Thoughts that were on my mind today:
One of the last things I did last night before I went to bed was write my first post which ended with a blurb about Habakkuk. It got me thinking all night and all day about why I love this book. It answers a question that I hear people ask all the time: Why do bad things happen to good people?
Habakkuk is living between the times: the sin has been committed by the people and the punishment is soon coming (to paraphrase good ol’ Stuart). Habakkuk laments to the Lord that He is not being the just God He claims to be – why can’t He hurry up and punish the wicked? God answers: He will punish but not only the wicked. All the people will be devastated by the up and coming enemy – the Babylonians. Habakkuk, of course, laments again. At the end of ch.1 he climbs a watch tower and pouts. Why are bad things going to happen to good people? (Ah, the downside of being prophetic. Knowing life is going to suck beforehand.)
The Lord answers Habakkuk in 2:4. Yes, the minority of upright people will be punished for the sins of the wicked. That’s just how it is gonna be. Get over it. But wicked will fall and the righteous will live despite the hardships that will come their way. The key is to stay faithful, to continue to follow God through the bad times. He will give His faithful ones abundant life. What a wonderful promise to stand on!
Habakkuk writes a beautiful psalm in ch. 3 that ends with his declaration that he will remain faithful to the Lord no matter what he must face. “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Hab 3:18). What a beautiful thought! What if we all had this attitude of surrender, of faith, and of trust? What if I desired my Lord so much that an advancing army would not phase me?
Lord, create it in me.
