God, are you listening?

Tom Harper Dec. 2, 2024

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It saddened me that I hadn't read the Word in a few days. The Holy Spirit prompted me to get back into the Bible, even if just for a moment.

I opened the OT and found a short but powerful book. I couldn't remember the last time I had read it. It was the book of Habakkuk.

I marveled at the questions this prophet leveled at God in the second verse. He asked, "How long, O 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 wrong?"

These questions grabbed me. Why indeed, Lord? Why have you allowed so much evil in this world?

The prophet Habakkuk laments the sins the people in his own country of Judah were flagrantly committing. On top of that, a rampaging Babylonian army was about to invade.

What was God's answer to his prophet? And what does the Lord say to us today as we ask the same impossible question about why he tolerates wrong?

The answer God gives Habakkuk requires the prophet (and us) to expand our concept of who God is. He is huge! And he's not passively letting the world spin on its own.

In brief, his answer is that evildoers will be punished, sometimes now, sometimes later, but always in eternity. The second part of his response is that no matter what we think about his actions (or apparent inaction), we as his people must live by faith (2:4).

The Babylonian army was God's tool to punish Judah's sins. But ironically, and in keeping with God's character, the Babylonians themselves would be punished for destroying and plundering God's people.

At the end of the book, the prophet humbly declares he will wait for the Lord to work in this hopeless situation.

In a great statement of faith, Habakkuk says that even when it seems that God is silent, "yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my savior" (3:18).

There is a bigger picture, a bigger God than we could ever imagine. While he may be silent, he is still working, still trustworthy. He told his prophet, "Watch what I will do," and he tells us that today.

Let us heed this ancient encouragement to patiently wait, rejoice, and trust in God's goodness.

Lord, help me do these things!

Tom Harper
Founder, BiblicalLeadership.com
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Tom Harper is publisher of BiblicalLeadership.com and executive chairman of Networld Media Group, a business-to-business publisher and event producer. He has written five books, including Servant Leader Strong: Uniting Biblical Wisdom and High-Performance Leadership (DeepWater Books, 2019) as well as the Christian business fable Through Colored Glasses and its sequel Inner Threat (DeepWater, 2022). Learn More »

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