“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help? Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One?.. I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: ‘Still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. The righteous shall live by his faith… For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.‘
“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.” Habakkuk 1:2,12; 2:1-4,14; 3:17-19
The short book of Habakkuk is a beautiful window into the musings of a godly prophet with his God. Habakkuk observes God using wicked nations to punish His people, and wonders at His mysterious, offensive ways in fulfilling His good purposes. In his wrestling, he turns his eyes from the present violence to the transcendent everlasting One. He climbs to his watchpost to watch and wait. It is here the Lord reveals Himself and builds His prophet’s faith.
When am I am tempted to question God’s justice, or the tangle of His ways in a family or circumstances, will I climb the tower too? When my time plan for completion of assignments and fulfillment of dreams gets off kilter, am I willing to readjust and align with the Lord? It is understandable to have questions, to take what we know of God and wonder when it does not line up with what we would assume, but this is our opportunity to cry out to Him, to allow Him to lift our heads and take the long, eternal view. This is our chance to ask, ‘is there more to this picture?’ and submit, ‘make me willing to wait on Your time.’ His ways are so much higher than ours, yet in grace He allows us to glimpse His promises and trust Him for their fulfillment. (Deuteronomy 32:49-50; Isaiah 55:8-9)
We will not see in this life the consummation of all God’s good plans, but part of the joy and mystery of faith is believing the One Who promises, and carrying His view through all our days. (Hebrews 11:13; Revelation 22:4-7,12)
“Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.” ~ Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Come, Lord Jesus! And until that day, keep me watching and seizing life from Your vantage point, and increase my faith! (Luke 17:5; Revelation 22:20)
As the rain and snow 