While We Wait, God Is at Work (Habakkuk 1–3)

Evil looks loud, justice looks delayed, and God can feel quiet. That tension is exactly where Habakkuk lives, and it’s why his short prophecy still feels like a mirror for modern faith. We take on a popular Christian myth head-on: trusting Jesus does not erase trouble. Instead, Scripture prepares us for real trials and invites us to bring our hardest questions to the Lord without pretending we are fine.

We walk through Habakkuk’s blunt prayers as he asks God why violence and wrongdoing keep winning. Then we sit with God’s surprising reply: He is already working, and His plan is bigger than what Habakkuk can see. God even raises up the Babylonians as an instrument of judgment, which sparks the next honest question many believers have asked in seasons of suffering: how can God use wicked people and still be just? From there, the conversation turns to God’s timing, God’s sovereignty, and the promise that judgment and justice are certain even when they feel slow.

The turning point is simple and bracing: “the righteous shall live by his faith.” We talk about what it means to trust God around the next corner, how remembering past faithfulness can steady you, and why journaling God’s work in your life can strengthen hope. Habakkuk ends with a bold confession: even if everything fails, he chooses joy in the God of his salvation.

If you’ve been asking “How long?” or “Why?” press play, then share this with a friend who is waiting. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what line from Habakkuk you’re holding onto right now.

Get instant, biblically faithful answers to your Bible questions. https://www.wisdomonline.org/ask

Learn more at https://www.wisdomonline.org/

Transcript

The Myth Of Trouble-Free Faith

SPEAKER_00 0:54

There's a popular myth out there in the Christian world that when people trust Jesus Christ as their Savior, all their problems go away. Well, that myth has been around a long time. In fact, the Apostle Peter had to tell the Christians in his day not to be surprised when they faced fiery trials in their lives, 1 Peter 4.12. You go through the Old Testament and you're going to find that followers of God were often confused when ungodly people were prospering and godly people were suffering. And let me tell you, Christians who claim to be today without problems, well, they're either not telling you the truth or they're not growing up as Christians. See, as we arrive today now at the little book of Habakkuk, we discover that the prophet is grappling with this same issue. In fact, in the opening words of the book, the prophet asks, Oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? He's effectively saying, Lord, I've got some problems and I don't understand why you don't seem to be listening. Well, maybe you're saying the same thing to God today. So before we go any farther, I want you to note that the book of Habakkuk is going to be encouraging, but it's also unique among the Old Testament prophets. The words of this prophet aren't being delivered to his people or a foreign nation. Habakkuk is actually speaking here directly to the Lord. We're actually allowed to listen in on this very fascinating conversation. Now, we really don't know anything about Habakkuk's background. The opening verse simply identifies him as a prophet, and it's clear he's serving God during the last years of the kingdom of Judah. Now, just because Habakkuk is a prophet of the Lord, well, that doesn't mean he's got all the answers. He certainly doesn't fully understand the mind of God. In fact, he's puzzled by what he sees going on around him. And this little book is going to center on two questions that he will ask God. Here's the first question, Lord, why are you allowing evil to go unchecked? Let's look again and listen in as he says to God here in verse two of chapter one, O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? Or cry to you violence, and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity? And why do you idly look at wrong? I gotta tell you, that's a that's a pretty bold way to talk to the Lord, isn't it? He's he's saying, Why are you sitting on your hands and just watching all this evil and violence take place in the land of Judah? He goes on here in verse three to speak about the destruction and and the strife. God's word is being ignored by his people. The ungodly seem to be having their way and instead of being stopped by the Lord. Habakkuk simply wants to know, okay, how long, Lord, is this gonna go on? You you that you're gonna allow evil to continue? He's discouraged, he's confused. Well, it isn't quite time for the Lord to act in judgment, but he is preparing the instrument of judgment according to his purposes. In fact, he says to his prophet here in verse five, look among the nations and see, wonder, and be astounded, for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, the Babylonians that is. In other words, I'm not sitting idly by. I'm not sitting on my hands. I've got plans in the works, and you just can't see them yet, Habakkuk. I am raising up the Chaldeans. Well, the Lord goes on to describe these Babylonians here in verse seven. They are dreaded and fearsome. Verse eight, they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence, they gather captives like sand, verse nine, they scoff at kings, verse ten. They are guilty men whose own might is their God. Verse eleven. It's a pretty frightening picture here. Habakkuk and his fellow countrymen have heard all about the powerful, the cruel Babylonians, the conquerors of the great Assyrian Empire, how strong they were. Well, okay then. God is indeed at work. You can't see it yet. But now that raises another question in the mind of Habakkuk. How is suffering for believers at the hands of the wicked fair treatment from God? Judah and the people of God are worthy of God's wrath because of their idolatry and defiance, and Habakkuk has already admitted that. But wait a second. The Babylonians are more wicked. They are more idolatrous. In fact, he says here in verse 13, why do you remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? In other words, that doesn't seem fair at all. It just doesn't, you know, it doesn't fit with our idea of justice that God would use really wicked people to punish people who aren't quite so wicked. Well, with that, here in chapter two and verse one now, Habakkuk says, I will take my stand and look out to see what he will say to me. Now, he doesn't understand what God is doing, but he's willing to listen and learn, and that's important to come to this point in life. God's answer comes, by the way, through this chapter. The Babylonians, although used by God as instruments of his judgment, well they're going to be judged by God. The Babylonians aren't going to get away with anything. In fact, the Lord says here in verse 3, if it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come. It will not delay. I like the way someone once noted that God doesn't always pay at the end of the week, but he will pay at last. See, Habakkuk's problem is my problem, probably yours as well. We can't see past the moment we're living through. It's just impossible to see around the corner. And let me tell you, the Christian life is walking from one corner to the next. And this is why the Lord tells his prophet here in verse four, the righteous shall live by his faith. That is, we're to trust God that our times are in his hands, that he's in control. His promises, well, they're around the corner, which means they're out of sight, but they are just around the corner. Now the last chapter of Habakkuk records for us the prophet's response. He rises above the current circumstances. He's been given God's perspective, and now he offers a prayer of praise to the Lord. He begins here in verse one by praying that God will revive his work. Oh, this is a great request for the Lord to bring about that work he's planned for Judah. So now Habakkuk is he's going to be satisfied with waiting for God's perfect timing. He's assured that God's will is going to be accomplished. Habakkuk goes down memory lane for a little bit here as he recalls God's faithfulness to his people in delivering them from Egypt. Beloved, maybe maybe today, part of the solution for you and for me as we battle our own struggle with what God is doing or not doing is looking back over our shoulder and remembering those times when God proved his faithfulness to us. I might encourage you to keep a journal of those events so that you don't forget the past. The God who was faithful in the past is the same God who will be faithful in the future. Now I want to point out how the prophet Habakkuk ends this little book of prophecy. He's been puzzled by the timing of God, he's been perplexed by uh the the lack of God's judgment. But now he concludes with what I think is a great statement of faith, beginning here in verse 17. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food. The flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength. Wow. This is the primary lesson in this little book of Habakkuk. We may not understand what God is doing, and we may not understand his timetable, but we can trust him as the sovereign Lord who will always do the right thing at just the right time. So let's be a little bit more like Habakkuk. Yes, let's let's take our complaints and problems and sorrows to the Lord, but then let's let's trust him for his perfect timing as he leads us to the next corner. Listen, beloved, we we will be willing to wait if we are willing to trust that God is at work. Well, until we continue our wisdom journey next time, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.