Previously, Habakkuk complained to God.
Now we see God's response.
Hab 1:6 I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwelling places not their own.
Somehow I don’t think this is exactly what Habakkuk had in mind.
This is part 3 of a series on – where are you God? If you haven’t read the first parts, you may want to check them out first.
See the link just below the title line.
When we left Habakkuk, he had just unleashed some frustration on God – like with all this bad stuff going on here, how come You aren't taking care of us like You said You would? After what was apparently a long time, God finally says watch and be amazed at what I’m going to do.
This could be good – or bad. At least we learn one thing – God is alive and well. But what of this response?
Before we find out what God has to say in response to Habakkuk's complaint - I want to point out something that was mentioned in the first part of this series. Just the fact that God answers - whether we like the answer or not - proves that He does exist. Saying that we don't like the answer and then concluding that He therefore doesn't exist should give us pause. If we're thinking that - we may want to revisit our thinking. If there was an answer - good, bad or indifferent - it was still an answer. Accepting that it was an answer is the first step in the process of trying to understand that answer, especially if we didn't like it.
One hard issue is when there appears to be no answer. Maybe the answer is "no". That's a tough one. We may try to convince ourselves that there actually was no answer, even in deep in our hearts somewhere we feel there really was. Sometimes it's hard to be honest - even with ourselves. Worse yet is when the answer is "not yet" or "wait". I've had that one. Waiting for decades. And it caused no small amount of anger directed at God. Eventually, I changed from anger to "what do you want me to learn"? After a while, it was "You're gonna have to hit me on the head with a 2x4, because my head is pretty think and I'm just not getting it". (Yes, I do pray like that.) Not too long after that I came to a similar conclusion to what Job realized in Job 42:1-3 -
Job 42:1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
Job 42:3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
My point - if God says "no" or "wait" or "not yet" - it's a good idea to listen. Not that we're going to. I think that's something we have to learn for ourselves - some of us multiple times. I put it here as something for you (and me) to remember the next time we're in a similar situation.
So - back to Habakkuk.
There are some who may fear that Habakkuk’s in big trouble for the way he talked to God. But that raises an interesting question. If we have thoughts in our minds, feelings in our hearts, but don’t say them – does that make it any better for us with God for not having actually spoken them? Consider this from Luke 5:17-26 -
Lk 5:17 One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
Lk 5:20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
Lk 5:21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
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