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We live in a broken world. And despite the narrative of the Fall that we find in Genesis, we still cannot help but question as to why that is so often the case.
Though a truism within the Christian community, it can be so easy to forget that this imperfect world is still in the palm of God’s loving hand. While forgetting His control can stem from a desire to be the captains of our own fates or be due to the blinding nature of sin, our pleas to see righteousness is, at its heart, the result of the Holy Spirit.
As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:16, our belief in Jesus has fundamentally changed our souls, giving us the “mind” of Christ. As a result, it makes sense that seeing destruction and oppression lead His people to cry out for justice. More than ever, as we see disease, injustice, and condemning judgement running rampant in our current social climate, a request for intervention crops up in our prayers more than ever.
Habakkuk was in a similar boat; for him, the frustration and sorrow he felt at the sight of his brethren living against God and sinking into “perverse judgement” seems like a mark of His hand in the prophet’s life. Through that extreme “burden” that Habakkuk felt, he begins to question God:
“How long shall I cry, And You will not hear? ”
“Even cry out to You, ‘Violence!’ And You will not save.”
“Why do you show me iniquity, And cause me to see trouble?”
In short, Habakkuk honestly expresses his frustration to God for letting evil continue and seemingly forgetting to instill His ways within Israel. It is full of questions and accusations, and almost attempts to answer his own question before God replies -- Habakkuk proclaims the law to be “powerless” and that “justice never goes forth.”
Yet, the Lord’s reply is not heavy with rebuke; instead, He reminds the prophet to “look among the nations” and be prepared to see God at work in bringing justice. He describes the Chaldeans as a powerful, “terrible and dreadful” army that will invade the unfaithful Israel. Not only will God allow them into Israel, but He will give the Chaldeans the strength to do so despite them ascribing the power to false gods.
Despite this plan coming directly from the Lord, Habakkuk is horrified by the idea -- to him, the Chaldeans are even worse than his sinning brethren. God’s answer, rather than fully addressing Habakkuk’s plea, only creates even more questions.
In this short exchange in the first chapter of the prophet’s conversation with God, this is what we can glean:
God’s timing is perfect; as a result, justice often doesn’t look like how we picture it.
God gives us grace in our honest questions.
At the same time, God calls us to pray with open hands.
The fact that God uses the ruthless Chaldeans to carry out his plan can be hard to swallow in the moment; if you’re living through that invasion without the vision that Habakkuk had, all you see is sin rewarded by more sin. Yet as Christians living far after that time, we can see that God does not leave that as the final word. We know that ultimately, “Woe to the Wicked” will come. We also know that ultimate justice is in the hands of God, not ours, and that it will be better and more complete than anything we could dream up on our own.
Knowing this, or being reminded of this as Habakkuk is, changes the way we pray. Yes, the prophet offers unfiltered pleas and laments to God but he does not end it there. The first question as to why his brethren are allowed to continue in evil may have ended in frustration, but Habakkuk’s second question is the fruit of the Lord’s reminder to him. He questions honestly just as before, yet he ends by awaiting correction.
I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected. - Habakkuk 2:1
Habakkuk waits. He listens. He is ready in humility for correction because he knows he does not yet have the full picture of the Lord’s plan.
As a God from “everlasting,” a “Holy One” that will not allow his people to be parted from him, Habakkuk ultimately roots his questions in remembering God’s own character and faithfulness. May we also offer our prayers with equally open hands.
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