Tag: Waiting on God - Habakkuk

Habakkuk 2:1

I will take my stand at my watchpost

and station myself on the tower,

and look out to see what he will say to me,

and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

Tag: Waiting For God is a Good Thing

The story of the prophet Habakkuk is more practical and pertinent in our lives, today, than we may want to admit.  The prophet is having a discussion (argument?) with God.  God is about to use a wicked nation (Babylon) to punish God’s chosen people Israel.  Babylon, Habakkuk maintains (and God somewhat concedes this point) is a worse nation than Israel, when you compare sin for sin.   To the Jewish mind, they were very, very special.  God had blessed them and made them a great nation in the midst of all the evil “dogs” of nations around them.   If you read a large portion of the Old Testament you can see why they think that.  Paul even maintains that same thought in Romans 9:1-5.   

However, the key thought for Habakkuk is that why is God using such a wicked nation to punish them.  Certainly God would not soil His hands in such a way.  Note what Habakkuk says in the preceding chapter:

Habakkuk 1:12

Are you not from everlasting,

O Lord my God, my Holy One?

We shall not die.

O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment,

and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.

The prophet appeals to God’s character and He certainly can’t be associated with such filth as Babylon.   

That is what brings us to the above verse where the prophet has decided to “wait.”   He is going to “wait” for an answer.   God will give Him and answer and it is plain that God holds those He blesses and chooses for His own to a higher standard than He does a wicked nation(s).   The key thought, however, is that the prophet must wait for the answer.   We often find ourselves waiting for God to answer our big questions in life.  That is not a bad thing.  God has chosen to speak, as He does for Habakkuk.   God will always answer, but we must always be willing to sit and wait and listen for His response.   The response is always through His word, as it is with Habakkuk.  

The prophet is sitting at his “watchpost” and waiting on God.  That is the best place to be in life.   Finding our own particular “watchpost” is an important aspect of life.  Sitting, waiting and listening for God is never a bad thing, no matter the answer God gives.  The rest of chapter two and three God answers the prophet.  But, only because the prophet asked the har question(s) and then sat and was willing to listen to the Divine answers.