In a discussion that I had the other day with a niece, she was telling me how she had been struggling with the Lord concerning fairness. Something that we all often times will struggle with. You only have to go as far as your television and watch the evening news, with all of the violence and injustice in the world to become frustrated enough to ask questions like, “Why isn’t God doing something?” or “Why do the wicked and dishonest people seem to prosper in their dealings, or get elected to some of the prominent positions that are held?”
Those are certainly not new feelings. People have been feeling that way since the fall; and when man committed the first act of murder against his own brother. History is full of accounts where men and women have struggled with those very thoughts and fears. While not every act or struggle was recorded in the Bible, enough testimony was recorded to give us a glimpse of how sin has had its effects upon God’s creation. Some have even given their lives for what they deemed a “Cause” to fight against what they believed to be an unfair and unjust way of living and ruling over mankind. As a matter of fact around 620 B.C. a prophet named Habakkuk felt that way and wrote a book about it. Habakkuk expressed the same attitude that many people today share. He was outraged at the violence and injustice that he saw in the society of his day. In his book he lists six different problems that seemed to be repetitive, and emphasizes just how bad things were. There was sin, wickedness, destruction and violence, no justice in the courts, and the wicked outnumbered the good. Sounds like our society today, huh!
As with other prophets, Habakkuk’s name (meaning to embrace or wrestle) had something to do with the message of his book. It related to the fact, that he was wrestling with difficult issues and was questioning that; with God being good, why then did the evil in the world seem to prevail over good like it did. According to Habakkuk 1:2, he had been praying for a long period of time about this, with what he felt had little effect up to that point. He said, ”How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and Thou wilt not hear?”. That statement clearly indicated that Habakkuk was feeling like God was a tad bit indifferent and inactive on the part of getting his prayers answered in a timely matter.
Never think for a moment that men and women of faith never question God nor do they always sit around waiting faithfully and patiently for God’s plans to be fulfilled in the time that He requires. For the Bible is made up of folks just like you and me. Folks that doubt, fear, break God’s laws, worry, possess envy, have strife with one another and dishonor God by our life styles. Those that trust in God can and do question Him and His will. Yet, as His children, He has and always will hold them to a higher call and accountability. It is because of that very thing that the prophet Amos wrote his book. His message in Amos 1-3 was that God thought Israel’s sin was worse that the surrounding nations because Israel had special revelations from God and should have known better. But in comparing their sin to those of the surrounding nations they felt that their own sin was not half as bad as their godless neighbors.
Sin appears to prevail because it’s very presence, exist in a fallen world and society. God’s way of dealing with sin and sinners is by providing the cross, which allows for those who accept it, a better way of understanding as well as a gift of eternal life. Which to the child of God brings comfort and a hope for the future. For those that do not understand, nor accept the cross and all its meaning and benefits, the reasoning is an empty and misunderstood answer to their questions and will not appeal to them at all.
There are going to be times that we do not understand God, and it will be those times that we will need to draw from the Word of God the truths and promises that He gives us. They are promises of hope and a sure future to them that love Him and are called according to His name. While Habakkuk did not fully understand why and even felt like even though Judah had her problems, they were still better than the Babylonians. And from man’s perspective they were better. The righteous have the laws of God that keep them righteous, and those laws are the only things that keep man separated from the land of the lost. Meaning that but by the grace and revelation of God to some, we would all be in the same category and fallen state. In your feelings towards God you can simply suppress them or express them. God says, come and reason with Him. We will achieve balance as we are swinging from one extreme to another, and finally come to rest where we find the most peace in our searching for understanding. Hold Fast, sweet friend, and never doubt in the darkness what God shows you in the light.
We find Habakkuk in chapter 1 as being low and discouraged. He was despairing because of the evil around him. In chapter two we see him as he goes up to the watchtower to wait for the second answer. In chapter three, we see him praising God and the last phrase of the book is “and makes me walk on my high places.” His book is a steady progression upwards spiritually towards God and that is what our struggles should be, simply a progression upwards!
Loving you today,
Bren
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