Sometimes things don’t work out the way we thought they should or would. Patti experienced that in 2021. After spending years getting her doctorate degree she was working at a Christian college in Portland in administration. She was doing what she loved in a city she loved. She thought she would do that job until her retirement. But after the COVID pandemic, riots in Portland, and a recession that later occurred, the school decided to close. Patti went from doing what she thought she’d do until retirement to looking for a job. Everything in her world changed in just a few months.
Patti had a plan but God’s plan was different than her plan. Some things we go through don’t work out like we thought they would. You might have pondered one or more of the following: I thought I would have children by now. I thought I would be a manager by now. I thought my college education would be more meaningful. I thought I would be retired and be enjoying my golden years. I thought my children would have left the home by now.
When God’s plan doesn’t follow our plan we need to recognize the dissonance. What do we do when God changes our plan? What do we do when God gives us an answer we didn’t expect? What do we do when God gives an answer we didn’t want?
Habakkuk was in that place. He saw injustice and wickedness in Judah, so he asked God when God would intervene and stop evil in Judah (Hab 1:2–4; 1:12—2:1). God replied that he would send the Babylonians to punish Judah for their sins (Hab 1:5–11; 2:2–20).
We read part of Habakkuk’s response to hearing God’s plans in Habakkuk 3:16–19. “I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places” (Hab 3:16–19, NASB).[1]
Habakkuk praises God even though he knows judgment is coming. Habakkuk trusts God to protect him through the coming troubles. Dr. Taylor Turkington writes, “Habakkuk lands us where the scriptures do over and over again, at God’s feet, recognizing the great value of knowing him over everything else.”[2] From Habakkuk 3:16–19 we learn that God will enable us to endure the trials God sets before us. We also learn that we can endure the trials we see in front of us if we look to the God above us.
[1] 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.
[2] Taylor Turkington, Trembling Faith: How a Distressed Prophet Helps Us Trust God in a Chaotic World (Brentwood, TN: B&H, 2023), 191.