Friday, April 19, 2013 - 3:55 pm

I read the book of Habakkuk today. The prophet Habakkuk asks God why He is allowing the wickedness, injustice and treachery to continue in the world. We might as well look at the world in our day, at our own culture, even at our own lives. It's not hard to find examples of the sort of things Habakkuk is talking about. What would we expect God to answer? Over the course of the first 2 chapters, God describes the rise and fall of Babylon, but the words He uses could describe the state of any nation or society. God raises them up for His purpose, and brings them low in their pride. They think themselves powerful, the ultimate authority, beyond God's law, and that they can do anything they like, but God says differently in Habakkuk 2:13-14, "Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people's labour is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? / For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Since this is the case, since no matter how much power people, rulers, even nations think they hold, God will use everything to make His glory evident, and since He both raises them up and brings them low for this purpose, what do we have to fear? It's not as though they can thwart His plans. God can always be trusted to follow through on His word. We can pray with the prophet's words from Habakkuk 3:2, "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy." In verses 17-18 of that chapter, Habakkuk relates a picture of hunger and want, a bleak picture of utter economic ruin, and says that even though all these things may take place, "yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour." If the Lord could be Habakkuk's strength, as he states in concluding, shouldn't our strength be found in Him as well? If His glory, and His purposes, will move forward no matter what, shouldn't we align ourselves with Him? The alternative is found in Acts 26, where Paul is relating his conversion to King Agrippa. He explains how he was dead set against Jesus, and shares Jesus' words to him in verse 14, "...'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' " Note that Jesus doesn't say to Paul, "You're making it hard for me." He says, "You're making it hard for you." Imagine driving a car into a tornado. The opposing force of your car won't make it harder for the tornado to go where it was already going, but it will certainly make it difficult to keep your car going where you want it to. God is far more powerful than a tornado, and He is not a mindless storm, but a loving God. He will not spin us around at random, He will direct our lives for His glory, and for our salvation. Let's not oppose Him, but rejoice that He is our strength!