Habakkuk

December 7, 2013
(posted in RHCCC YAF devo blog) 
Habakkuk 1:2a --

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?

Habakkuk 2:3b -- 

Though it linger, wait for it; 

it will certainly come

and will not delay

Habakkuk 3:2 --

LORD, I have heard of your fame; 

I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD.

Repeat them in our day; 

in our time make them known;

in wrath remember mercy.

Reflection --

God always answers, but sometimes the answer lies in silence & in waiting. Waiting to see what happens next, how things will play out. How will He punish (Habakkuk's first complaint)? How will He redeem, extend mercy, and forgive? But though there is silence, though what we know to be true of His Word and His character has not yet played out in our circumstances, it will come. Though it linger, wait for it.  

I'm learning to cry out to God from the midst of my unfaithfulness & sinfulness & wait in the silence for His rescue, His answer -- all the while clinging in hope to what I know to be unchanging: His love, mercy, justice, and Word. He may be silent, but that doesn't mean He ceases to work and be sovereign over all things. I pray and wait not because I am worthy or deserving of His response and love, but because even in the little faith I have, I know I can entrust myself entirely to Him. Because though He may discipline, He will never forsake or abandon me, but will love me unconditionally and mercifully. 

"he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
     so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
     so far has he removed our transgressions from us. " Psalm 103: 10-12