Habakkuk, a prophet of God, found joy in the midst of darkness.
His prayer encounter with God tells me something about hope in troubled times.
His story in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk is mostly filled with gloom.
The book is only three chapters long and most of it is about God's coming judgement on his people Israel. But the book concludes with a song of hope.
The book opens with Habakkuk's complaint to God about the lawlessness of the society he is living in. He accuses the Lord of not listening to his cries for help and justice.
I find this refreshing. The prophet is human and he expresses his human anxieties and frustrations. As praying people, we are to be authentic, too. God knows how we feel.
God's answer shocks Habakkuk. The Lord tells the prophet that he is raising up the Babylonians to punish the wayward Israelites. They will invade and conquer and destroy.
Habakkuk protests - but carefully. He recognizes that God cannot stand wickedness - "your eyes are too pure to contemplate evil".
But, he adds: "Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?"
Is Babylon going to be allowed to destroy nations without mercy?
There are times when we, too, question why unjust people are permitted to exploit others - especially, if they are exploiting us. We can't understand why we are suffering while bad people thrive.
Then, the Lord replies with a powerful message.
In effect, God says the unjust will not get away with murder. In time, they will face their comeuppance. They will be judged.
Far more important, "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea".
God is telling Habakkuk - and me - that whatever troubles we are going through, a time is coming when God's glory will flood the world around us. All things will become new.
The prophet responds with a song that I love:
"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights."
Habakkuk's words suggest that he is looking beyond the horrors of the day to what God has in store for all people who believe in him.
Above all, he trusts in - and loves - his great God. God will carry him through the coming trials.
As Christians, our hope is in God who loves us and cares for us and who will celebrate when we join him in heaven some day.
His prayer encounter with God tells me something about hope in troubled times.
His story in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk is mostly filled with gloom.
The book is only three chapters long and most of it is about God's coming judgement on his people Israel. But the book concludes with a song of hope.
The book opens with Habakkuk's complaint to God about the lawlessness of the society he is living in. He accuses the Lord of not listening to his cries for help and justice.
I find this refreshing. The prophet is human and he expresses his human anxieties and frustrations. As praying people, we are to be authentic, too. God knows how we feel.
God's answer shocks Habakkuk. The Lord tells the prophet that he is raising up the Babylonians to punish the wayward Israelites. They will invade and conquer and destroy.
Habakkuk protests - but carefully. He recognizes that God cannot stand wickedness - "your eyes are too pure to contemplate evil".
But, he adds: "Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?"
Is Babylon going to be allowed to destroy nations without mercy?
There are times when we, too, question why unjust people are permitted to exploit others - especially, if they are exploiting us. We can't understand why we are suffering while bad people thrive.
Then, the Lord replies with a powerful message.
In effect, God says the unjust will not get away with murder. In time, they will face their comeuppance. They will be judged.
Far more important, "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea".
God is telling Habakkuk - and me - that whatever troubles we are going through, a time is coming when God's glory will flood the world around us. All things will become new.
The prophet responds with a song that I love:
"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights."
Habakkuk's words suggest that he is looking beyond the horrors of the day to what God has in store for all people who believe in him.
Above all, he trusts in - and loves - his great God. God will carry him through the coming trials.
As Christians, our hope is in God who loves us and cares for us and who will celebrate when we join him in heaven some day.
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