ODJ: when God ignores
December 28, 2010
How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But You do not listen! (v.2).
READ: Habakkuk 1:1-4
Michael felt as if his prayers were simply bouncing off the ceiling. He couldn’t understand God’s silence. Day after day he pleaded with Him to deal with the injustice in his workplace. But evil persisted, and God seemed absent. Can you identify with Michael? Habakkuk could. He lived during the final dark days of Judah—just before the captivity of her people. There was unrestrained wickedness and violence throughout the land—and he couldn’t harmonize the prevalence of evil with the concept of God being good, just, and sovereign. The prophet cried out, “How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But You do not listen!” (1:2).
Habakkuk was disturbed with God’s seeming indifference. “How long?” suggests to us that Habakkuk had brought his petitions to God over a long period of time. But God seemed to be ignoring him.
When violence and corruption abound and evil appears to rule, we may also wonder whether God really cares or if He is really in control. Habakkuk’s honest dialogue with God helps us understand that we can come to God in prayer with our difficult questions.
Habakkuk had been doubting. But he turned to God in the midst of his confusion and sought God’s wisdom and counsel. This is what God calls each of us to do when we’re confused or when we’re wrestling with tough questions. In fact, honest questions reflect a better relationship with God than superficial, outward, religious behavior.
The result of Habakkuk’s search is astounding. The prophet we meet at the end of the book is not the same one we find at the beginning. He starts with questions, and he ends with praise (3:17-19). His struggle produced spiritual growth. So will your struggles when you seek God’s face in complete honesty and truth. —Poh Fang Chia
What are some doubts you need to take to God? What happens when we deny the struggles we’re facing and don’t bring them to Him?
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