Honest Conversations With God
By Dean Collins
What would you say if your conversations with God were being recorded? Would you stay focused on all the good things you see in the world and in your life and thank God for his love and provision? Or would you be willing to tell God you have some complaints and are even questioning his whereabouts and his plans? I suppose, even in this age of technology, that isn’t going to happen. But you might think about password protecting your journal!
The prophet Habakkuk is an example of someone who did have his conversations with God written down, and millions of Jewish and Christian believers have read them. This little book is a wonderful gift to us that helps us understand that God can handle our frustrations, our disappointment, our pain, and is patient with us while we come to understand his sovereignty and our lack of understanding.
Habakkuk is unique in that the prophet isn’t warning Judah or Israel or their enemies about coming judgment. He is having a transparent conversation with God that is best categorized as lament. He approached God with his pain, questioning God’s whereabouts while Jerusalem was in such a horrible mess. If you ever wondered if it is okay to cry out to God about what you perceive as his inaction, then read this little three-chapter book.
Habakkuk discovered that God could handle his questions. But Habakkuk was not happy about God’s response! He learned that God would judge those in Jerusalem for their wickedness, but the way he would bring judgment was by sending Babylon to invade and take over. Habakkuk was shocked and confused by this response.
Like Jesus and his seven woes, in Habakkuk 2, God gives five woes concerning the attitude and behaviors of Babylon and anyone who acts similarly. These issues include:
Economic injustices the wealthy place on those who have no ability to pay
Slave labor and threatening abuse to their workers
Abuses of alcohol by leaders in society
Idolatry
God was clear that though Jerusalem would fall at the hands of Babylon, Babylon would also fall for their injustices, as every nation and society will for similar ways that every society has failed through the centuries.
But through this dialogue between the prophet and God, we are reminded of what Habakuk learned. God is always working. He is both just and merciful. He can handle our questions and will respond to our cries for help. We might not understand God’s ways, but it is important to look back at his faithfulness when faced with our current difficulties. And ultimately, our spiritual journey in this life must be lived by faith.
Go ahead and read this little book. It will free you to pray more openly with God. And then pray the final prayer that Habakkuk offered:
“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, 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; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Habakkuk 1:1-17, 2:1-20, 3:1-19 ESV
Photo by Pexels
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