Yet I Will Rejoice in the Lord
My kids know our safety rules. We hold hands while walking, stay close to the shopping cart, and lock our doors when we leave the house.
They know them, but they don’t understand the real reasons we have them. Stories of sex slaves, mass shootings, and home invasions are ones they don’t hear. Not yet.
But I do.
I know a world awaits them in which men and women might use their power to assault them and take their innocence. A world where murders sometimes go unpunished and justice isn’t guaranteed. Where others rejoice and mock the death of infants, children are mutilated to the applause of adults, and leaders are clothed in hypocrisy.
I see this world now, and I’m tired. The stories seem relentless. Some days evil seems too strong.
Lord, where are you?
Buried in the Old Testament is the tiny little book of Habakkuk, which has more to say to us than we might expect. The book’s three short chapters speak of hardship, but they also tell of hope. Habakkuk was written during a time of great disobedience in Israel. King Jehoikim, who reigned in Judah, followed his disobedient fathers and “did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 23:37). Destruction and violence prevailed among God’s people (Hab. 1:3), justice did not exist (Hab. 1:4), and the wicked ruled over the righteous.
The small book contains a conversation between God and the prophet. In this conversation, we see four distinct reminders for those who live in a world where evil reigns.
REMEMBER TO PRAY
One of the first reminders from the prophet Habakkuk is the reminder to pray. Sometimes we find ourselves believing we shouldn’t question God. Perhaps our doubts or our grievous laments will show a lack of faith. We might strive hard to keep it together.
Yet Habakkuk opens with a phrase resembling a complaint to God. A worn-out man pleads with the Lord and asks, “Why do you idly look at wrong?” (Hab. 1:3). Even after receiving God’s answer, Habakkuk again cries, “Why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” (Hab. 1:13).
While it’s absurd to complain in arrogance to the Lord, cries of lament and sorrow are justified even for the righteous. We see proof of these grief-filled prayers throughout the Bible. Look to the psalmists, like David, Job, and Jeremiah. When Job wrestled with questions of God’s sovereignty, he didn’t wrestle out of unbelief but because he did believe in the God of his Fathers. He knew who God was and what he was capable of, so in faith, he cried out.
When the weight of evil presses in on us, we cannot be afraid to speak to our Father. Especially when we don’t understand what he is doing. He won’t shrink back, and his Spirit will not be defeated by sincere laments.
Talk to him, plead with him, mourn before him. Let’s join David as he proclaimed, “In my distress I called upon the Lord,” for when we do, our cry will always reach his ears (Ps. 18:6).
REMEMBER GOD IS WORKING
We find in God’s response to Habakkuk another truth to remember: God is already working. In verse 5, God tells the prophet, “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.”
We can get so discouraged by the evil around us. We dwell on the hypocrisy, the greed, the sin, and forget to turn our eyes to the ways God is redeeming and making creation new. But he is working. Despite the sorrows we see, he is sanctifying and working his redemption in churches across the globe—in communities, in families, and in the hearts of individuals. In his second coming, Christ will make all things new. But the first time Jesus came, John the Baptist proclaimed that the kingdom was already at hand (Matt. 4:17). This kingdom is going forth in our churches right now, and his church will not be struck down (Matt. 16:18).
This thought offers much encouragement, but it also comes with a warning. The work God is speaking of in Habakkuk is not of revival or blessings for Israel. He speaks of raising up Babylon to completely ransack the Israelites in judgment. We must be sure to remember God is working throughout his kingdom and his people, yet sometimes the immediate means he chooses to work through may not be what we expect or hope for (Isa. 55:8–9).
REMEMBER WHO GOD IS
Habakkuk has now heard that God plans to bring judgment on Israel by giving even more power to a vile and evil nation, the Chaldeans (Babylon). Yet God reminds him that all evil will soon be punished. Following this promise, Habakkuk offers a final prayer in which he remembers who God is:
O Lord, I have heard the report of you,
and your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
His brightness was like the light;
rays flashed from his hand;
and there he veiled his power.. . . You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah (Hab. 3:2–4, 13)
Habakkuk describes God’s character and his historic acts of redemption for the people of Israel. It’s here the prophet shifts his focus from anger and lament to praise and assurance.
We too need this reminder. Though our circumstances are uncertain, we know the character of our God is certain. His mercy, love, goodness, and yes, even his justice, are unchanging. And we rest in that steadfast character (Mal. 3:6).
REMEMBER TO WAIT FAITHFULLY
Finally, we through the pages of Habakkuk remember to wait for the promises that will be fulfilled. God reminds Habakkuk that punishment will eventually come for Babylon as well. “If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come” (Hab. 2:3). All the rebellious, whether in Israel or Babylon, will be dealt with. But “the righteous shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4).
When it comes down to it, we’re all waiting. The kingdom has come with Christ’s life and death, but we still wait for it to be fully realized. Our King will come back and put all his enemies under his feet (1 Cor. 15:25). But for now, we wait in a fallen world. We wait and must live through the consequences of others’ sin and our own. Yet we wait with hope, united with Christ, who will return to rule his kingdom, in fulfillment of his promise.
We live by faith for this fulfillment, and as we do, we speak, plead, and pray to our Lord. We allow God to use us in his kingdom now; in our families, our churches, and our communities. For as dark as it seems, we can rest knowing that the light will always overcome it (John 1:5). As we remember the great deeds of the Lord in our dark times, we can echo Habakkuk’s final words:
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food…
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord is my strength.
He makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places. (Hab. 3:17–19)
Brianna Lambert is a wife and mom to three, making their home in the cornfields of Indiana. She loves using writing to work out the truths God is teaching her each day. She is a staff writer with GCD and has contributed to various online publications, such as Morning by Morning and Fathom magazine. You can find more of her writing paired with her husband’s photography at lookingtotheharvest.com.