[Linda Thompson] So You Have Questions for God?

Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash

For a couple of days last week, I had a snatch of scripture rattling around in my mind.

Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,…
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. (Hab 3:17-18)

I’m not sure how this snippet got lodged in my brain—Habakkuk is not a familiar haunt for me! I guess it was something about contemplating the bare shelves in the grocery store, and thinking how much barer the cupboards are in many other parts of the world. Could I “exult in the Lord and rejoice in my God” if my pantry were as threadbare as the locust-stripped fields outside my front door?

Withered Vineyard, Oakdale, California, U.S.A. | Photo by Kaylee Garrett on Unsplash

By now, a too-familiar sight!

I went back and read Habakkuk’s little book. What I found there sent a chill through me.

Have Questions? You’re in Good Company

The prophet had questions too, you see. “How long, oh Lord, will I call for help and You will not hear? I cry out to You ‘Violence!’ yet You do not save.” (Hab 1:2) He was mortally outraged at the injustice he saw around him. Why didn’t God swoop in to set things right?

Translating this to today, why does the Lord allow Christians to be slaughtered, abused, jailed and starved with impunity in much of the world? And why is the outcry against it so faint?

Why does a whole industry thrive on the murder of the unborn? And legions press ever harder to expand these “rights” to the moment of birth?

We may not always get our questions answered. But in this case, Habakkuk did. God gave His prophet a vivid depiction of the severe judgment that was about to fall on the land. The Chaldeans (Babylonians) were coming, “dreaded and feared.” They would plunge to devour like eagles and gather captives like a desert wind collects sand. (Hab 1:7-9)

This answer raised another round of heart-wrenching questions. Habakkuk wanted to see God judge evil…. BUT! Would He really use a pitiless invasion to judge His own people? Would God, whose “eyes are too pure to approve evil,” remain silent when “the wicked swallow up those more righteous”? (Hab 1:13)

When the Lord’s answer came, it was another stunner. God promised Habakkuk there was a bigger picture. The Chaldeans would be judged in turn.

For the vision is yet for the appointed time;…
It will certainly come, it will not delay.
Behold, as for the proud one,
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith. (Hab 2:3-4) [One of the most impactful verses in Christian history!]

The vision of a future where things have been set right WILL come. We can bank on it. 

God expands on the picture of the “proud one.” Again, the words could have been penned today. They rush after evil gain so they can establish themselves and their dynasties. Think today’s billionaire global elite. They set their nest on high—or perch their mansion on the California hills. They carry on with outrageous drinking and lewdness. They build cities with bloodshed—the abortion industry comes to mind, or despots who murder all who disagree with them. (Hab 2:9-15)

But they have miscalculated!

For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea. (Hab 2:14)

This reminds me of Jesus’s parables in Luke 12. Here’s what He says to powerful “proud ones” who live with no regard for Him:

But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect… (Luke 12:45-46)

And needless to say, it doesn’t end well for that abusive slave! But on the other hand:

Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve,… and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. (Luke 12:37-38)

Do I live like I believe this? My Lord is on an extended journey, but when He returns and finds me busy about His work, He’ll bless me beyond any fleeting reward this sad world has to offer!

We know God’s word to Habakkuk was fulfilled. Jerusalem fell to Babylon, which fell in turn to the Persians. (Remember Daniel and that dramatic handwriting on the wall!)

Belshazzar’s Feast as depicted by Rembrandt, National Gallery, London

And according to Heb 10:37-38, that vision–the one that will not tarry–finds its ultimate fulfillment in the second coming of Christ. So there’s an even bigger bigger picture.

But none of that had happened when Habakkuk offered his glorious hymn of praise in Chapter 3. “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines…”, Habakkuk had to anchor his faith in the knowledge that God has a bigger plan, and the ultimate gain will be worth the pain. Our Master invites us to do the same.