Habakkuk: Where Is God In Suffering?

Introduction

General Introduction: We are continuing our sermon series this summer through the Minor Prophets, and today we come to Habakkuk. Habakkuk is a unique prophet in the Old Testament. Most prophets spoke to God’s people on behalf of God. Habakkuk, on the other hand, speaks to God on behalf of God’s people. The first chapter a dialogue takes place between Habakkuk and God where the prophet lays out some honest questions, almost challenging God. The first few verses of this book summarize well the heart of Habakku,

Habakkuk 1:2–4 “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.”

Suffering Main Theme: As you can see, the main theme of Habakkuk is the suffering of God’s people. And the main question Habakkuk is asking is, “Where is God in the suffering?” This is a big question. In fact for many, it is the question. The reality of our world is that every one of us will suffer, and experience difficult seasons over the course of our life. Some in this room, are in a season of heavy suffering as we speak. And it comes in many forms. From financial hardship, to difficult family relations, to our health, and so much more. We look around the world at the suffering taking place, from starvation, to war, to persecution. And like Habakkuk, many of us at some point in our life will ask a question similar to his, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear.”

Four Invitation: Interestingly, in Habakkuk, as in the rest of Scripture, we are never given a systematic insight into the mind of God to understand his full intentions behind every act of suffering. And yet, in this book we discover at least four invitations God gives Habakkuk in the midst of his suffering. And these invitations, if we’re willing, are for us as well, in the midst of our suffering.

Meaning & Application

I HONESTY: GOD INVITES US TO WRESTLE HONESTLY WITH HIM IN OUR PAIN

The first invitation is that God invites us to wrestle honestly with him in our pain.

Habakkuk 1:2 “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?”

The Text: In Habakkuk chapter 1, God permits the prophet twice to come before him and bring his complaint and his questions. In verses 1-4, Habakkuk asks the simple straight forward question, “God why are you sitting by idly, seemingly doing nothing, when so much injustice is happening all around us.” God then responds with an answer Habakkuk did not expect. God says that he is not doing nothing, he is in fact raising up the Chaldeans to come and wage war on Israel. Habakkuk then goes back to God in verses 12-17 questions God’s wisdom, “God, this seems like an unwise plan. Israel is a far more just nation than Babylon. Why would you elevate Babylon and destroy your own people?”

God Doesn’t Chastise: Let us pause here and simply consider this dialogue between Habakkuk and God. Christians, taking the entirety of the wisdom of Scripture into account, may be be able to imagine Biblical responses to these questions. God, would have been completely justified in directly rebuking Habakkuk for not simply trusting that God knew what he was doing. But the first thing I want you to see today in God’s responses, is that God does not chastise Habakkuk for asking these questions. God does not look down on Habakkuk in his suffering, and in his honest questions to God. Rather, God engages him. In fact, we might say that God even invites this kind of honest question from Habakkuk sincec God allows Habakkuk to come back a second time with an entirely different question, this time questioning God’s judgment. Yet, God permits it.

God is Not an Angry Professor: Some of us have the false image in our minds of God has an angry theologian, scolding us when we bring our questions and doubts to him. We picture him with arms crossed saying back to us, “The fact that you are thinking those questions reveals your weakness, your ungodliness.” And we forget that God is a tender father, who invites us to open our hearts to him, to expose our grief to him, to confide our deepest most intimate thoughts to him, and to know that they are received with warm embrace.

Illustration: Psalm 88: Tim Keller has wonderful commentary on the Psalms. The book of Psalms in the Bible is a collection of poetry and ancient songs exposing all the emotions and experiences of the human heart. Throughout the Psalms we find countless references to the pain of human suffering, and learning to cling to God in the midst of suffering. But there are two Psalms that are unique, Psalm 88 is one of them. This Psalm is unique because, unlike every other Psalm there is no silver lining offered. The psalmist comes before God as a broken man,

Psalm 88:1–3 “O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.”

He goes on for 18 verses describing how deep his pain and his grief is. And right at the moment, when you expect some kind of silver lining, some, “but I know God is good,” it doesn’t come. Instead the Psalm ends this way

Psalm 88:18 “You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.”

The very last word is “darkness.” This psalm is the heartcry of a man deep in the battle of grief. He has lost nearly every sense of hope. He is confused. He is broken. He is in despair. A good question to ask is, “Why is this Psalm in the Bible?” There are two very good reasons. First, because there are moments in each of our lives, where the experience of this Psalmist feels very personal to us. You might not be in that season now, but one day you might be, and Psalm 88 is a precious chapter to turn to. But secondly, the point of Psalm 88 is the the same point of Habakkuk 1. The Psalmist is broken. He feels as though God is hiding from him. And yet, in his brokenness, he is still praying to God! He’s talking to God. He’s laying his pain, his misery, his questions, his doubts, before God. That’s the point.

Experiential: When we experience hardship, God invites us to honesty, to honestly wrestle with him in our pain. When you have doubts, or frustrations, confess them to God. And know that God is faithful and tender on the other side. He does not cast you away, but by the grace of Jesus Christ offered to us by His blood on the cross, God wraps you in his arms, affims his love for you.

The first invitation: Honesty.

II TRUST: GOD INVITES US TO TRUST HIS TIMING

The second invitation is trust. Specifically, God is inviting you to trust his timing. The thing about suffering is that we don’t know when it will end. That is actually one of the great fears of suffering, ‘How long must I endure?’ As God begins to respond to Habakkuk’s second series of questions he has these words to say.

Habakkuk 2:2–3 “And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

Explanation: First, notice in verse two that God instructs Habakkuk to make a sign. He is instructed to make a large, easy to read bulletin, and put it somewhere where everyone can see it. And on that sign is going to be a statement of truth from God that will function as a guiding light to answer all of these deep questions that Habakkuk is asking. But before God tells Habakkuk what the words are that are to be placed on the sign, we get verse 3 in which God instructs Habakkuk, and therefore Israel, to wait patiently.

Not One Second More or Less: The point of verse 3 is simply to say that the words the prophet writes will certainly come to pass, no matter how much time passes between the writing of the words and the fulfilment of the words. Fulfillment “will not be delayed.” On the exact moment that God intends to fulfill his Word, He will fulfill His Word, not one second more, and not one second less.

Hard Pressed for Time: As sinful humans, we are very impatient. In our contemporary fast paced life, our dizzying schedules, and over-filled calendars, we are hard pressed for time. We race from one activity to the next. And the downside of this speed of life, is that the difficult hard work of developing our souls is overlooked, because soul development, cannot be rushed. And so God, in the midst of Habakkuk’s suffering, in the midst of turmoil in the land, in the midst of enemy invaders coming in and destroying their homes, says, “Wait on me.”

Difficult: Habakkuk could not fathom how God’s purpose is fulfilled by letting Babylon conquer, pillage, rape, and destroy Israel and Israelites. That seems like reversing God’s good plan. What about all the promises, and what about all the blessings, and what about all God’s goodness? It is one thing to wait on God for a long time, it is another to wait while things progressively get worse. Why would God not intervene sooner? And what God is saying is something like this, “My wisdom is greater than yours. Learn to trust it. I will fulfill my promises on my time.” Suffering, perhaps more than any other experience in our life, will draw out whether you are trusting in your own wisdom or in God’s.

Illustration - Suffering: One of my most memorable pastoral moments came about four or five years ago. There was a person in our Church who had been suffering quite dramatically. This person’s entire life had been thrown upside down due to an illness. Their work had been affected, their life had been affected, their relationships had been affected. I remember, at first it seemed like it was going to be a few week issue. But soon months were going by. Years were going by. After about two years I met with this person, and some of the first words that came out of her mouth were this, “Pastor, I wouldn’t change my experience. I’m glad God brought me through this, because of what I’ve learned about God in the process.” I believe, that was one of the most spiritually mature statements I have heard a member in our church ever say.

Experiential: So how do we learn to grow in this. How do we train ourselves to slow down and trust God’s timing. Let me suggest a few practices that have deeply blessed me over the years in this regard.

Continual Prayer: As simple as it sounds, continued prayer is the first act of waiting. In fact one of the ways we reveal to God that we are trusting in our waiting is that we continue to go before him. Even as the months and years tick by, we stay right at his feet. We linger and develop our relationship with him as the hardships surround us. Even as the circumstances get worse, we remain steadfast in prayer. O how God is glorified in such a posture of waiting on him.

Retrain: Second, we need to begin to rework our minds addiction to speed and fast paced solutions. We are being spiritually formed all the time by the breakneck speed at which everything comes at us. And we need to disrupt that false spiritual formation. We need to develop habits that form us in the right way, that teach us to wait for a long period of time. There are so many disciplines we could speak of here, but I will offer a few.

Learn how to pray for an hour straight.

Learn how to journal and pour out your heart to God.

Learn how to take a day of solitude in nature.

Learn how to practice a weekly sabbath with no cheating.

Learn how to turn off the internet, and put the phones away, when you get home.

You get the idea. We need to reform our hearts and minds to build spiritual patience and endurance as we wait on God. All of these little choices are in fact part of our spiritual formation. There ought to be some very clear delineations between the distractedness of your nonChristian peers and yourself. Train yourself, by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you who believe, to wait on God.

The second invitation: trust.

III OBEDIENCE: GOD INVITES TO PERMIT OUR SUFFERING TO FUEL OUR FAITHFULNESS

The third invitation is obedience. God invites us to permit our suffering to fuel new and greater obedience to his word. In the previous two verses, God told Habakkuk to make a large sign and to write a vision on it. Well verse 4 provides the vision. It says,

Habakkuk 2:4 ““Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”

What It Means: Remember, God is responding to Habakkuk’s question. Rather than provide Habakkuk with a systematic understanding of what God is up to, and all the details of how it will work out in the end, God gives Habakkuk this sentence to broadcast to Israel. In it, he contrasts two different ways to respond to the situation. The proud unrighteous man becomes puffed up. There may be a warning to Habakkuk in this phrase, “Be careful Habakkuk that your questioning does not cross a line into pride.” But then, God says that the “righteous shall live by faith.”

Faithfulness Meaning: The word faith is a word that needs some definition. On the one hand “faith” describes the things we believe to be true in our minds and in our hearts. In fact the word used in the Old Testament is even a bit stronger than that. The root word is “amen.” Quite literally the word that we use when we finish a prayer. It connotes more than belief, it implies a certainy. It is like saying, “Truly, this is so.” And so faith is a certainty in the heart, a knowledge of what God says is true. Yet it is more than that.

Obedience: Right after the word “faith” in your printed Bibles is probably a footnote that says, “Can be translated as faithfulness.” That idea of “faithfulness” is actually, in my opinion closer to what God is communicating in this passage. It is not just faith (belief in what God will do), but faithfulness (behavior that corresponds to your faith) that God is looking to form. Let me show you quickly two other passages where this particular usage of the term is used.

Proverbs 12:22 “…but those who act faithfully are his delight.”

2 Chronicles 19:9 “…Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart:”

Faithfulness describes our life and our lifestyle, and our obedience to the doctrines we claim believe.. One commentator writes this about the word.

“Faithfulness [is] an important Old Testament term describing loyalty as well as truth and trust. Faithfulness is a way of acting that flows from inner stability. It indicates one’s own inner attitude and the conduct it produces. Thus it is a type of behavior characterized by genuineness, reliability, and conscientiousness.”

A Type of Behavior: Now, go back to Habakkuk’s situation. Things are getting worse, the Babylonians are on the horizon. He’s wondering when is God going to deliver them. In reality, what Habakkuk could not see, was that God’s deliverance would come eventually, but not in Habakkuk’s lifetime. Habakkuk would not live to see it. So what did God expect from habakkuk? Faithfulness. Steadfast obedience. A life of integrity between what he says he believes and how he behaves. And this “faithfulness”, this “covenant obedience”, is in fact what God intends to form in his people through their suffering.

Personal: It is interesting how simple this is. In our suffering we want big answers. We want God to come down and speak into the reasons why he permits suffering as he does. Why does he not heal faster? Why does he not protect against evildoers when he could? Why are the financial hardships so extended?

Years ago, my wife and I took a call from someone in our church who had just experienced a devastating loss. As we entered the door of their home, the young man burst into tears, wrapped his arms around me just sobbing on my shoulders, and all he wanted to know was “Why? Why would God allow this to happen?” There are all kinds of answers I wanted to say, but I also knew that the only direct answer to that question required wisdom that only God had. That was a hard day. But what was incredible, was watching this young couple live faithfully as they navigated that season of their life. They leaned into their community. They used the season to take new steps of growing in their knowledge of the Scriptures. Faithfulness was formed, even when they didn’t have the answers and likely never will.

Practical: This third invitation by God is one we must intentionally seek to implement through the confusion of suffering. Suffering in fact can become a turning point for us, to examine our lives, and ask ourselves if there is any are of our life that needs further development. We must permit our suffering to become opportunities for sanctification.

1 Peter 1:6–7 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Third invitation: obedience.

IV JOY: GOD INVITES US TO JOY IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING

The fourth and final invitation is joy. Specifically, God invites us to joy in the midst of our suffering. Chapter 3 of Habakkuk is Habakkuk’s last word on the issue. After God has responded to his questions, Habakkuk sings a song of praise demonstrating his trust in God’s strength and promises. And that prayer of praise ends in one of my favorite passages of Scripture.

Habakkuk 3:17–19 “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.”

Rejoice? Take joy?: Habakkuk lists out a series of items that for him and for his culture and time period would have been justifiable reason to be concerned, to worry, to fret, to lament. Yet, he declares in the midst of suffering, there is a joy to be had. In the midst Babylon, in all their wickedness, pillaging and destroying their homeland, carrying their people as captives of war, enslaving their children, “I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in teh God of my salvation.”

Why Does Suffering Bring Joy: Why is suffering able to form joy in a believer? Let me suggest four reasons today:

Suffering Teaches Us to Relate to Christ: First, suffering relates us to our savior. In our own suffering in this weak body of ours, with its mortal frame, and emotional needs, we are invited to experience a small portion of the suffering of Jesus Christ. It is because of his suffering on the cross that we have forgiveness of sin, life eternal, everything good in our life, comes from his suffering. And our suffering has a way of drawing our eyes up to Jesus on the cross, and basking in the thought of the depths he went through to rescue you.

Suffering Teaches Contedness in Christ: Second, our suffering teaches us to depend on our Savior, in ways that prosperity often doesn’t. When the Apostle Paul was thrown in prison in Philippi he wrote this amazing sentence,

Philippians 4:11–13 “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Paul had every reason to grumble and complain. Sleepless nights, beatings, betrayals. And yet he writes, “I have learned” contedness in all circumstances. For Paul, he had not mastered that element previously. He learned it through his sufferings. He learned to abide in God’s sovereignty, to believe that God was over his circumstances, and that his job was not to complain, but rest, to be content. And as he did so, he aboundeed in joy!

Suffering Teachus Us Dependence on our Savior: Third, suffering teaches us dependence on Christ. When you are strong, and your body is working the right way, and your life is organized and ordered, and there are not too many issues that are causing you worry, it is easy to say that you are depending on God without actually depending on God. Again, the Apostle, in Romans 5 writes

Romans 5:3–4 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”

So here, Paul says that in our suffering we are having our souls shaped with a spiritual endurance. Just as an athlete trains to excel at his sport, so is suffering our training ground to excel in our faith. And Paul says, that the knowledge that our suffering is producing endurance and character, ought to overflow in hope and joy in God.

Suffering Teaches Us to Hope in the Promises of Christ: Lastly, suffering teaches us to hope in the promises of our savior.

When we experience hardship in this world, it ought to lift our eyes up out of this world into what Christ has prepared for us.

When our bodies become rattled with sickness and pain, we ought to cling tightly to that promise that our new bodies will be glorified beside our savior.

When our finances are so tight that we don’t know where the food will come from, we ought to let mouth drool in the hope of that banquet meal awaiting us in heaven.

When we suffer for our faith, when we are maligned, mistreated, mocked, and accused, we ought to look forward that day when we stand beside Christ and are awarded crowns for our faithful service here in this world. Crowns which we will in turn lay down at the feet of Christ.

Let your suffering develop a hope in the promises of Christ.

Closing

And so, God does not necessarily answer Habakkuk’s question. But he gives him four invitations. These four invitations are ours as well, if we will receive.

Honesty: We pour our heart to out to God. We tell him how it really is. What we’re really feeling, and through the grace of Christ he does not turn us away.

Trust: This forms a deep trust that God’s timing is better than ours. At just the right moment, God will reveal his plan.

Obedience: This in turn forms new faithfulness and obedience as patiently wait on God, as disciples of Christ.

Joy: And those pieces fit together, a deep indwelling joy is formed in the Christian soul, as God forms us through our suffering.