Habakkuk is full of questions for God. He opens up right away with “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” Every human being will wrestle with the problem of evil in the world. The problem is it usually comes too late. “Why did God allow such a thing to happen?” There will be no rational answer for that question in the middle of the suffering. No one can think straight in the midst of great pain. The time to reflect deeply on the existence of evil in the world is before it overtakes us. God’s truth works best as a preventative medicine. It should be seem more as proper diet, exercise, vitamins, rather than radiation therapy or chemo-therapy or other drugs taken to cure the disease once acquired. The person who is well grounded in God’s truth is much more likely to be able to bear up under suffering than the one unprepared.
The Bible presents us with an all powerful and an all loving God. Therefore, we expect God to prevent all evil and stop all suffering. But He doesn’t. Our emotions then drive us to think that God has abandoned us. We must be charged with the truth of scripture. We must arm ourselves for such battles with the Sword of the Spirit which is God’s word. The Word tells us clearly that God loves us and He has our best interest foremost in mind regardless of our circumstances. In the midst of our suffering that’s hard to believe.
All the Prophets make it clear that righteousness is not an issue of religious ritual. It’s an issue of relationship. We must trust God amidst it all. He has promised to deal with evil and we must trust Him to do so in His time as we hold on to scriptural truths like Matthew 10:29-31, “But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”
Chuck
“But the righteous shall live by faith.” Habakkuk 2:4