1     The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. Habakkuk’s Complaint

²     How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!”

but you do not save?

³     Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.

⁴     Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous,

so that justice is perverted.

The Lord’s Answer

⁵     “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

The Holy Bible : New International Version, Hab 1:1-5 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984).

Fast forward, today:

“Ohio Teacher Reportedly Burns Crosses on Students”

“Two Year Old Boy Abandoned at Wal-Mart”

“Massachusetts Woman, Boyfriend Plead Guilty to Posting Pornographic Photos of 8 Year Old Daughter on the internet”

“Keirn Knightly: ‘I always bare my breasts’”

“Massachusetts High School Faces Pregnancy Boom”

“Extreme Torture of L.A. Boy Prompts Outrage toward State Agencies”

“China Admits to Burying U.S. POW”

“Czech Mother accused of Skinning Caged Son, Feeding Him to Relatives”

“Newlywed Charged with Murdering Wife While Diving at the Great Barrier Reef”

Are things any different than they were in the time of Habakkuk? I think not. Often when unbelievers question our faith they ask “where is God when all the bad things happen in the world?” “Why does a God who loves allow people to be hurt and killed?” “Why does God allow young children to get sick with horrible diseases and die? People point to these things and question the existence and nature of God. They ask “how can God be loving and good and allow these things to occur?”  Those are good questions as far as they go. The problem is that the first thing that we need to understand is that God is the creator, is sovereign, is in control, and has a plan. I will not try to prove the existence of God here. I believe that God is the creator of everything that has been or will be created. I believe that God is ever faithful and has a plan for my life. As it serves God’s purpose the plan is revealed. God is infinite and I am finite. God is the creator and I am the created. Just as my eighteen month old great granddaughter does not understand the things her parents have planned for her I do not understand what God has planned for me or anyone else. So perhaps the best course for me is to not ask why certain things happen the way they do. Perhaps the best thing for me to do is ask what God wants me learn from the thing that happen in my life. At the end of book Habakkuk prays in faith by saying

“3     A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.

²     Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

³     God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.     Selah His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.

⁴     His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.

⁵     Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.

⁶     He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

⁷     I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish.

⁸     Were you angry with the rivers, O Lord? Was your wrath against the streams?

Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots?

⁹     You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows.     Selah You split the earth with rivers;

¹⁰     the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared

and lifted its waves on high.

¹¹     Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.

¹²     In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.

¹³     You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.     Selah

¹⁴     With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.

¹⁵     You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.

¹⁶     I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.

¹⁷     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,

¹⁸     yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

¹⁹     The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. “

The Holy Bible : New International Version, Hab 3:1-19 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984).

So what is the conclusion for Habakuk? What is your conclusion? I think verses 17 and 18 say it all, no matter what happens I will trust God. God is the Boss!

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