While the other minor prophets warned their people about coming judgment, Habakkuk recorded a conversation he had with God concerning his confusion over the WAYS of God and the SILENCE of God. The exchange between God and Habakkuk can be summarized with five key phrases.
1. “God, I don’t understand.” Evil selfish people seem to prosper, and good honest people often struggle and suffer. Why isn’t God doing something about it?
When you are wrestling with God, this is an important place to begin. Faith doesn’t mean pretending everything is OK. Habakkuk was troubled precisely BECAUSE he believed in God. Biblical Christianity doesn't forbid difficult questions. Bring your feelings and doubts to Him. Stop pretending before God! The issue isn’t whether you HAVE questions, the issue is WHERE you take them. Take them to God. Habakkuk cried, “God, why aren’t you doing anything?” And God said, “I am.”
2. “God, I don’t understand what you’re doing.” God was planning to use the Babylonians to serve as His instrument of justice on Judah and Jerusalem. Now Habakkuk’s problem was: “God, what you’re doing doesn’t make sense!” Sometimes we pray, “God, please intervene.” And then God intervenes, but in a way we wouldn’t have chosen. Habakkuk did not expect God to use a nation even more ruthless than Judah as part of his judgment. So Habakkuk discovered: God’s ways are not always our ways. Though we may not understand God’s ways, He is working. He is not unaware. One day we will understand and realize that His ways are the best way. Later in the book, God reassured Habakkuk that the Babylonians would be judged in God’s way and God’s time. So Habakkuk says,
3. “God, I’m going to wait.” When we can’t see what God is doing, we learn to wait for God. This is faith. Not that we know exactly where we’re going. Sometimes faith means standing at the watchtower and waiting for God to speak, TRUSTING that He will. Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.” God works on a timetable that we don’t control.
So what do we do while we wait? Keep praying! Keep obeying! Keep watching! Don’t confuse God’s silence with God’s absence. Keep talking to God and listening to God. You don’t need to understand everything God is doing to obey what God has already told you to do! Habakkuk said, “I will look to see what he will say to me” (Hab 2:1). He didn’t know what God would do, but he believed God would speak.
4. “God, I will trust you.” God wants us to live by faith. Living by faith means taking time regularly to be still and reflect on who God is. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). God is saying, “Stop trying to figure it all out! Stop trying to fix it all yourself! LET GO and trust Me.” We may FEEL God has deserted us, but He hasn't.
5. “God, you are enough.” At the end, a startling change has taken place in Habakkuk’s heart.
NOTHING has changed. The fig tree isn’t blossoming. The vines aren’t producing. The flocks are gone. The barns are empty. In the midst of everything he is facing, Habakkuk boldly declares His faith in God by praising and worshiping the Lord he knows and trusts. Habakkuk isn’t rejoicing because his circumstances improved. He’s rejoicing because GOD HAS BECOME MORE to Him than all these earthly concerns. You need nothing else to be at peace. LIFE is not always good. But GOD IS always good!! THE CROSS is the proof of His great love for us.