Walking with Habakkuk

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Habakkuk 1:2

I think we can all relate to Habakkuk in one way or another. Like Jonah, he wore his heart on his sleeve and at this moment, his heart is confused. He is calling out to God but it seems to him that God can’t hear him, or worse, that God can hear him but doesn’t want to help. Habakkuk looked around at the violence, destruction, strife and contention and watched helplessly as justice was perverted on every side. He cannot bear it and remaining silent is no longer an option, so he cries out, ‘Why Lord! Why are you letting this happen?’

I understand these aching thoughts because I have also cried out to God in distress, pleading with him to do something to alleviate the burden of a situation but nothing happened – that I could see. Did it make me think that God didn’t love me? No. Did I think that he was unconcerned about my distress? No. I knew who God was, his character, his nature; I still had faith in him but it was faith with confusion.

Into Habakkuk’s confusion, the Lord spoke, saying, ‘I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told’. God doesn’t have to explain his ways and methods to us but in this instance, he allowed Habakkuk a vision of his plan, from start to finish. The timing was set and everything would take place according to His will. Then the Lord reminded him what it meant to be a child of God:

The righteous shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4

God always hears the cry of his children but sometimes the answer, or the action, may leave us more bewildered than having no answer at all. Nevertheless, we need to trust God completely, even through times of confusion, or maybe especially through times of confusion. God’s plans are never flawed and everything happens within his control.

Our faith in God’s love for us enables us to walk through the darkest of times, and our trust in His sovereign will, opens the door to His sustaining grace.