Again we find ourselves reading a minor prophet, Habakkuk. Like many of the other prophets, there is a lot of pain to be found here. God is fed up with sin--death and destruction are coming in the form of natural disasters as well as by invading hordes. In the midst of this, Habakkuk is a man of great faith; that is clear in his words.
He begins the book by asking God, “How long must I cry out and wait until you answer?”
God answers back: “Just pay attention. I am working all around you. You just aren’t going to like what you see, because it’s mostly judgment.”
Habakkuk says, “I will watch and see how You will speak to me.”
God replies, “Record the vision you are given. Bad things are coming, but (and here’s the important part) the righteous shall live by faith.”
“The righteous shall live by faith.” So much meaning in so few words! When all the world falls down around you, when death and destruction are the order of the day (again), when financial ruin is the main headline in the papers and in your household, then how shall we live? By faith. By walking in faithful obedience to God.
So simple to say. So hard to do.
Back in Habakkuk...desolation is foreseen for the wicked, but God also tells that the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
The third chapter of Habakkuk takes the poetic form of a Psalm--it even has musical directions at the end. Habakkuk’s personal faith is on display mostly in this chapter. Fifteen of the 19 verses describe the power and might of the Lord’s righteous anger. Then, at the end, Habakkuk says this:
“Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet, and makes me walk on my high places” (3:17-19).
In the midst of all the pain, there is peace.
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