READ HABBAKUK 1:2
How do we deal with the situation where it looks like God is doing nothing? (Where it seems like He is silent to your prayers! Silent to the injustices happening around you?)
In Psalm 13:1-2, David asks the same question. In John 11:3-6, Jesus speaks out the promise and then does nothing about it for 2 Days!! And by the time He gets to Bethany, Lazarus has been dead 4 days in the tomb!
What do you do when it seems like God is silent to your prayers and the injustice around you?
Context: Being the 8th of the minor prophets in the Old Testament, the prophecy of HABBAKUK appears to have been written around 610BC (the end of the seventh century) before the Babylonian’s attack in Jerusalem in 605 BC. Habakkuk was crying out to God about the injustice that was happening in Israel (the violence, the corruption, the destruction and conflict) and it seemed like God was doing nothing about it.
Yet how does Habakkuk go from this, to getting to the point in Habakkuk 3:17-18 where he is able to say:
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
1.BE OPEN TO THE FACT THAT THE WAY GOD INTERVENES MAY NOT BE THE WAY YOU WANT HIM TO!
In vs 2-4, It seems that Habbakuk wanted God to bring revival to Israel (possibly by transforming the hearts of the wicked), but instead the means by which God would bring revival was by bringing discipline to Israel (Hebrews 12:6-11) through Babylon (Habbakuk 1:5-11). This prompts Habakkuk to ask God why He tolerates those who are more wicked (Babylon) as they swallow up those who are more righteous (Israel) vs 13. (Be open to the fact that the way God answers you may not be the way you want)
May be sometimes the reason we don’t hear God’s answer to our prayers is because He is saying something we don’t want to hear!!
2.BE STILL AND LOOK TO THE LORD FOR HIS ANSWER RATHER THAN FOCUSSING ON YOUR SITUATION!
Notice in Habakkuk 2:1 that the prophet stood at his station and looked to the Lord to see what He would say. This is in contrast to Habakkuk 1:3 where Habakkuk was looking at and focussing on the situation and injustice in Israel instead!
Ultimately God tells Habakkuk that justice/judgement will come on the nation that harms Israel (Habakkuk 2:16-17). It is comforting knowing that those who seem to get away with wickedness in this life will ultimately stand before God the righteous judge and will receive justice for their crimes. (1 Peter 2:23) Knowing this means, just like our saviour Jesus, we don’t need to seek revenge on our enemies, but can have joy in our saviour and God!!
3.WRITE DOWN GOD’S REVELATION AND PASS IT ON!!
Notice that the personal revelation God was about to give Habakkuk wasn’t meant to be kept to himself, but passed on to others!! We see this theme throughout the scriptures!! In 1 Corinthians 11:23, 15:3, Paul passed on what He received from the Lord!! In Matthew 28:20, we also see Jesus telling His disciples to teach the nations whatever He had commanded them!!
So often, when Jesus gives us a revelation from His word in our quiet times, we nicely write it down in our diaries and keep it hidden in a bookcase in our room for no-one else to see or be blessed by it. But Jesus gives us revelation to be PASSED ON!! (Often questions that you might have for God, are the same questions that others need answers to also!)
4.WAIT PATIENTLY FOR THE REVELATION TO COME TO PASS!
In Habakkuk 2:3, God tells Habakkuk that though the revelation lingers, he needed to wait for it because it would certainly come to pass!! Often when we bring our concerns to the Lord in prayer, we struggle to wait patiently for Him to deliver in His perfect timing!! We always want Him to do things in our timing!!
But once we bring our concerns to the Lord, are we willing to PATIENTLY WAIT for the Lord to bring about His response?
5.THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY FAITH AS THEY WAIT!! (Habakkuk 2:4)
In 2 Corinthians 5:7, We are called to live by faith and not by sight. While God refers to the babylonians kingdom as being puffed up with desires that were not upright, Israel was to live by faith as they waited for the Lord to fulfil His promise of eventual judgement on the babylonians.
WILL WE LEARN TO KEEP LIVING BY FAITH IN JESUS WHILE WE WAIT FOR HIM TO DELIVER ON HIS PROMISES?
It was these things that helped Habakkuk to change his mindset and come to realise in Habakkuk 3:17-19 that even if everything around him went wrong, he could still rejoice and hope in the Lord his strength!!
May we be able to do the same!!
Comments