“I don’t understand what you’re doing, Lord.”

Have you ever been there?

This was the burden the prophet Habakkuk had. He looked around and saw that everything had gone so wrong. There was violence, injustice, and evil among God’s people. Everything seemed to be falling apart. He was frustrated. “Why are you allowing this to happen, God?” was his (reasonable) question.

God, ever so graciously, answers his spokesman. He essentially says, “I’m going to fix it, but it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.” (He tells him he’s going to send an even more evil and corrupt nation to destroy Israel, or what’s left of it). This was not the answer Habakkuk was hoping for…at all.

Habakkuk, again reasonably, responds: “What!? Why?”

He didn’t like God’s solution. He didn’t understand it. He didn’t feel like this solution aligned with what he understood about God’s character. He couldn’t make sense of it.

I find this so relatable, don’t you?

Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Feeling unsure of what God is doing, finding yourself almost questioning God? Perhaps you’re tempted to think God is acting contrary to His character? Possibly you’ve considered revoking your trust or even throwing in the towel of loyalty to walk away?

Have you ever found yourself… feeling unsure of what God is doing, finding yourself almost questioning God? Perhaps you’re tempted to think God is acting contrary to His character?

While many of us get to this point of frustration when we look around us, we don’t often do what he did next. And this is so important. Watch what Habakkuk does with his confusion about God:

“I will stand on my guard post.

And station myself on the rampart;

And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,

And how I may be reproved” (Habakkuk 2:1, NASB95).

Habakkuk has gone right to the source. He’s asked his questions. And now, he says he’s going to wait, with expectation, that God will answer, and will —get this—CORRECT him.

Habakkuk is teaching us something so important here.

If we perceive a flaw in God’s plan, then it’s we, not God, who need to be corrected. He isn’t going to God with a self-righteous posture. He admits, “I must be missing something here, God. I know who you are. Can you help me have the right perspective? Can you fix my vision here?”

What a “power move” this kind of humility is.

He persists in trust. And God comes through. He does explain what he’s doing (not because He has to, but because He is loving and good). He affirms just a few verses later that “The righteous will live by faith” – in other words, your trust in God, even when things don’t make sense to you, will be rewarded.

Habakkuk still isn’t thrilled about what’s coming. But now he understands why. He gets that God is playing the long game.

So…at the end of the story, Habakkuk still isn’t thrilled about what’s coming. But now he understands why. He gets that God is playing the long game. He’s going to do what He does to bring about His glory and the salvation of His people. And Habakkuk decides not only to rest in this…but also to praise.

He finishes the book with these words, knowing calamity lies ahead:

“Yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. And he has made my feet like the hind’s feet. And makes me walk on my high places” (Habakkuk 3:18-19).

Friend, if you are in a place of hurt today…If you are confused, worn out, or discouraged, look to Habakkuk for guidance. Tell God all that is in your heart. Get up on your post and wait for His word. Let him renew your perspective to see beyond the immediate to the eternal. And praise Him for His limitless power and perfection. The Lord IS in His Holy Temple. He is with you.

Wait on the Lord. Trust the Lord. Exult in the Lord. Habakkuk promises us – it will be worth it.