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Why, God?
Habakkuk Chapter 1: An Honest Conversation
We might have been in this book in the past even if we didn't know it. How many times have we cried out the same way and asking the same questions?
How long, O Lord, will I call for help,
And You will not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do not save. - Habakkuk 1:2
Habakkuk means to embrace and to wrestle.
Stages of Grief
1. Isolation
Satan loves for us to feel this way.
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
We bargain when we say things like, "God, if you do this, I will do that."
4. Despair
5. Acceptance or Bitterness
Avoid bitterness!
Habakkuk begins with gloom but it ends with glory.
Habakkuk's Complaint
Habakkuk's complaining began with things he was seeing in the world around him.
Why do You make me see iniquity,
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises.
4 Therefore the law is ignored
And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out perverted. - Habakkuk 1:3-4
Habakkuk saw injustices around him. Does that sound familiar to you? What are some things that seem unfair in the world around you? For me, I see children fighting cancer, couples battling infertility, family and friends battling various health issues, loss of life . . . the list could go on forever.
Habakkuk was seeing injustices in the land that he loved, the land of Judah.
Habakkuk's complaint grew in intensity.
Are You not from everlasting,
O Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge;
And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. - Habakkuk 1:12
God's answer is found in Habakkuk 1:6.
“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth
To seize dwelling places which are not theirs. - Habakkuk 1:6
Habakkuk's complaint caused him to grow closer to God.
Habakkuk was upet, hurt, and venting to God, BUT Habakkuk never walked away from God. He still embraced God.
God knows our human frailty and weaknesses. God understands when we don't understand. He won't turn His back on us even when we are frustrated with Him.
God's Answer
“Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days—
You would not believe if you were told.
“For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That fierce and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth
To seize dwelling places which are not theirs. - Habakkuk 1:5-6
OH verse 5! God IS working and He IS moving!
What God is doing is so great that we wouldn't believe it even if He told us!
All the bad that Habakkuk saw, God was using it for good. God uses pain and horrible events to spread the gospel.
Things might look bleak for you right now, but God IS working. He is working in a way that you wouldn't believe it or understand it if He told you. In the book of Acts, Paul quoted Habakkuk.
Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you:
‘Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish;
For I am accomplishing a work in your days,
A work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you.’” - Acts 13:38-41
Even Jesus cried, "Why, God?"
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” - Matthew 27:46Do you feel abandoned? You are not alone.
God knows where you are.
God knows what you are doing.
God knows what you are going through.
God is here.
Remember that the devil will never have an honest conversation with you. You can trust God . . . always.
Do you follow Jesus? Here's more about how you can follow Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him.
Read all posts in this Habakkuk study here.
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