READING: Habakkuk 1-3, Revelation 15-16
It’s a prayer I suspect most of us have considered praying, even if we’ve never actually verbalized it. It’s an honest expression of a trust-struggling heart, a cry for sight when faith is not easy. The prayer? It’s the prayer of Habakkuk as he begins his book: “How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen?” (Hab 1:2). The prophet agonized because it seemed God was ignoring much, like violence, injustice, wrongdoing, oppression, strife, and conflict. The wicked, it seemed, were winning the day.
Our reasons for asking “How long” might be different, but the battle is nonetheless the same. We want to believe God, but doing so gets difficult when He seemingly long delays His response. Trusting God would be much easier, we think, if God answered our prayers quickly and convincingly. After all, He’s God—and He could do it that way.
What Habakkuk needed to know, though, is exactly what you and I need to know: because He’s God, He can operate according to His own plan and timetable – and He’s at work accomplishing His plan even when we don’t know the details. God’s simple response to Habakkuk – “Look . . . for I am doing something” (Hab 1:5, 6) – is all we need to hear. We can trust that God is doing something even while we wait.
PRAYER: “God, grant me trust and faith in areas of my life where I must wait.”
DAILY ACTION STEP: Keep watching today to see what God is doing around you.
TOMORROW’S READING: Zephaniah 1-3; Haggai 1-2; Revelation 17-18
