John K. Jenkins Sr - Yet I Will (01/25/2026)
In this powerful message from Habakkuk, Pastor walks through the prophet's honest complaints to God about why the wicked seem to prosper while the righteous suffer. God reveals He's using even evil nations for judgment, but assures a vision and future for His people—urging patience and trust. The sermon climaxes with Habakkuk's mature declaration: though everything fails around him, yet he will rejoice and joy in the Lord.
Opening Prayer
Father, I thank You for the privilege and the opportunity to be in the house of worship. Thank You for this conference with these wonderful women of God. Thank You, thank You, Father, for Your loving kindness and tender mercy to us. And I want to pray that You would anoint this time, anoint this word, allow it to accomplish what You desire, and let Your name get all of the glory and all of the honor. Put a hedge of protection around this place. Rebuke every demonic spirit. Assail our prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to accomplish in the hearts of Your people that which You desire, and let Your name get all of the glory and all of the honor. In Jesus' name, and everybody said amen.
Stay Awake and Get Ready
Hold up—don’t sit down now. I don’t know how it is here in South Africa, but I know in America, when people finish eating, they want to go to sleep. So I want you to look at your neighbor and tell them, «I authorize you and deputize you to smack the living daylights out of me if I fall asleep.» Go ahead, tell them. If I give an inkling of sleep coming upon me—did y’all tell him? All right, you can be seated.
Preaching Backwards Through Habakkuk
All right, I’m not going to preach long. Y’all supposed to say, «Take your time, Pastor.» But it’s too late—it’s too late, it’s too late, it’s too late. But what I want to do is I want to preach backwards, okay? Can I preach? I’m going to preach backwards. Normally, I give you my Scripture, give you my text, my subject, and get my points. I’m not doing it that way today. I’m going to wait and give you my subject at the end. Can y’all hang with that?
What I want to do is walk you through a book of the Bible. There’s only three chapters, and I want you to just turn to this book and read with me as I expound on this particular passage. It is a minor prophet named Habakkuk. It’s in the Old Testament. If you don’t know where it is, it’s in the Old Testament. It is a minor prophet—it is the eighth minor prophet of the 12 minor prophets.
The Dark Times Judah Faced
We don’t know a whole lot about Habakkuk. The Bible doesn’t tell us much about him, but we know a lot about the circumstances in which he wrote. He’s writing to the tribe of Judah. The nation of Israel is divided up into 12 tribes, and one of the tribes is the tribe of Judah. And he’s been given the assignment of prophesying to Judah at a season and time of their life when their hearts are cold toward God.
They are rebellious. Their hearts have hardened against God. And even though they were created for praise and their assignment was praise, they had the problem of having rejected their purpose in God, and they had turned their backs on God. Somewhere on your row is some joker that fits the same criteria. Go ahead, look up and down your row and see if you can figure out who it is. Now, don’t point to them—just say, «I know who it is.»
Why God Allows the Wicked to Attack
Their hearts have turned away from God. Their hearts have hardened against God. And they are upset, mad, angry, bothered because life is not going their way. As a matter of fact, they’ve got some circumstances that they are being sieged, attacked by the wicked Babylonians. I don’t know if anybody ever had somebody that you just don’t like—who’s not living righteous—who’s coming after you. That’s what’s happening to Judah at this season and part of their journey of their life.
They’re under siege from the wicked, ungodly Babylonians, and they are upset and blinded as to why God has allowed their circumstances. Why has God allowed them to be in this particular situation? Why has God permitted the Babylonians? And matter of fact, they’re asking the question, «Why me?» And why is God allowing these wicked people to attack me? I know y’all have never been in a place where you felt God allowed you to suffer.
The Pain of Seeing the Wicked Prosper
And why does He allow the wicked to do well while you’re trying to do right and you seem to be struggling? Go ahead, look at your neighbor—say, «He talking to me right now.» The question of «why» is often asked: Why am I suffering? Why are the wicked prospering? Why are the righteous people going broke and the wicked people seem to have all the money? Why am I walking to church and the wicked people are driving past the church?
Habakkuk's Honest Complaints to God
God has prophesied to Judah through the prophet Habakkuk. So go to Habakkuk chapter 1—just walk with me through this book. And here we find Habakkuk talking and raising some issues and questions with God. Just hang with me—I promise I’ll be finished when I get done. Habakkuk 1, verse 1 says, «The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.» He says this: «O Lord"—verse 2—"O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear?»
Anybody ever cried and wondered if God heard you? «How long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to You, 'Violence! ' and You will not save.» In other words, these Babylonians are heaping violence upon us, Lord, and You are not delivering us. Why? Verse 3: «Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention arises.»
«Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous.» Oh, this is troubling. As he’s talking to God, he says the law doesn’t come to my defense, and justice doesn’t seem to plead a case to help me, and the wicked are surrounding the people who are righteous. Are y’all with me? Have I lost you yet?
God's Surprising Response
This is a question—these are questions. These are troubling things. Here are questions that the prophet is raising with God: Why has God allowed these circumstances to happen? When we get to verse 5, God answers. Look at verse 5—God finally says something: «Look among the nations and watch—be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told to you.»
Stick a pin right there. God says, «I’m doing something—even though you don’t see it right now, I’m doing something. I’m working a work that you would not believe though somebody would tell you about it.» Verse 6: «For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.»
God says, «I’m doing a work, and the work I’m doing—I’ve raised up wicked people to conquer you. I raised up the unrighteous people to defeat you.» «For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans"—He says, «a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.»
«Their horses also are swifter than leopards and more fierce than evening wolves. Their chargers charge ahead; their cavalry comes from afar; they fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. They all come for violence; their faces are set like the east wind; they gather captives like sand. They scoff at kings, and princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, for they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.»
«Then his mind changes, and he transgresses; he commits offense, ascribing this power to his god.» Y’all missed the point. Yeah, I got to try to get you to understand that God sometimes raises up wicked, ungodly people to do nasty, bad, evil things to you. It doesn’t make sense always. It’s troubling—it’s troubling, yes it is.
More Questions After God's Answer
Why does God allow wicked people to move ahead while we are in the back? Why does God allow unrighteous people to do harm to us? Is the question. And this is God’s response to Habakkuk’s questions about why is it happening. God says, «I raised them up. I caused them to bring this judgment upon you because I’m judging you—because your hearts have strayed from Me.»
But by the time we get to verse 12—somebody say, «Let me go to verse 12.» Let me go to verse—God responds yet again to Habakkuk, and God’s response even raises more questions from Habakkuk. Look at what Habakkuk says in verse 12: «Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One?» Oh, y’all missed a grace spot here. Here’s Habakkuk saying, «Why You letting these wicked people do what they do? Aren’t You God?»
«We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment… You have marked them for correction. You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he? Why do You make men like fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over them?»
«They take up all of them with a hook; they catch them in their net, and gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice to their net, and burn incense to their dragnet; because by them their share is sumptuous and their food plentiful. Shall they therefore empty their net, and continue to slay nations without pity?»
We've All Asked God 'Why?'
It’s a troubling situation. He’s raising these issues with God. Y’all might as well tell the truth—you’ve raised some similar questions with God. If you were to tell the truth: Why does God allow certain things to happen to you? How come other people who don’t even go to church got a job and you can’t get one?
Why did your coworker that halfway does the job got the promotion, and you doing the job right and you didn’t get the promotion? How come so-and-so got married and got her a husband, and here you are living holy—she didn’t live holy, you living holy, and you ain’t even got a man? She living unholy and she got a man and got married. Come on, holler back at your brother—you know what I’m talking about.
It is a question that, if y’all were to be honest, there are circumstances and situations and dilemmas in your life that you sometimes—if you had an opportunity to talk to God face to face—you would say, «Why?» Who am I talking to today? Who has sometimes said, «Why?» Go ahead, say to God, «Why?» Say to God, «Why?» Look at your neighbor—say, «I want an answer.»
Personal Stories of Waiting and Rejection
We might as well tell the truth—yes, I have been in circumstances and situations that I didn’t understand why God permitted certain things to happen. Oh yes, I have been in circumstances—before I pastored, I saw other people get called to pastor churches, and I wondered, and I was struggling: Why did that joker get a church but nobody wanted me?
I applied at churches, and nobody wanted me. By the way, can I tell y’all something for just a quick second? Let me throw this in for just a quick little second—I’m going to throw it in. I applied at all these churches, and none of them would take me to be their pastor. I’d applied to some churches, and they wouldn’t even call me back to tell me I didn’t get it.
But now that I’m a pastor and pastoring one of the largest churches in America—wait, hold up—I like for those churches to call me and ask me to come to their church and preach to them now, and I tell them, «I’m sorry, I’m too busy to come and talk to you.» Can I get a witness? Anybody—I know I shouldn’t do it. I know it’s not the right way to behave. I know I shouldn’t act that way, but it sure feels good to be able to have the option to do it.
Waiting on God's Vision
Y’all might as well tell the truth—that joker who left you for somebody else, and then it didn’t work out, and now he calling you back. Oh, y’all okay—y’all act like I ain’t—act like y’all don’t know what I’m talking about. Go ahead, act like I don’t know what I’m talking about. Here Habakkuk has raised all these issues with God: Why are these wicked Babylonians beating us up and taking us out and frustrating us?
They’re asking all of those questions. And finally, by the time we get to chapter 2—are y’all still with me? When we get to chapter 2, verse 1—look at chapter 2, verse 1. Here’s what it says—I love this passage right here. By the time I get to the end of this book, I’m just going to take you through the whole book. Y’all hang with me for just a few minutes.
He says in verse 1: «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.» Y’all see that? That’s chapter 2, verse 1. Here is Habakkuk saying, «I’m going to wait and see what the Lord has to say.» Anybody ever been at a place where you were waiting to see what God had to say?
And by the time we get to verse 2 of chapter 2, God gives an answer. Look at verse 2, chapter 2—it says, «Then the Lord answered me and said…» Are y’all with me? Are y’all with me? «Then the Lord answered me and said, 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.'» Oh, I feel a shout coming on here right now.
There Is a Vision and a Future for You
Here’s the first thing that I want you to see—here’s my first point if I’m going to have points. Here’s my first point: God says, «Write the vision.» Okay, y’all missed it—I got to explain everything to you. The thing I’m shouting about is that there is a vision. There is a future. I don’t know who I’m preaching to today, but there’s a destiny for you. There’s a future for you.
God has a plan for you. God has a vision for your tomorrow. It may not all be evident right now, but God has a destiny for you. Turn to your neighbor, point your finger in their face, and tell them, «God has a destiny, a future, a purpose, an assignment, an anointing, a call, a victory. There is a vision.» I don’t always see it, but there’s a vision. I don’t always feel it, but there is a vision.
Write It Down and Keep Running
High-five your neighbor and say, «I got a vision. I got a vision.» And God said for me to write it down—make it plain. I love this passage right here. God says, «Write down what I tell you. Write down what I told you. Write down what I showed you. Write down the vision.» Here’s the first thing I’m trying to tell you is whatever God has told you about your future, write it down.
'Cause when it gets dark, the devil sometimes wants to remind you or try to make you think that there is no future. But I’m here to tell you, write it down so that when you read it, you can remind yourself what God told you. Y’all ain’t hearing what I’m saying to you today. Sometimes you got to remember what God told you in the light so when it gets dark, you’ll be able to sustain yourself in the dark.
Somebody tell your neighbor, «Trouble don’t last always.» There is a vision. He says, «Write it down—make it plain.» Here’s what I love about when He says, «Make it plain"—He says, «Write it down, make it plain so that he may run who reads it.» That means that every time you read it, it’ll keep you running so you won’t lose heart, so you won’t quit, so you won’t walk away, so you won’t give up.
Write it down in a way that it will remind you of what God has said to you, and it’ll keep you running. Tell your neighbor, «I’m going to run when I read it.» I want you to keep on talking to your neighbor and tell them that God has said something to me. God has said something to me. Hold up—He didn’t stop there. He says, «Write the vision and make it plain that he may run who reads it.»
The Vision Has an Appointed Time
And then He says this—oh, I like this: «For the vision is yet for an appointed time.» Woo—somebody tell your neighbor, «It’s an appointed time. Your vision is coming—it just ain’t time yet. Wait till your appointed time come.» This is important here. Sometimes God will hold off your vision being a reality 'cause you ain’t ready for it yet. Oh, y’all missed a great spot to say amen.
I don’t want to go nowhere that I’m not ready for. I don’t want God to take me any place that I’m not prepared for. Don’t let me get in a situation that I’m not mature enough to handle yet. Y’all hearing what I’m saying? Hold it—hold me back. Keep the vision unmanifested—don’t let it get here until I’m ready to handle it, until I’m mature enough to deal with it, until I am ready to handle it.
He said—I love this right here—it is for an appointed time. I wish I could get somebody to be excited and say, «I’m willing to wait until my time comes.» All those days and all those churches that passed me by—I wasn’t ready. I can look back now and see if they had called me then, I wasn’t ready for it. But thanks be to God, He held me back until I was ready.
It Will Speak and Not Lie
And then He says this—oh, I love—somebody going to shout on this. He says, «But in the end it will speak.» When I get to where I’m going, when it becomes a reality, it’s going to talk to me—it’s going to become a reality, it’s going to manifest itself. It will speak. And guess what? It will not lie. People will lie to you, but the vision that God said will not lie to you.
People might find fault in you, but the vision will not lie. «Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come. It will not tarry.» Oh, y’all—excuse me to keep telling you—tell yourself, «It won’t tarry. It’ll come at the right time. I’ll wait on it. I’ll wait for my appointed time. I’ll wait for my vision to become a reality. I will wait till I see what God has in store. I’m willing to wait.»
Who am I talking to today? Somebody say, «Let me give God a shout while I’m waiting. Let me give Him a praise while I’m waiting. Let me give Him thanks 'cause I know when it comes, it’s going to be a major deal. When it comes, it’s going to blow your mind. When it comes, it’s going to shock you.» Somebody say, «I’m going to wait until my vision becomes a reality. It won’t lie.»
Wait Patiently - It's Worth It
Tell somebody, «It’s not going to lie. It’s not going to lie. It’s not going to lie.» The vision has an appointed time, and it will speak. Though it tarries—oh, I love this right here. And I can look back—I’m—I can look back at all of the times I got impatient and all of the times I got frustrated and all the times I got mad and upset that other people were moving forward and other people were being blessed and I wasn’t being blessed.
You know what I discovered? Ooh—wait a minute, slow down. Let me tell you—when God gives you a blessing, it’s worth waiting for. Somebody say, «It’s worth waiting for.» It’s worth—it’s worth waiting. It’s coming. There’s an appointed time. There’s a season for it. There’s a designated time for it to show up. But when it comes, I’m going to be ready for it, and I’m willing to wait till my appointed time.
Though it tarries—my assignment is to tell you, wait for it. I don’t know who I’m preaching to, but wait for it. Tell them, «The pastor trying to tell you to wait for it.» Go ahead, tell them, «Wait for it. Wait for it.» Don’t get weary. Don’t get frustrated. Don’t get tired. Years might go by, months might go by, seasons might go by, but it’s going to come to pass.
Don't Force It Like Sarah Did
And by the way, don’t make the mistake that Sarah made. Because God had told Sarah and Abraham that Abraham was going to be the father of a great nation. And when it didn’t happen as quickly as Abraham wanted, Sarah came up with an idea for Abraham to sleep with the handmaiden. Y’all know that story, don’t you? And he slept with the maidservant, and she gave birth to a son that wasn’t the promise.
And it’s created hell ever since that happened. It’s been nations—the Israelis and the Islamic people have been fighting and warring because Abraham was not willing to wait. I’m just trying to tell you, wait until what God has for you becomes a reality. Don’t take the wrong job. Don’t marry the wrong joker. Don’t do the wrong thing. Wait until the appointed time. Somebody say, «Wait for the appointed time.»
Rejoice Even When Nothing Is Happening
Oh, I feel a shout—I feel a shout. I feel like giving God the praise. Wait until your change comes. And all through chapter two, that’s what all that talks about. But by the time Habakkuk gets to chapter 3—I’m not going to go through all of chapter two. Let me go to the end of chapter 3. Let me go ahead and tell you about chapter 3, verse 17 though.
Look at verse 17, chapter 3: «Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls…» Y’all missed us—y’all missed everything. Here’s what God is trying to tell you—that while you’re waiting, you might see seasons where there’s no figs on the tree.
No fruit on the vine. No labor from all of your work, and there’s no olives that are flourishing off the vine. And the fields yield no fruit—you done worked the fields, but there’s still no fruit. And the flocks have been cut off from the fold, and there are no herds in the stalls. You done done all the work—ain’t no money in the bank.
And you done done all that you need to do, and you can’t find no help nowhere. What do you do while you’re in the midst of all of the patience and waiting that you’ve been doing? There’s no figs, no fruit, no olives, there’s no fields—no nothing being yielded in the fields, and no flocks have been cut off from the fold, and no herds in the stalls. What shall you do?
The Mature Response: Yet I Will Rejoice
I’m glad you asked the question. Verse 18 says, «Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.» Y’all don’t get it—I thought y’all would jump up and down. It’s a mentality. It’s a mindset. It’s a level of maturity. By the time Habakkuk got to the end of chapter 3—he was complaining in chapter 1 and crying in chapter 2—by the time he got to chapter 3, something had happened to Habakkuk.
That he said, «I matured in this season—that I recognize that everything might not come as quickly as I wanted. But what I’ve learned is, while I’m waiting—yet I will…» My vision might not be clear right now. I might not see everything right now, but yet I will… Somebody say, «Yet I will.» Yet I will—tell your neighbor, «Yet I will. I will.»
Y’all okay—I got to break it down to y’all. Y’all still ain’t got it. While I’m waiting for the manifestation of the vision—while I’ve been frustrated, I’ve been complaining—but now I’m mature enough, now I’m maturing, I’m getting seasoned enough to know that God has my back. Because He already said the vision is going to happen—it’s going to come to pass. You just got to be patient and wait on it.
It’s going to happen. I don’t know what God told you, but I came by here to tell you it’s going to come to pass. Just be patient and tarry 'cause it will not lie. The vision will not lie. And then it says this: «Yet I will rejoice.» Somebody say, «I’m going to rejoice.» Tell them on the other side, «I’m going to rejoice. I’m going to rejoice.»
Here’s what the word «rejoice» means—here’s what’s going to show your level of maturity: «Yet I will rejoice.» The word «rejoice» means that while you’re waiting on the vision to come to reality, you will jump for joy. Are you able in the midst of your drama and in the midst of your vision not happening right now—are you able to say, «I know God’s going to work it out. I know God’s got me covered.»
«I know God is fighting my battle. I know God is setting it up. It might not come when I want it, but He’ll hold it back till I get there. He’ll hold it back till I get to that season. I know He got my back.» Somebody say, «Yet I will rejoice.» I’m not ashamed to rejoice. Wait a minute—don’t stop, don’t stop. Wait, wait, wait—I’m simply trying to tell you what you need to do.
«Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.» Y’all see that right there? Put that verse up there for a second—put it back up there. Verse 18: «Yet I will rejoice…» And then it says, «I will joy in the God of my salvation.» Here’s what the word «joy» means—are y’all with me? I’m bringing my plane in for a landing. I’m pulling my boat into the dock. I’m bringing the car into the garage. I’m bringing my sermon to an end.
The Final Subject: Yet I Will
I’m about to conclude. The word «joy» means spin around. He says, «Yet I will rejoice and joy in the Lord.» Y’all missed a great spot. I got enough maturity. I got enough walk with God. I got enough confidence in the God that I serve that in due season, in due time, I shall reap if I faint not. I’m not going to jump and spin based on how I feel emotionally.
I’m doing it based on my confidence in the God that I serve. It’s coming. He’s working it out. The vision is coming a reality. But while you’re waiting—while you’re looking for—Hallelujah. That brings me to my subject, and the subject of my message is «Yet I Will.» «Yet I Will.» Somebody say something to you—what’s wrong? Just tell them, «Yet I will. I will—yet I will rejoice. Yet I will joy in the Lord.»