Have you ever found yourself waiting for God? Waiting for God to answer prayer?
Well when we read Habakkuk 1 we will learn a lot that can apply to us today including about waiting for God.
So, let us dive in and read the first four verses of chapter 1
Habakkuk 1
1 The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2 How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
From these four verses I believe we can see things that can correspond with our lives today.
Seemingly Unanswered Prayer:
Verse 2 has Habakkuk asking how long God will leave his prayer unanswered. Habakkuk is saying there is asking for help, but God hasn’t responded in the time frame perhaps he expected.
I am sure many of us have experienced or are experiencing unanswered prayer.
We have been praying into a situation and God doesn’t seem to have answered yes or no. There is just silence. That silence is simply wait; it is not the right time for me to answer. In that silence, in that apparent none interest we need to trust. God’s timing is perfect we may not understand it, but it is.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
Here is a question for you – What prayer(s) are you waiting for answer to? And when we think about those prayers, we are waiting to see answered I want to acknowledge that it can be painful waiting.
The world going to pot around us!
Verse 3 and 4 paint a picture of nation falling apart. Injustice all around, violence prevalent, God’s word paralyzed. Interestingly the Hebrew word translated paralyzed can also be translated ignored.
When we look at what Habakkuk is saying some 2,600 years ago can we not similarities with today.
War, violence on our streets, the word of God being disregarded is all around us. Those of us who are followers of Jesus perhaps asking ourselves why are you letting this happen God?
I look around and see so much bad stuff happening that doesn’t need to happen, yet it does.
Most of the world reject God based on false beliefs about who He is.
If everyone kept to the teachings of Jesus, the world would truly be a better place.
If we want to use a theological word, we could say we are looking at theodicy.
Theodicy
Defence of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil:
Omnipotence is God’s total power.
Let us know read verses 5-11 to see God’s response to Habakkuk.
The Lord’s Answer
5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[a]
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9 they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand.
10 They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”
God answered Habakkuk, I will be doing something, just wait and see.
We will look into this response next week along with how Habakkuk decided to question God again about His plan.
But returning to what I believe are the key points from these verses:
- What are you waiting for answer to?
- Are you ready for God to act in unexpected ways?
To watch a message on Habakkuk 1 visit https://youtube.com/live/Et0k-2Bizh0?feature=share
