Important Reminders from the book of Habakkuk

“Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.” Habakkuk 2:4

It has only been this year, that I have begun to read through some of the smaller, often overlooked books of the Bible. Habakkuk has been a blessing and an opportunity to learn so much more about God and His relationships with His people. This book also highlights something we can all be guilty of, and that is, reasoning from the position of God when we are not content in our circumstances. Faithfully, God responds with great mercy and patience to Habakkuk – God walks with the Prophet through his doubts and confusion. The Lord wants us to take our questions to Him; our questions can often serve as the very vehicles needed to gain a better understanding of God’s character, growing in faith, and trusting more fully in the Lord. Practically, this gives us permission to ask God questions with faith that He will provide answers.

This book is unique in that it is a book where the Prophet Habakkuk makes an appeal to the Lord on behalf of the suffering people. Whereas typically we see God use the prophets to deliver His messages/will to the people. Habakkuk had no small task in crying out to God or in pleading for God to bring justice to His people. Everywhere Habakkuk looked he was seeing immorality prevail: theft, deception, violence, pride, greed, corruption and so forth. I do not know about you, but I have certainly cried out to the Lord asking, “How long Lord?”, as the events of the last few years have played out in the news and in our daily lives.

A simple outline of this brief book:

1. Faith tested (1:1-17)
2. Faith taught (2:1-20)
3. Faith triumphant (3:1-19)

God responds to Habakkuk by giving him a vision of five woes that could be outlined as follows:

1. Habakkuk 2:6-8, Greed and oppressive financial practices.
2. Habakkuk 2:9-11, Prospering through dishonest means.
3. Habakkuk 2:12-14, The use of violence and slavery to build cities.
4. Habakkuk 2:15-17, Indulgence in drunkeness and lewdness.
5. Habakkuk 2:18-29, Practicing idolatry.

At the end of these woes, Habakkuk responds by acknowledging God is HOLY. By the end of the book, Habakkuk offers up a final prayer to God and resolves that his strength is from God.

Some of the things we can learn from this book:
YOU can Trust God’s justice in the midst of injustice.
YOU should Hope in God when life feels hopeless.
YOU can Find joy in God’s salvation when we feel stuck in our pain.
YOU can and should keep running to God even when we don’t get the answer we expect.
YOU should Wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled even when our suffering feels endless.

These are important reminders in a time such as the one we are living in. Habakkuk’s conversation, seen here with the Lord, is a good reminder that our faith walk often involves lament, complaint, and raw emotions poured out to God. Questioning God and/or His ways, when done with the right heart posture and attitude, can often lead to a deeper faith, a greater understanding of God, and a more fuller relationship with HIM.

True faith leads to boldness before God – but we must also remember to come humbly before Him and in submission to His sovereignty, even when we do not fully understand.