Habakkuk 1:1-2
"The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.2 How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?"
Throughout the Bible we see the righteous cry out, but God turns their crying into laughing and a blessing.
All of Shakespeare’s stories start out with joy but climax to end with tragedy. However, most Bible stories start out with a painful experience and climax to victory or joy at the end.
It's a false statement to say that when you follow Jesus, you get rid of all your problems. The truth is you don’t.
It is true that your basic spiritual problem - your relationship with God – has been solved. However, with that solution comes a whole set of problems that you didn’t face when you were an unbeliever. These problems often lead us to ask questions like "why do good people suffer and evil people prosper?" or "why isn’t God answering my prayers?" or "when I am doing my best for the Lord, why do I experience the worst from others?"
Christians who claim to be problem-free are either not telling the truth or not growing and experiencing real spiritual life.
They are living in a religious dream world – they think God is liable to make a comfortable life for them, like Job’s comforters who interpreted that good people could not suffer.
They have obviously never heard what David and Jesus asked, “My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me? Psalm 22:1 & Matthew 27:46.
Habakkuk’s concern had to do with his misunderstanding on why God was punishing the Jews by using the godless Babylonians. According to Habakkuk’s logic, the Babylonians were more punishable than Israel.
Another concern of Habakkuk's had to do with his desire for God to send a revival in Israel, judge the evil leaders, and establish righteousness in the land. Then the nation of Israel would escape punishment and the people and cities would be spared.
How could a holy God use a wicked nation to punish His own chosen people?
God answered His servant Habakkuk and assured him that He was at work among the nations even though Habakkuk couldn’t see it.
God gave Habakkuk a revelation, not an explanation. For what we are always in need of in a time of doubt and uncertainty is a new view of God.
God doesn’t owe us an explanation for what He is doing, but He does graciously reveal Himself and His work to those who genuinely seek Him.
Habakkuk saw himself as a watchman on the wall of Jerusalem. A watchman was responsible in warning the city of approaching danger, and if they weren’t faithful, their hands would be stained with the blood of the people who died (Ezekiel 3:17-21; 33:1-3) - it was a serious responsibility.
While Paul was suffering for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ – he didn’t question his circumstances and ask the Lord why he was suffering. Instead, Paul's passion was for the souls perishing.
When Paul was in prison, he never asked the believers to pray for his release. Rather, he asked them to pray that he proclaimed the right message when he opened his mouth.
We are often self-centered Christians. Our problem is the biggest problem in the world and we ignore the fact that the rest of the world is going to hell without knowing Jesus Christ.
Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the crowd, like sheep without a shepherd – while the Son of Man has no place to sleep.
The Indian border security who are assigned in between the India and Pakistan border cannot complaint about their uncomfortable life. Instead, each and every minute, they are responsible for keeping their country safe.
God has called us to be in a position of accountability. Even though we may go through difficult situations, we must believe that the one who called us is faithful and will never leave us or forsake us.