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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but You do not
listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but You do not save? Why do you make me
look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are
before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is
paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that
justice is perverted.”
Habakkuk 1:1-4
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks
be to God.
In our continuing study of the minor prophets of the Old
Testament, we turn to Habakkuk today who served as God’s messenger during the
time of Jeremiah which puts him in a period prior to the Babylonian attack and
exile of Judah. Pay close attention to the dialogue in this book as it isn’t
what you might normally see when it comes to one connected to a prophet. In
Habakkuk, you will find the prophet speaking directly with God through the
entire book, lodging two complaints with responses by the Lord after each one
before ending with a prayer.
In today’s devotion, we’ll look at Habakkuk’s first grievance.
Here’s the scriptures which form the text for the message:
The prophecy that
Habakkuk the prophet received.
“How long, Lord,
must I call for help, but You do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but
You do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate
wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and
conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The
wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” Habakkuk 1:1-4
Have you ever found yourself like Habakkuk, wondering why
the Lord is doing things in a certain way?
Maybe it’s about something in your life or the life of
someone else you know. It could be health related. It could be financial. It
could involve any number of life challenges that we or they might encounter.
Maybe it’s about something in your community or church.
Possibly a serious crime has occurred. Maybe there is discord among people in
your community or within your congregation.
Maybe it’s about something in your nation or the world at
large such as wars or threats of wars, terrorism, racial disharmony, or
political/economic unrest.
There’s just more things that can concern us that can be
listed here, that’s for sure, things in life that can often leave us simply
crying out for answers, asking “Why Lord? Why?”
Maybe you’ve been there before. Maybe you are there as
you read this today.
As we look at our scripture passage for today, drawn from
the opening verses of Habakkuk, we find the prophet essentially asking the same
question out of frustration with the sins and injustices he sees within the
Israelite nation he is immersed in. Further, we see Habakkuk feeling like the
Lord isn’t even giving attention to the prayers he has lifted up, prayers that
included cries for help in the midst of the wickedness in Judah.
Today’s verses tell us that this wickedness was grounded
in violence, unfairness and inequality, and destruction. Basically, overall general
wrongdoing was pervasive throughout the culture as the people did what they
wanted to do, committing transgression after transgression in plain sight of
the Lord.
So why wasn’t the Lord doing anything about it?
This is what Habakkuk wanted to know. When was God going
to intervene in his situation where strife and conflict abounded, the law was
paralyzed, and justice was perverted and non-existent?
Maybe you have your own questions, questions you are
waiting for God to answer about the circumstances you are facing in your life.
Maybe you have even lifted up your own prayers to the Lord and feel like He
hasn’t listened to you.
In tomorrow’s devotion, we’ll find God providing His
messenger answers, just as He will provide us answers to our questions in His
perfect time. As we wait, let us be a little more patient than Habakkuk,
keeping our faith and trust in knowing the Lord has been, is, and will always
be in control.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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