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I have been intrigued with a little known book in the Old Testament.  Though written some 2,700 years ago it is as relevant and up-to-date as tomorrow’s newspaper.

It is the book of Habakkuk.  He was the last prophet to the nation of Judah before they were carried into captivity.  His name means, “embraced or comforted by God.”

In the book he has a dialogue with God.  He has many questions and they are the same questions we are still asking.

He wonders why God does not stop the wrongs in the world.  He looks around at the land in which he lives and he is deeply troubled by what he sees.  He sees violence on every side.  He sees strife and contention.  He sees a perversion of justice.  Truth and justice are not valued.  The poor and weak are oppressed.  And he wonders why God doesn’t just fix things.  Many of us wonder the same thing.

 And it seems like God is not answering his prayer.  He has cried to God about the conditions but he is met with silence.  Listen to his words, “How long shall I cry, and You will not hear?” 

Many of us have asked the same question.  We have prayed for our nation or a wayward child and it seems like there is no answer.  Heaven is silent.  That has been the experience of many of God’s people and the scriptures are full of examples.

So the prophet sets aside some time to hear from God.  Prayer needs to be a two-way conversation.  Sometimes we are so busy talking and we give God no opportunity to speak to us.

So the prophet said, “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me.”

As he listened God instructed him.  First, God told him of the coming ultimate solution.  He reminded Him of His promise to send the Messiah.  Many things in this world will not change until Jesus returns and sets up a kingdom of righteousness.

God also assures the prophet that judgement for sin will come.  Judgement delayed is not judgement averted.  Right now God is extending His mercy but the Day of the Lord will come.

In the meantime we rest in the fact that God is in control.  “The Lord is in His holy temple” (Habakkuk 2:20).  He is still on the throne.  The world is not out of control.  God is working according to His calendar, not mine.

 So all of this changes the attitude of the prophet and he concludes this little book with a statement of faith – “though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labour of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the Lord” (Habakkuk 3:17-18). 

He begins troubled and ends triumphant.  In the beginning he is under the circumstances; in the end he rises above the circumstances.  He has shifted his focus from the circumstances to his God.

We have the same questions and we need to pray and listen for the voice of God to us.  Let Him give us His perspective.

This is what I have learned from this little book in the Bible.