He wasn’t happy – not at all! He was cheesed off, to say the least, and what was God doing about it? Nothing. So it seemed.
There he was, morning after morning, praying to the Lord and pouring out his heart. The frustration and anger, he does not hide. Just listen to him …
2“How long, LORD, must I cry for help?
But you do not listen!
I call out to you, “Violence!”
But you do not intervene!
3 Why do you force me to witness injustice?
Why do you put up with wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence confront me;
conflict is present and one must endure strife.
4 For this reason the law lacks power,
and justice is never carried out.
Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent.
For this reason justice is perverted.”
And that was just the beginning. Habakkuk had had enough, and he didn’t mind venting his feelings at God, either! “How long, Lord, must I cry for help?” Like, “I’ve been praying and praying, and praying and praying, but I feel like You’re not even listening! How long do You expect me to do this, even though I know You’re not even listening!? Why aren’t You listening? Why don’t You intervene?! Can’t You see what’s happening? I’m over it!”
All around him Habakkuk can see evil, wrongdoing, violence and injustice – it is in his face every day, and he feels powerless to do anything about it, except pray. And he is hurt that his prayers are (apparently) going unanswered. That his God, Yahweh, doesn’t seem all that interested. The evil and injustice continue unchecked and are even escalating.
All the prophet has left is prayer – and that doesn’t seem to be working!
All of a sudden, Yahweh responds. It is a rebuke – read it in Hab. 1:5-11. It is as if God says to Habakkuk, “Now you listen to me! I am doing so much on a global scale, and I don’t expect you to see it all. But believe you Me – I am very aware of what’s going on and I am doing something in all of it.” (That’s the brief paraphrase).
Habakkuk then, appropriately admonished, says, (paraphrased). “What was I thinking, Lord? I don’t know what came over me. You have been active since before time began, I know this. I do. You are just and right, I know that, of course, too. It’s just that I am really struggling with Your timing, Lord. How long will all this continue? It’s unbearable.”
He finished his prayer and then said, (again paraphrased), “OK, I’ve prayed all I can pray. I’ve vented to the Lord, and He has reminded me very clearly that He is working ceaselessly in the background beyond my ability to know … all I can do now is … stand alert in prayer. I’ll keep watching and trusting patiently to see what the Lord says next and learn how I need to respond.” Well, the Lord did respond. And, very clearly, indeed.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 The LORD responded:
“Write down this message, Habakkuk! Record it legibly on tablets,
so the one who announces it may read it easily.
3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed [by Me];
it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out.
Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently;
for it will certainly come to pass - it will not be a single day late!”
Sometimes we struggle with God’s timing. I have been of late. Sometimes He seems to be taking far too long to get things done and we feel as though injustice and evil is running amok, or the pressures are escalating out of His control. Sometimes we have travailed in prayer so much and for so long that we think we deserve God’s immediate intervention - right now - because of our prayer investment. Like we did God some big favour. We don’t, of course. Prayer does its work, that’s for sure, and Habakkuk is reminded of this by the Lord, Himself. We must never make the mistake of presuming prayerful entitlement, but neither should we be tempted to quit too early when things in the visible realm don’t seem to be changing quickly enough, or at all, and God doesn’t seem to be responding. Things could even escalate – that doesn’t mean God is unaware or losing His grip … We keep watch in prayer.
God is working all the time! He never sleeps!
Habakkuk’s short prophetic journal extract reminds us of these spiritual facts. God’s timing is not our timing – which is probably a very good thing. He is working behind the scenes intricately and on a gargantuan scale. Our job is to pray into that which is unseen and to which God is attending, trusting that He IS listening and responding; and because we know that we wait patiently. “Your kingdom come, Your will be done …” And even if the message we finally do receive is not fulfilled right away, it surely will be …
And it will not be a single day late.
Selah!
Ps Milton