“I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the Lord will …say…”
(Habakkuk 2:1, GOOD NEWS TRANSLATION)
The short book of Habakkuk opens with the prophet pouring out his complaint to the Lord about wickedness and injustice in the land. He sees the godly getting ripped off and violence everywhere. God answers Habakkuk, but the answer troubles the prophet even more, for God says that He is raising up the cruel Babylonians to bring judgment on His people, who have strayed far away from Him, and that the Babylonian hordes will swoop in to devour without mercy. This sets off the prophet, as he pours out his second complaint to God, saying, “How can you, a holy God, send an unholy people to bring punishment on your people?” He doesn’t understand what God is doing; nevertheless, he ends his lament with the following words: “I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the Lord will say.”
When we don’t know what’s happening around us, when we’re pouring out our hearts to God but nothing is making sense, we’ve got to get up in a watchtower and wait to see what God tells us. Because life many times does not make sense! It overruns every little formula and verse we think we’ve learned. One of the things God says in answer to Habakkuk is, “But the righteous shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). What Habakkuk learns and teaches us is that we have to trust God even when everything around us doesn’t make sense—even when we don’t understand what God is doing! Faith comes into its full bloom and is most pleasing to God when we don’t know why whatever is happening is happening, but we say, like Job, “Though God slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
If this is a confusing time in your life though you have prayed and asked God to speak to you through His Word, do as Habakkuk did: get alone and wait for God; watch for Him and see what He will say to you. He will honor your faith and your trust in Him. (JIM CYMBALA)