When God Doesn't Answer....Tuesday

10/22/13

Have you ever felt like God doesn't answer you? Just when I am trying to hold on and trust, and be patient and wait, it seems as though everyone around me is being blessed and hearing wonderful things from God. I used to think something was wrong with me, or more specifically, that I wasn't worth God's time and attention, that I somehow deserved to be kept waiting. But then I discovered I wasn't the only one who felt this way. I was surprised, yet comforted, to hear from the women around me that they have faced this struggle.

I was more amazed, and even a little disturbed, to read about a man who questioned God as to why He was taking so long to answer his call for help. He not only questioned God, he accused God of not listening, and of allowing the wicked to overwhelm the righteous. A little bit of hope leapt into my heart as I continued to read, perhaps my answer was in this prophet's conversation with God.

This Old Testament's prophet name was Habakkuk.  His dialogue with God stuns me and yet causes my heart to rejoice as I re-read his story several times. I felt like I understood where Habakkuk was coming from when he cried,

"How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?

 Or cry out to You, "Violence!" but You do not save?

 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.

Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted."

 Habakkuk 1:2-4 NIV

At first I thought he was shaking his fist at God in his frustration. Then I learned he was lamenting, sharing his heart’s burden – mourning, feeling deep sorrow for Judah, who were sinning against God and refusing to repent.

In the following verses God makes it very clear that He hears and sees all that is going on; that the actions and plans of those who choose to do what is wrong, is not hidden from Him.  Although I was encouraged that God does indeed know everything, I wondered what He was going to do about it. Then Habakkuk surprised me by calling God out, and making a second complaint,

Lord, are You not from everlasting?
    My God, my Holy One, You will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them (evildoers) 
to execute judgment;
    You, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.


Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
    You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do You tolerate the treacherous?
    Why are You silent while the wicked
    swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

Habakkuk 1:12-13 NIV

Then Habakkuk announces in chapter 2, verse 1 – and this is amazing to me – that he is not going anywhere until God gives him an answer. He expects God to respond to him!  What confidence he has in his relationship with God!  

Most of us have experienced a period of time when God hasn't spoken, or at least, a time when He didn't give us the answer we wanted. But I tend to say, "OK, Lord, whatever You want." Then I get up, and do the next thing I need to do. I admire Habakkuk's courage and perseverance to seek more from God and then to wait for it.

Then God answers Habakkuk again, this time telling him to write it down for everyone to read. But He cautions Habakkuk, saying, "But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!"(see Habakkuk 2:2-3).

Then as God begins to describe the evil doers of this world, and how they take for themselves, and depend upon their evil deeds to live, He says, "but the righteous man trusts in me and lives!" (see Habakkuk 2:4b).

When I saw that reminder in the midst of God's description of how evil people will all fail and be punished, I was reminded of my own evildoings. Although they may be small compared to other wrongdoing, I know it is still sin.

He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, 

for His mercy toward those who fear and honor Him

is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

 He has removed our sins

 as far away from us as the east is from the west.

Psalm 103:10-12 TLB

I am humbled and grateful that God is watching over all that is going on in this crazy world we live in. I am encouraged to be reminded so clearly that He has a plan, even if it isn't the way I think things should be done.

This plan of Mine is not what you would work out,

neither are My thoughts the same as yours! 

 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

 so are My ways higher than yours,

and My thoughts than yours.

Isaiah 55:8-9 TLB

In the third and final chapter of Habbakuk my heart thrilled as I realized I had found my answer. The prophet praises God for Who He is and then finishes the prayer with a declaration that no matter how hard life may get, or how difficult the conditions of this world,  

"Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be happy in the God
of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength;He will give me the speed of a deer and bring me safely 
over the mountains."

 Habakkuk 3:18-19 TLB

Now when I feel like the last person on earth waiting to have my prayer answered: I know I can trust God, that He will be my strength, and that He will see that I get over every trouble safely in the perfect way and at the perfect time.

Thank You, my Lord and My God, for using Your relationship with Habakkuk to show me the kind of God You are.

Jesus Culture performs
"One Thing Remains":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_KXsMCJgBQ

Written by
Sandy Schott