Day 14: The Waiting
I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.
I will watch to see what he will say to me
and what I should reply about my complaint.
Habakkuk 2:1
Waiting is difficult.
Advent is a season of waiting. For kids, the wait for Christmas Day can seem like an impossible burden. For some of us that are older, we know that the Christmas season will bring painful memories, or difficult situations, and so the wait is intensified with dread, fear and anxiety.
Waiting is difficult. Waiting when you know that further pain is coming is even harder.
Habakkuk had this kind of horrifying wait.
He lived at a time that most folk around him in Israel had rejected the Lord, and chaos reigned.
”How long Lord must I call for help
and you do not listen
or cry out to you about violence
and you do not save?”
Habakkuk 1:2
Violence, injustice, conflict, wickedness and oppression were everywhere. Habakkuk had constantly been crying out to the Lord to intervene. Surely God would do something about it?
God’s answer wasn’t what Habakkuk could have expected though. In essence, God told Habakkuk that it was about to get worse. The Babylonians were coming, bringing with them their own brand of brutality as the swept across the lands conquering nations and stripping them of all their wealth and dignity.
Understandably, Habakkuk was a bit perplexed.
”Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do you, tolerate those who are treacherous?”
Habakkuk 1:13
How could the holy God not only put up with the sin of his own people, but then bring a pagan horde to come and obliterate those people?!
Habakkuk had no answer. All he could do was watch, and wait. He would position himself on the lookout tower, bracing himself for the approaching enemy, and waiting for God to explain more about what exactly was going on.
God did respond again, this time describing the judgement that would come on all sin, particularly pointed at the abusive Babylonians.
Again, Habakkuk had to wait. He knew God was at work, was with him and would guard him, but he still had to wait.
”Now I must quietly wait for the day of destress
to come against the people invading us.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though the flocks disappear from the pen
and there are no herds in the stalls,
yet I will celebrate in the Lord;
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!”
Habakkuk 3:16-18
Habakkuk knew pain was ahead, but could rejoice knowing his salvation was in the Lord.
If we’re dreading Christmas this year, take heart, Jesus is coming.
He came, died, rose and reigns. On the cross he took the judgement on sin we deserve, and he will come again to make an end for sin and all the effects of it’s curse in our world.
The Christian life is guaranteed to be one filled with pain and difficulty, but even as we anticipate that, we can rejoice knowing that the Lord is our strength, our hope, our salvation.
Written by Pete Bell
A Thought to Remember: Jesus is coming, but for now, we wait.
A Bit More to Read: Habakkuk, John 16:33
A Question to Ask: Where are you tempted to impatience, rather than waiting on Jesus?
A Song to Sing: Psalm 130
A Picture for the kids: Watchtower