Habakkuk for the Holidays

Habakkuk 2

If you look up the word slow in a thesaurus, most of the synonyms imply bad habits, like negligent or tardy, or they imply fatigue, like sluggish or lethargic.  Slow is not too attractive in our thinking. Slow is only more acceptable when teens that we love learn to drive or start to date. It’s also ok for grandma’s pot roast. And that’s about it.

God reveals to Habakkuk how clearly He sees the wickedness of the enemy nation, Babylon, and how fully He will judge them in the future, but He prefaces His words about them with complete understanding of our human aversion to slow.  It’s one of my favorite lines from God in the whole book, because it sounds so tender. He counsels Habakkuk, “If it seems slow, wait for it.” 

In our long line of faith, when has God’s activity not seemed slow?

The decades Abraham waited for a son? 

The years Joseph spent in prison?

The centuries Israel suffered in slavery?

The years Hannah wept for a child?

The days Esther fasted for her people?

If it seems slow, you’re not alone. 

God assures Habakkuk that even if it seems like the time will never come, there will be a day when the wicked become victims, their security crumbles in on them, their ambitions wilt in shame, and their beliefs prove worthless. Yikes.  All this is sure, because if God’s ultimate plan is to flood the earth with His glory, then anyone whose aim is to fill the earth with their own glory strives hopelessly against the guaranteed future.  It’s futile to side against the covenant-keeping God, who reigns, unflustered, from His holy temple. Have I sided with his glory in my wait?

One test of my faith in Him is how I wait on Him. It’s exhausting to wait, because it’s a workout for my faith, but this is the kind of faith that defines the life of the righteous. In my current circumstances, am I willing to find strength in the same counsel God gave Habakkuk?

If it seems slow, wait for it.