“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.“
Is Evil Winning?
How do you respond when evil seems to be winning? What do you do when God is silent? As we look at the world today these same questions come to mind. God wants us to bring our questions to Him. Just realize that you may not always get the answers that you expect.
There was a prophet named Habakkuk who asked God questions. The turmoil in Judah had not stopped Habakkuk from believing in God. He still prayed although nothing changed. He cried out to God even though heaven seemed closed. To Habakkuk it looked as though evil was winning.
Hold On to Hope
Maybe that is where you are right now. You believe in God yet you don’t understand His silence. You don’t understand why God allowed that loss. Or why He seems to be taking so long. Habakkuk, lived in a world that no longer made sense. A world where the innocent was being oppressed and the guilty lived in prosperity.
The people of Judah had turned away from God. Violence seemed normal and corruption was rewarded. Sound familiar? As Habakkuk looked around at all that was taking place in the land he held on to hope and with a heavy heart he cried out to God (Habakkuk 1: 1-4). How often have we felt like this?
Not the Expected Answer
Habakkuk did get an answer but it wasn’t what he was expecting. As we look at this book, we see that He didn’t just get answers, but what Habakkuk got was a deeper call to live by faith. To trust in the goodness of God even when everything around him seemed uncertain and chaotic.
Habakkuk asks God how long He was going to allow the wickedness in Judah to go unpunished (Habakkuk 1:2-4). God declared that He is going to send the Chaldeans/Babylonians to destroy Judah (Habakkuk 1:5-11). Habakkuk questioned God as to how He could use the Chaldeans when they are even worse than Judah (Habakkuk 1:12-2:1). God essentially tells Habakkuk to trust Him and assures Habakkuk that He will judge the Chaldeans as well (Habakkuk 2:2-20). God is always righteous but He is not always predictable. Although Habakkuk did not understand why God was answering his prayer the way He was, he did not walk away. He decided to wait, to stand, and to listen to what God would say next. That decision would change everything.
God’s Appointed Time
Habakkuk waited in a position of watchful expectation. He fully expected God to answer him. He placed himself in a position to receive from God (Habakkuk 2:1). At times this can be hard for us to do, to wait for God’s appointed time.
The phrase “Appointed Time” simply means that God knows when the time is right. Or an established time that is decided for a certain reason. Think of it in the same way as if you would set an appointment time to go to the dentist, hairdresser, car repair etc. Trust me when I tell you God keeps His appointments and He is never late.
Habakkuk declared his faith in God and trusted in His salvation (Habakkuk 3:1-19). God promises to be our strength. He is the God of our salvation.
Habakkuk understood something that only those with mature faith did. That sometimes the most powerful position is not moving forward but standing still before God. Faith says I may not understand you God but I trust you enough to wait for the appointed time.
Habakkuk could not see the whole picture but he placed himself in a position, where God could speak to him. God won’t keep silent if we position ourselves to hear.
Live by Faith
God was teaching Habakkuk how to live by FAITH! Faith is not trusting God when life makes sense. Faith is trusting God when life makes no sense at all. I have an acronym for the word faith:
Forsaking All I Trust Him
If God only deserved trust when we understood him, then He would not be God. He would be manageable. Real faith is not trusting God if He changes your circumstances but trusting Him if He’s silent and even if He never does.
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