(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)
(Habakkuk 1:1-17) The pronouncement which Habakkuk the prophet saw:2 How long, Lord, have I called for help,
And You do not hear?
I cry out to You, “Violence!”
Yet You do not save.
3 Why do You make me see disaster,
And make me look at destitution?
Yes, devastation and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises.
4 Therefore the Law is ignored,
And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore justice comes out confused.
5 “Look among the nations! Watch!
Be horrified! Be frightened speechless!
For I am accomplishing a work in your days—
You would not believe it even if you were told!
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
That grim and impetuous people
Who march throughout the earth,
To take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs.
7 They are terrifying and feared;
Their justice and authority originate with themselves.
8 Their horses are faster than leopards,
And quicker than wolves in the evening.
Their horsemen charge along,
Their horsemen come from afar;
They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.
9 All of them come for violence.
Their horde of faces moves forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 They make fun of kings,
And dignitaries are an object of laughter to them.
They laugh at every fortress,
Then heap up dirt and capture it.
11 Then they fly along like the wind and pass on.
But they will be held guilty,
They whose strength is their god.”
12 Are You not from time everlasting,
Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to deliver judgment;
And You, O Rock, have destined them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look at evil,
And You cannot look at harm favorably.
Why do You look favorably
At those who deal treacherously?
Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up
Those more righteous than they?
14 Why have You made people like the fish of the sea,
Like crawling things that have no ruler over them?
15 The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,
Drag them away with their net,
And gather them together in their fishing net.
Therefore they rejoice and are joyful.
16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net
And burn incense to their fishing net,
Because through these things their catch is large,
And their food is plentiful.
17 Will they therefore empty their net,
And continually slay nations without sparing?
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Seeing the horrors in life, one might wonder why God allows this. He is loving and righteous, so He will not force people to believe in Him or live in His will. Yet He is also sovereign, so the spiritual realm and people can only do as much as God will allow. And because God is fair and just, one day all unbelievers will be held accountable. Yet, it is in the darkness that people will realize their need for salvation and desire to seek, find and live in the light, putting their faith and trust in the Lord.
Part of trusting in the Lord is to wait on Him to accomplish whatever it is He has in store for each time period. Another aspect of trusting and waiting on the Lord is to rely on Him to get us through each day in His strength, wisdom and grace. For believers, seeing the darkness is a good reminder to continue praying and sharing the good news! But there isn't any need to seek out the darkness, it is all around us wherever we are, and that should not be our focus anyway. Our purpose isn't to stamp out darkness, but to pursue God's light as well ask Him to help us be that light to the rest of the world.
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