Read Habakkuk 1.

A silent heaven,” it has been said, “is the greatest mystery of our existence.”

Have you ever prayed and felt as if heaven were silent? Have you seen injustice and wondered, Where is God? Have you ever asked the question, Does it pay to live a righteous life? If so, you’re not alone.

When Habakkuk looked at his broken and unjust world, he was forced to ask God some questions: How long will it be before You respond to me? Why is evil winning? When will You stop the violence? (see 1:1-4). Habakkuk’s questions arise from a perplexed faith, not a weak one. Yet, God understood that his concerns stemmed from a limited perspective of God’s larger purpose. God answered: “I am doing something . . .” (v.5). God was going to discipline wicked Judah through an even more wicked, violent, and notorious nation: Babylon. God was opening Habakkuk’s eyes so he could see that God was always working. Even when He seemed distant, He was sustaining order in the universe and positioning people to be used for His glory.

God also wanted Habakkuk to know that He does not work in typical fashion. He chose to discipline His people through an unlikely and dubious source—the wicked Babylonians. And He wanted Habakkuk to know that He was going to do His work in ways that he never would have chosen. “I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it,” He said (v.5).

When you ponder perplexing questions, remember that God is still working—navigating circumstances, positioning people, and impacting events to fulfill His divine purposes in the world. May He direct our eyes to see where He’s working today!

...“How long will You look the other way?” the psalmist pleads, pressing a devastating accusation. He is pleading for God’s help—and God looks away (v.1). Four times in this short prayer, the writer forces the question, “How long?” (vv.1-2). His raw query echoes: God, are You remotely interested in my despair? This long nightmare is killing me. How long?

Prayer is not a tame, safe, meek affair. Prayer is the courageous act of honestly giving our full self, our full emotions (whatever we have within us, noble or not) to God. Somehow, the prayerful act itself offers a balm. With little indication of change in circumstances, the psalmist concludes: God “is good to me” (v.6).

The God-encounter experienced in honest prayer reorients us to the truth that our God has never forgotten us, not for a single moment.

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