How to develop a defiant faith

In this series, we’ve walked with a prophet that is little-known to most of us modern-day Christians.  Habakkuk lived in the last days of the southern kingdom of Judah, just before the Babylonians invaded and destroyed Jerusalem.  However, where the writings of most other Old Testament prophets were about God’s message to the people, what is unique about the book of Habakkuk is that the prophet recorded his conversation with God on behalf of the people.

Initially, Habakkuk wanted to know why God was letting the people of Judah get away with ignoring God and mistreating each other.  But after God revealed His plan – to allow the Chaldeans (aka the Babylonians) to punish Judah before God destroys the Chaldeans – we got to struggle with Habakkuk as he tries to wrap his head around God’s Plan for history.  Once he understands how much higher God’s Plans are than ours, Habakkuk takes comfort in who God is, knowing that He is both good and trustworthy.  God would still rescue His people, even if the correction they receive comes at the hands of a people group they view as more wicked than themselves.

However, the prophet’s writings ends with Habakkuk realizing what is about to happen – the Chaldeans will be coming soon:

Habakkuk 3:16
I heard, and I trembled within;
my lips quivered at the sound.
Rottenness entered my bones;
I trembled where I stood.

Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress
to come against the people invading us.

Although Habakkuk knew relief would eventually come for his people, he also knew that relief would come later…in the meantime, his country must endure the punishment of the Chaldeans first.

He knew how ruthless the Chaldeans would be.  Habakkuk had rightfully described them as treacherous, wicked, and without mercy.  He trembled at what he knew they were about to endure.

But Habakkuk also knew he wasn’t entirely helpless.  Despite his world completely falling apart around him, he still could choose his outlook and attitude:

Habakkuk 3:17-19
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though the flocks disappear from the pen
and there are no herds in the stalls,
yet I will celebrate in the Lord;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

The Lord my Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!

Do you hear the defiance in his voice?  His faith in God is defying the brokenness and depressing circumstances that are in front of him.  His hope is set on something bigger than what appears around him.

When absolutely nothing is going right, Habakkuk says yet I will celebrate in the Lord and the Lord is my strength.

To help us understand Habakkuk’s choice of defiant faith, let’s take his farming-gone-wrong examples and put them into our modern context:

·       When I’ve been let go from my job and there are no prospects in my field while my bank account is draining, yet I will celebrate in the Lord.
·       When the doctors say my spouse is out of treatment options, yet the Lord is my strength.
·       When the people I counted on for support have betrayed me, yet I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
·       When my child abandons everything I tried to teach them, and they choose a destructive path, yet the Lord is my strength.

Despite any and all circumstances…yet I will trust in God.

Habakkuk chose to be defiantly faithful in the face of awful circumstances.  When we do the same, we will see God in a new way…while learning to trust Him and His Plan.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Why won’t God step in?

Have you found yourself frustrated with the direction the world is going lately?
Does it feel like God is allowing more evil activities to occur than you think He should?
Does it seem like justice isn’t falling on those who should really be receiving correction?

If you said ‘yes’ to any (or all) of these questions, then you can probably relate to the prophet Habakkuk.

Habakkuk lived in the last days of the southern kingdom of Judah, just before the Babylonians invaded and destroyed Jerusalem.  However, where most other prophet’s writings were about God’s message to the people, what we find unique about the book of Habakkuk is that the prophet records his conversation with God on behalf of the people.

And Habakkuk was really struggling with what he saw going on in the world.

From the start, you can tell this isn’t the first time Habakkuk has brought his frustrations to God.

Habakkuk 1:2-4
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?
Why do You force me to look at injustice?
Why do You tolerate wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Can you feel his frustration with society?

Do you hear the anguish in Habakkuk’s voice as he, yet again, points out injustice to God?

The Jews were oppressing their fellow countrymen, committing violence against their neighbors…without any real correction or indication that their behavior would ever stop.  In fact, Habakkuk points out the opposite: strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.  There is no end in sight for the depravity they are living in.

Habakkuk even goes so far as to say that God’s law – the 10 Commandments and following decrees – is ineffective.  When wicked people are in charge, justice is perverted.  Habakkuk just wants to know: Why are you allowing all this evil to go unchecked in the nation of Judah?

Here is God’s response:

Habakkuk 1:5
Look at the nations and observe – be utterly astounded!
For I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.

The first thing God tells Habakkuk is that his view is too small.  From his vantage point, Habakkuk cannot see the larger picture of history that God is operating in.  Where the prophet is focusing on his immediate situation, God tells him to look at the nations and observe. 

What God is actually up to will blow Habakkuk’s mind…even to the point he won’t believe it when God clues him in. 

Does that mean God doesn’t care about our suffering?  Is He turning a blind-eye to the steady stream of injustice witnessed in society?  Is God not upset that “His laws” are trampled on by those in authority?

God cares about all those things…but His timetable and His plan for history may not line up with what we think He should do.  Look at the promise God made to the nation of Israel hundreds of years before Habakkuk was born:

Deuteronomy 32:35-36
Vengeance and retribution belong to Me.
In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom will come quickly.
The Lord will indeed vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one is left – slave or free.

The people of Habakkuk’s day are still trying to do it themselves and make everything work via their own strength, rather than rely on God.  God’s justice will come, but society’s stubbornness has to run its course.

That’s our challenge, too.  Continue to live God’s way, even if evil and injustice persist in society around us.  God has a bigger picture in mind, one that includes justice at the right time.

Keep Pressing,
Ken