I guess most of God’s sons and daughters have at some point cried out, as Habakkuk did, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?”
It could be some personal calamity–a child’s rebellious ways, the sickness of someone we love–or perhaps more of a national or universal one–economic uncertainty or declining interest in spiritual things in the society surrounding us.
Habakkuk’s words are pretty strong; in fact, Hebrew scholars suggest that our English translations don’t adequately relate how frankly he’s speaking to God.
God’s response is fascinating. To paraphrase, he essentially tells the prophet: “Habakkuk, I’m about to do some stuff that’s so incredible you wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”
We’ll study the first chapter of Habakkuk’s book tomorrow, and I think it’ll be surprising how relevant the message is.
When times are bad–or when we think they’re heading that way–what we need more than anything is confidence that God is intimately aware of what’s going on, and he’s acting consistently with his own will and his own timetable.
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