Most of us don’t like to wait for things. We’re taught waiting is bad. We’ve been trained that waiting is an enemy. We have ATMs that give us instant cash, same day deliveries from Amazon, meals made in minutes, and movies that appear instantly on our electronic devices when we want them. Bible teacher and author Jen Wilkin states, “Being able to wait is distinctly Christian. In fact, it’s a mark of Christian maturity.”[1] We as Christians can wait and be confident.
I hope that reading through the book of Habakkuk, especially Habakkuk 1:12—2:1, causes us to admire the man Habakkuk. In this section Habakkuk expresses his confidence in God, “Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One?” (Hab 1:12a).[2] Yet Habakkuk also expresses his questions of God, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they?” (Hab 1:13). Lastly, we read Habakkuk’s conclusion, “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved” (Hab 2:1).
In her book, Trembling Faith, Taylor Turkington summarizes Habakkuk 1:12—2:1 this way, “Habakkuk’s outburst doesn’t feel like a model prayer in the Bible. His appeal erupts with questions and dissent. So I’m glad that we’re never called to stuff our emotions; we can bring the confusion, grief, and protest to God, even if it gets fiery.”[3] I like what she writes next, “It’s wonderfully clear God can take it.”[4] We find Habakkuk waiting for God’s reply. He wants to honor God and see God’s people change their lifestyle. Yet he has to wait for God’s reply.
Scripture sometimes teaches us the value of waiting. King David wrote in Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.” The sons of Korah tell us in Psalm 85:8, “I will hear what God the Lord will say; for He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones; but let them not turn back to folly.”
When we wait for God’s reply sometimes the answers come immediately. But most of the time God reveals those answers much later—sometimes months or years pass—then we finally get an answer from God. Eventually he reveals why he’s done what he did in our lives, why he caused us to endure what we went through, and why he allowed people to say certain things. While we wait for God’s reply we can have confidence in the eternal God (Hab 1:12–13), confidence that we achieve nothing without God (Hab 1:14–17), and confidence that God will reply (Hab 2:1). Habakkuk learned this, and I hope we can learn it too.
[1] Jen Wilkin, “Waiting on the Word,” Christianity Today, April 2022, p. 30.
[2] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[3] Taylor Turkington, Trembling Faith: How a Distressed Prophet Helps Us Trust God in a Chaotic World (Brentwood, TN: B&H, 2023), 51.
[4] Ibid.