We don’t very often read from
the book of Habakkuk. In fact, we don’t even really know how to pronounce
it. I’ve heard Habak’kuk and I’ve heard Ha’bakkuk. When I was in seminary, I asked one of my
professors what the correct pronunciation was, and he said we really don’t
know. So there you are.
But it’s too bad that we don’t read from Habakkuk
more. I think what Habakkuk says is something we can all relate to.
Listen to what he says: “How long, Lord,
must I call for help, and you do not listen? Or cry out to you...but you
do not save? Why do you make me look at
injustice? Why do you tolerate
wrongdoing?”
Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like
you’ve been praying to God, asking God for help, over and over again, and God
does not seem to be listening? Like you’ve been crying out to God, and
God does not seem to be doing anything?
If you have, you know it’s a pretty bad feeling. It’s
a lonely feeling. It’s a feeling of
abandonment. Because a lot of the time, when we’re crying out to God like
that, it’s because God’s our last hope. We’ve turned to God because we have
nowhere else to turn and no one else to turn to. We’re in a situation we cannot handle.
We’re being overwhelmed by everything.
Things are going bad, and then things start going worse. We know our only chance is to ask God for
help.
And so we do. And...nothing happens. And so we
ask again. And...nothing still
happens. We keep asking, over and over again, and nothing keeps
happening.
We don’t understand it. We cannot figure it out. It’s not so much that we lose faith in
God--we know God is still there. We would not keep asking God for help if
we did not know that. But we can no
longer feel God’s presence. It does not feel like God is listening to our
prayers. It feels like there’s a barrier
between us and God, a barrier that we cannot get through. We know God is
there, but it just feels like God is not paying any attention to us any more.
Do you know what causes that feeling? Well, it’s not
because God is not there. It’s not because God does not love us. It’s not because God is not paying attention
to us. Here’s what I think it is.
Or at least, here’s what it’s been when this feeling has happened to me.
I’m in a situation. And I know I need God to help me
out of it. And I ask God to help me out of it. But here’s what causes this feeling that God
is not there: when I ask God for help, I don’t just say, “God, please
help me.” Instead, I try to tell God how
to help me and when to help me. I say, “God, here’s what I need you to do
to get me out of this, and here’s when I want you to do it.”
What does that mean? It means I’m really not trusting
in God’s power and God’s wisdom and God’s timing. It also means I’m not
concerned about doing God’s will. I’m
not saying, “Thy will be done,” I’m saying, “My will be done.” I’m
telling God what to do, rather than simply asking God for help and then
trusting that God will give me what I need when I need it.
My experience has been that God does not respond well to
that. Now, don’t get me wrong. I
don’t think God is mad at me when I do that. But I think God is probably
disappointed in me. God is disappointed
for a couple of reasons. One, think of the arrogance involved in
that. Think of how arrogant that is of
me, to think that I need to tell God what to do. To think that I can
tell God what to do. To think that I should tell God what to
do. To think that I, a mere human being, a flawed sinful human being, is
trying to tell the almighty, all-powerful, perfect and righteous and holy God
what to do. I don’t think a person could get any more arrogant than that.
And the other reason is that this shows such a lack of
trust in God. That’s related to arrogance, but it’s not the same
thing. It shows that I don’t think I can
trust God to help me. It shows that I don’t think I can trust God to do
what’s best for me. It shows that I
don’t think I can trust that God will know what to do and how to do it when to
do it. I have to tell that to God, because I cannot trust God to love me
enough to do what’s best for me.
I think Habakkuk had some of those same feelings that you
and I have. In the part of Chapter One of Habakkuk that we did not read,
Habakkuk goes on and on about all the terrible things that are going on, and he
keeps asking God, why don’t you do something? Why don’t you take care of
this? How long are you going to let this
go on?
But then, Habakkuk says this: “I will stand at my
watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what God will say
to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.”
Note the change of attitude in that sentence.
Habakkuk has been going on and on about how he does not understand why God is
not answering him, why God is ignoring him. But then, he says, I’m going
to keep watch. I’m going to listen for
what God might have to say to me.
See, a lot of times, when we think God is ignoring us, God
is not. God is answering us. We
just don’t hear God voice, because God is not saying what we want to
hear. We don’t hear God’s answer because it’s not the answer we want God
to give us. God is not ignoring
us. In fact, what’s happened is that we’ve been ignoring God, because God
is not doing things our way.
And so, we need to reach the point Habakkuk reached.
We need to pull back. We need to stop
trying to tell God what to say and what to do. Instead, we need to just
keep watch. We need to be quiet. Instead of expecting God to listen to what
we’re saying, we need to keep silent and listen to what God may be saying to
us.
And when Habakkuk finally does that, God gives him an
answer. Listen to what God says:
Write down the revelation and make it plain on
tablets...The revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and
will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly
come and will not delay.
God is basically telling Habakkuk “Don’t worry. I got
this.” You can write this down. I have it handled. Things are going to
happen. I am going to take care of
things. You can count on me.
So, did that satisfy Habakkuk? Yes, it did. But notice that there’s a lot here that God
did not tell Habakkuk, stuff that he probably would’ve liked to know. God
does not tell Habakkuk how God’s going to handle this. God does not say what things are going to
happen. God does not say when they’re
going to happen. God does not say how they’re going to happen. God just tells Habakkuk, trust me. I got this.
I am going to take care of things.
I will do it in My way and in My time. Just be patient. Don’t worry.
Just trust me, and you’ll see.
And it looks like that’s all Habakkuk needed to hear.
And maybe, sometimes, that’s all you and I need to hear,
too. Sometimes, we just need that reassurance. We need to hear God tell us “Don’t
worry. I got this.” We don’t
necessarily need to know all the details.
We don’t necessarily need to know what’s going to happen or when or how.
We just need to know that God has heard us and that God has responded.
But we’re not going to know that as long as we keep
insisting that God do things our way. We’re only going to know it if we
do what Habakkuk did. Be still. Be quiet.
Watch. Listen. Hear what
God has to say to us. Look for evidence
that God is active. Be patient. And trust that God’s got this. That God
will take care of things, and God will do that in God’s way and in God’s time.
We all have times when the doubts come in. We all
have times when it gets hard to trust God. God understands that. But God is sad about it. Because God wants us to trust Him. God
wants us to know that, no matter what happens, He will always be there for
us. We never have to be alone, and we
never have to face things alone. God will be there for us. And God will always take care of things for
us. God’s got this.
God has promised to hear our prayers. God has
promised to never leave us or forsake us. It’s fine to take our worries
and fears and problems to God. But after we do, let’s be quiet. Let’s be still. And let’s listen for what God might be saying
to us. Because God’s got this.
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