HOW LONG LORD?

Habakkuk 1:1-17 TLB

This is the message that came to the prophet Habakkuk in a vision from God: [2] O Lord, how long must I call for help before you will listen? I shout to you in vain; there is no answer. "Help! Murder!" I cry, but no one comes to save. [3] Must I forever see this sin and sadness all around me? Wherever I look I see oppression and bribery and men who love to argue and to fight. [4] The law is not enforced, and there is no justice given in the courts, for the wicked far outnumber the righteous, and bribes and trickery prevail. [5] The Lord replied: "Look, and be amazed! You will be astounded at what I am about to do! For I am going to do something in your own lifetime that you will have to see to believe. [6] I am raising a new force on the world scene, the Chaldeans, a cruel and violent nation who will march across the world and conquer it. [7] They are notorious for their cruelty. They do as they like, and no one can interfere. [8] Their horses are swifter than leopards. They are a fierce people, more fierce than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry move proudly forward from a distant land; like eagles they come swooping down to pounce upon their prey. [9] All opposition melts away before the terror of their presence. They collect captives like sand. [10] "They scoff at kings and princes and scorn their forts. They simply heap up dirt against their walls and capture them! [11] They sweep past like wind and are gone, but their guilt is deep, for they claim their power is from their gods." [12] O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal-is your plan in all of this to wipe us out? Surely not! O God our Rock, you have decreed the rise of these Chaldeans to chasten and correct us for our awful sins. [13] We are wicked, but they far more! Will you, who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should you be silent while the wicked destroy those who are better than they? [14] Are we but fish, to be caught and killed? Are we but creeping things that have no leader to defend them from their foes? [15] Must we be strung up on their hooks and dragged out in their nets, while they rejoice? [16] Then they will worship their nets and burn incense before them! "These are the gods who make us rich," they'll say. [17] Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless wars?

 

Sometimes, it feels like we’ve been forgotten and abandoned, but in Deuteronomy 31:6b God promises to not only not leave us, He won’t forget us either. But because it seems so, we, like David in Psalm 13:1, begin to moan in declaring: HOW LONG OH LORD! I don’t know about you, but I know how many times I have cried that question out to the Lord in anguish. Habakkuk felt the same way about situations he faced in his days just as you and I do today. When God does not immediately deliver or help us out of an affliction, we often assume we’ve been forgotten.

We see situations every day that may make us ask “where is God?” Why is He not doing anything about them? Habakkuk weepingly waited on the Lord to answer his prayer, just like a lot of us do daily, wondering why the Lord is not answering.

Everyone asks the question, “How long, Lord?” Christians and unbelievers alike. The question is littered throughout the psalms, and Psalm 88, one of the most desperate psalms, begins and ends in darkness—while acknowledging the God of our salvation. Believers have repeatedly cried out to Him like this. If you are, be comforted that you are not alone. You are with other believers and saints who have gone before and are desperate to hear God.

Today’s injustice, evil, and sin appear to prosper, but not because God is indifferent—He’s not. God always has a plan but wants to partner with us in prayer—keep praying no matter what happens and how long the answer seems in coming. Pour out your concern to God in prayer.

Habakkuk knew he had to persevere in prayer no matter the delay, distraction, or discomfort to him.

We too need to persevere in whatever situation we’re facing right now, that may seem like we are alone and that God has forgotten us. He hasn’t and would never. He just needs us to not only trust in His word and timing, but wants us to gain every lesson taught through the school of waiting.

We need the help of God to have strong faith to keep praying and not give up if we think our prayers are not answered right away. It’s okay to have doubts occasionally, Habakkuk had doubts too. And it’s very easy to think God is inactive, but that’s far from true—God is always working according to John 5:17.

We must keep in the word of God and not become discouraged in times of waiting and continue in prayer.

We must conclude like Habakkuk that if everything normal and predictable collapsed in life and society, we would still rejoice.

Peter says in 2 Peter 3:9 that the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise and at some point, we reach a place where it’s painfully clear that our sense of time urgency is different from God’s. We prefer to measure time in minutes, but the Ancient of Days measures time by millennia according to 2 Peter 3:8.

God knows that He always appears slow to us because we live in an era of instant gratification, but He assures us of His word and compassion when we must wait if it seems like a long wait.

We may feel like God has forgotten us sometimes or that He’s hiding from us. He knows that as He patiently works out His purposes, we will experience circumstances so difficult and confusing that we cry out in bewildered pain.

God gave us stories like Abraham and Sarah to help us see that we are not alone. Psalm 13 starts with “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Good news, the Lord is not hiding from you, He’s not purposely delaying Himself over your matter nor is He indifferent to your cry.

It does not matter how long it takes, hold on, wait on, and keep calm and keep praying.

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for your assurance to never forget, abandon, or ignore me. May I trustingly wait on you to see me through storms in Jesus’ name. Amen.

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/womenoflight/episodes/HOW-LONG--LORD-e34v3id

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WE APPRECIATE YOUR GENEROUSITY AND SUPPORT.

SHALOM

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