Responds

How long, Lord, must I call for help,

    but you do not listen?

Or cry out to you, “Violence!”

    but you do not save?

3 Why do you make me look at injustice?

    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Destruction and violence are before me;

    there is strife, and conflict abounds.

4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,

    and justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous,

    so that justice is perverted.

The Lord’s Answer

5 “Look at the nations and watch—

    and be utterly amazed.

For I am going to do something in your days

    that you would not believe,

    even if you were told.

6 I am raising up the Babylonians . . . 

Habakkuk 1:1-6

It was a time of mystery. A time of confusion. Habakkuk couldn’t see God’s hand. How long did he have to cry out? How long would this tension of “Where is God?” last? How long would his heart be broken over the violence and injustice he saw?

And God responded.

He responded he cared deeply—so deeply he would react against the evil in judgment.

God responded—his timing was different from Habakkuk’s timing.

He responded—his answer would be more than Habakkuk could believe (Hab. 1:5).

But do not miss this: God responded. In a time of deep confusion, deep agony on the faithful believers’ parts, God responded. “I do not want you to remain confused. Things will only get more confused, more worrisome, more chaotic for you. I hear your confusion, your doubt, your questions, now. I know the circumstances that are coming will only give rise to more doubt. So I am speaking now. I will not leave you without comfort. I will not leave you alone in your wonder. I will not leave you doubting. This is what I am going to do. Despite what appears, it will be from me. My hand is not distant, nor is it removed.”

God’s comfort, also, reminds us of another who walked with us. Jesus, who told his disciples, “I know you are worried. But let not your hearts be troubled (John 14:1). I go to the Father. I know things will get more confusing, but I am telling you this beforehand so you will not doubt (John 16:1). I have more than you can bear right now (John 16:12)—my message will be unbelievable. You could not grasp who will bear the judgment; you could not interpret what is going to happen by yourself. But I am telling you what you need to know now so you can have comfort in your worries, your wonders, your doubts, your fears.”

Take comfort—God responds. The Father of All Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3) will not be untrue to his name.