion on a hill, off the backs of other people. Woe to you. Personal wealth becomes their stronghold. You may look like you're enjoying that reward. You built the big house with the money you stole from people's retirement, bought the property with the big bonus that you got from your company, all the while you cut people's health care, sitting in that big house that you createdly maneuvered in the lawyer's office just so your divorced spouse wouldn't get it. Woe to you. Relaxing in all of your evil spoils, having the audacity to try to secure it away for your daughter and sons so nobody else can get at it? When you robbed it from somebody else's daughters and sons? You may think that you've amassed a fortune, but you've done it on the backs of other people. You may think that you amassed money in your bank account, but you've done it off the backs of other people. You may think that your pockets is looking fat right now, but you went into the pockets of somebody else and stole it. Woe to you! Your wealth won't buy you security like you think. That's what the word of God is teaching us tonight. Let me remind us all of 1 Timothy 6, verses 1 chapter 6, verses 10, which says, For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. You see that sorrow coming up again, deep spiritual sorrow. That's what woe to you. That was that's what that woe means. You may feel good now, but woe to you. There is judgment coming, not my judgment, but the just God, right? What happens when you put your faith and money and things? Things can be birthed from it. You want that house so bad that you'll cheat to get it. Woe to you. See, this is the kind of stuff that can give birth when we elevate money to a God. When we elevate money so high that we don't look at people, we start looking at things. What happens when money becomes your idol? Dishonesty, lying, greed, corruption, extortion, murder, and disgrace. That's what's being pointed out in scripture. All for what? Have you seen ever seen an armored truck following a hearse? There is no sense of security in the things that we have amassed. It reminds me of the prophet Haggai, which is

Money As An Idol Breaks Foundations

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just a few books past this book of Habakkuk. And the Lord wanted his own house built up, and the people kept making excuses why they built their own big houses. And the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai and said, Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the Lord of heaven's army says. Look at what's happening to you. You have planted much, but you harvested it little. You have planted it much, but harvested little. You eat, but are not satisfied. You drink, but are still thirsty. Ooh, this prophecy book of Haggai. You drink, but you're still thirsty. You have put on clothes, but you can't keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes. See, it's not sustaining saints. That's what the book of Haggai says. And listen, it's talking about building the Lord's house during that time to rebuild that temple. They wanted to rebuild that house of the Lord, that temple of the Lord. And they didn't want to do it because they were so focused on what they they wanted. And listen, there's a spiritual implication here too. That sometimes we are so busy building our own house. How we look, how we smell, how we dress, what we got, that our spiritual houses lie in ruin. That's a whole nother lesson. But listen, what God is teaching us here in the book of Habakkuk. God has a way, saints, of letting us know there ain't no way that we're gonna get away with that. Just like the people here in the book of Habakkuk, they ain't gonna get away with that. Listen, my granny used to put it this way: whatever's done in the dark is gonna come to light. Did your granny say that too? These people don't care about what's right, they don't care nothing about Jesus, they care about money, they care about the biblical death, mammum. They care about mammon. They don't care about Jesus. Listen, saints, the very thing that you build can be testifying against you. That's what this book of Habakkuk is telling us. The very thing you built can be testifying against, even the bricks it's talking about, the bricks and and the wall, they're crying out against you because you did it dishonestly. And the King James Version says, Grab your pearls. I'm clutching mine. It's a sin against your soul. Ooh. Woe to you. Woe to you. It's a sin against your soul. I once read as a small child, unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. All in vain. Vanity is a very dangerous thing. And when we elevate the things of this world, that money, the Lord wants us to know what can happen. You ever play Jenga, the game? And if you put that foundation there and you just building and building and building and building, and it could go up pretty high when that foundation is solid. But when that foundation is not solid, no matter how high it gets, you touch it one good way and it all comes crumbling down. I don't care how many pieces you put on top of it, how high you build it, if that foundation ain't secure, it will topple. Listen, saints, put your faith in God. Take your faith out of the things of this world. It don't matter what type of car you drive, what type of purse, what type of home you live in, if they Louis bottoms or not, you got shoes. Listen, that's what the song, I got shoes, you got shoes, all God's children got shoes. When we get to heaven, we're gonna put on our shoes and walk all over God have. Listen, it don't matter. Now I know that we all want things. Let's be clear. We need houses to live in and food on our table. It's okay to want things, but don't elevate those things above God. That's the challenge. Because when we do, woe to you. And our next woe, as I'm wrapping to the end, highlights what can happen when we don't put our faith in God and we forgive personal gain when we want power. We want gain that's elevated. We don't want the big house, we want the whole block. Okay. We

The Danger Of Building Empires

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don't want a car, we want a fleet of cars. See, there's people who not just want personal gain, they want gain in a way that it is a powerful gain of on a massive level. So the next one is talking about woe to you when you put your faith not in God, but in building cities, even elevated, right? When you try to prioritize an empire, and we're seeing that, right? But when you so focus on the empire, that you don't want, you you don't want, it's just not enough for you to do good, but you want it so bad that you put that as the goal, that you're trying to elevate that measure of success higher than anything else. Right? Corporate empires, political empires. Be cautious when you want an empire. What kind of empire you want, and how bad, and what are you willing to do to get it? See, the Lord is reminding us what sorrow awaits those who build cities with money gain through murder and corruption. Because some people reach a level, right, that they gotta stay at that level. And so, in order to stay at that level, they become corrupt. So the Lord is clear here too. Not only will houses topple, personal houses topple, but nations will also topple too, because it's all in vanity, it's all in vain. So listen, as I wrap to the end, where are you putting your trust tonight? Are you putting it in your empire? You putting

Plant Righteous Seeds And Trust God

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it in your personal gain? Well, what are you doing to get there? Right? Trust in God. Because as my daughter would say, you know, if I wear an outfit and she don't like it or it ain't, it ain't hitting, she said, Mama, that ain't it. Listen, say you putting your trust in money, that ain't it. You gotta trust in God. Don't you go sinning against your soul to buy a Louis bag or some red bottom shoes or to fatten that bank account and have this money here, this money there, this money here, or a house on a hill or owning a block. Don't you get corrupt to get there. Stay integral. Because if you're gonna buy something by the truth and not a lie, all that old corruption, all that greed, all of that extortion, all of that, that's a lie. Proverbs 22 and 23 and 23 says, buy the truth and sell it not. Okay, also wisdom and instruction and understanding by the truth. And verse 14 of Habakkuk, I'm ending, is the real truth. For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of God. Because saints, one day Jesus is gonna crack the sky, and the dead in Christ, they shall rise. See, a trump is going to sound, and those who know him will be welcome in. Those who live just will be welcome in. Those who live righteous will be welcome in. Those who confess Christ, all those who correct all and that are underneath that umbrella will be welcomed in. But those who don't, as it says in Matthew 7, and then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Woe to you, those who are involved in these evil deeds. Don't plant the seed. Plant seeds of righteousness, plant seeds of faith. God does bless his people. I know that you still live in an apartment, but stay true to God. He has some blessings for you. I know you ain't got a steak on your table. Stay true to God, He got some blessings for you. I know it's hard out here. You don't know if you're gonna have gas in your tank on Monday. Listen, stay true to God. Profess Christ, live right and keep the faith. Because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and they that dwell within. Trust God, He will come through, and you don't have to do it, He'll do it.