READING: Habakkuk 1-3, Revelation 17
It’s really easy, at least for me, to get frustrated when it seems like God’s not listening to my prayers. I pray and pray, but God doesn’t always come through according to my plans and my timing. It is in those times that I must remember that I’m hardly the first person to have this faith struggle.
The prophet Habakkuk asked the same question of God as he watched the spiritual decline of Judah: “How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?” (Hab 1:2). He cannot rest in what appears to be God’s unwillingness to deal with the evil he sees around him. Indeed, he’s convinced that the law isn’t working and justice is non-existent: “This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges” (Hab 1:4).
In turn, God reminds him that, despite the fact that Habakkuk doesn’t see God’s hand, He’s carrying out His plan. He may be working behind the scenes, but He’s still working: “For I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it” (Hab 1:5). In fact, God was raising up a nation to judge His people, and He would ultimately judge all nations. He was sovereignly in control whether or not Habakkuk understood that fact. That’s a truth I need to cling to as well.
PRAYER: “God, please daily remind me to trust Your sovereignty.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Zephaniah 1-3, Haggai 1-2, Revelation 18:1-19:5