Since the beginning of this pandemic, I have continually been drawn to the book of Habakkuk. I cannot tell you how many times my Bible has just fallen open to this specific book and sucked me in over the last month. Through this, I have quickly come to see it as a very fitting book for our present time. One that all Christians should take the time to read as we navigate a trying time similar to that described by the prophet Habakkuk.
Like many of us today Habakkuk found himself calling on the name of the Lord. Constantly praying and even crying out to God to move. Because like us he could not understand why God would allow such a terrible thing to take place. The prophet even shared in the feeling of being unheard that many of us are experiencing today.
Habakkuk 1:2-3 (ESV)
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
This time though the Lord answered his prayer. Choosing to allow the prophet to have a small insight into His marvelous plan. The Lord in His response made one very powerful statement. One that should reshape the way we even think of our own situation. Stating that He was doing something at that time that would not be believed by those who witnessed it even if it was told to them.
Habakkuk 1:5 (ESV)
5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
Even though God told Habakkuk of the great thing He was working before him. The prophet still could not understand. Because he was still in a time of waiting for things to get better. Much like we are today. So he continued to make complaints to the Lord about all the bad things he was witnessing.
Habakkuk 1:14-17 (ESV)
14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
like crawling things that have no ruler.
15 He brings all of them up with a hook;
he drags them out with his net;
he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and makes offerings to his dragnet;
for by them he lives in luxury,
and his food is rich.
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
and mercilessly killing nations forever?
Though the prophet was unable to fully see and understand what the Lord was doing before him. God was trying to awaken the people of Israel and draw them back to Him away from their sin. He still turned to praise in the end and ends the book in that way. Habakkuk gives us an example in the final verses of the book that every Christian should follow to this very day.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (ESV)
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
The circumstances that we are facing today do differ from those that were being faced by Habakkuk. In his time they were up against a mighty army coming to destroy a single nation. While we are fighting against a deadly virus that affects not only one nation, but the world as a whole. But the similarities lie in the fact that we are both in dark times. Times that from our perspectives seem like they may never end.
They go beyond that as well because we too find ourselves praying. Asking God to change things and restore our world to the way it was before. But it is very possible that God is working something today that we would not be able to believe even if it was told to us. Like we know He was doing in the time of Habakkuk. But no matter what our mindset today should match up with that of the prophet in the end.
No matter what takes place we must continue to rejoice in the Lord. Even if things don’t get better, jobs never return, shelves remain empty, stocks keep failing, or the coronavirus continues to plague our world longer than anyone expects. Christians must never lose their praise and continue to trust in the Lord. Because our God is great and greatly to be praised. As well as the fact that we know nothing that happens to us on earth can ever compare to the greatness awaiting us in Heaven.
Psalm 145:3 (ESV)
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
Romans 8:18 (ESV)
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
It cannot be argued that there are not many similarities between our present time and the time of Habakkuk. Because of these similarities, this is so much we can learn from this short book of the Bible. So please use some of the time you now find yourself with to read Habakkuk. See what wisdom you are able to claim about our current circumstances from its pages.
But don’t stop there continue to read through the Old Testament. Look at how the Lord has responded to tough situations that effected His people through history. The same response He gave then could apply to what is happening today. As our God is the same as today as He was back then. There is no telling what all you can learn about the present by studying the past. As we have hopefully been able to show in this article.
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