“Rivers know this: There is no hurry. We shall get there someday.” – A.A. Miln
Habakkuk 1:1 CSB – The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw
Habakkuk 1:2-4 CSB –
How long, Lord, must I call for help
and you do not listen
or cry out to you about violence
and you do not save?
3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4 This is why the law is ineffective
and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous;
therefore, justice comes out perverted.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 CSB – He has made everything appropriate in its time….. but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.
Habakkuk 2:1-3 CSB –
I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.
I will watch to see what he will say to me
and what I should reply about my complaint.
2 The Lord answered me:
Write down this vision;
clearly inscribe it on tablets
so one may easily read it.
3 For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.
v.4b – But the righteous one will live by his faith.
v.20 – But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let the whole earth
be silent in his presence.
Wait Objectively: Get Perspective
Habakkuk 2:1 CSB – I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.
I will watch to see what he will say to me
and what I should reply about my complaint
From the Watchtower, see there is a bigger battle going on
Ephesians 6:12 CSB – For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
A Glimpse into the Spiritual Warfare
Daniel 10:11-13 CSB – He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man treasured by God.
“Don’t be afraid, Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers. 13 But the prince [the evil angel] of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days.
Then Michael, one of the chief princes [the archangel], came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
The View from the Tower Reminds You that God is doing more than you could ask or imagine
Philippians 1:6 CSB – being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
1 Peter 1:6-7 CSB – You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The Cross Precedes the Crown
Wait Patiently
Habakkuk 2:3 CSB – For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
it testifies about the end and will not lie.
Though it delays, wait for it,
since it will certainly come and not be late.
“You can’t have a million dollar dream with a minimum wage worth ethic.” – Zig Ziglar
Zechariah 4:6 CSB – This is the word of the LORD: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD of Armies.
Psalm 27:14 CSB –
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart be courageous.
Wait for the Lord.
Job 23:8-10 CSB –
If I go east, he is not there,
and if I go west, I cannot perceive him.
9 When he is at work to the north, I cannot see him;
when he turns south, I cannot find him.
10 Yet he knows the way I have taken;
when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.
“waiting is our destiny. as creatures who cannot by themselves bring about what they hope for; we wait in the darkness for a flame we cannot light. we wait in fear for a happy ending that we cannot write. we wait for a ‘not yet’ that feels like a ‘not ever.” – Lewis Smedes
God has A Greater Dream For You
But, how does waiting bring God’s greater dream?
Wait Faithfully – Practice Simple Obedience
Habakkuk 2:4 CSB – But the righteous one will live by his faith.
Don’t Be Impressed by Babylon.
Habakkuk 2:4-5 CSB –
Look, his ego is inflated;
he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.
5 Moreover, wine betrays;
an arrogant man is never at rest.
He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,
and like Death he is never satisfied.
He gathers all the nations to himself;
he collects all the peoples for himself.
Habakkuk 2:9 CSB – Woe to him who dishonestly makes wealth for his house
Habakkuk 2:12 CSB – Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with injustice!
Habakkuk 2:15 CSB –
Woe to him who gives his neighbors drink,
pouring out your wrath
and even making them drunk,
Seven “Woes” against Babylon
- Woe to the Proud 2:4-5
- Woe to the Greedy 2:6-8
- Woe to the Dishonest 2:9-11
- Woe to the Violent 2:12-14
- Woe to the Sensual 2:15-17
- Woe to the Idolater 2:18-20
Galatians 6:7-8 CSB – Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit
Habakkuk 2:20 CSB –
But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let the whole earth
be silent in his presence.
1 John 3:1 CSB – See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him.
Habakkuk 2:20 CSB –
But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let the whole earth
be silent in his presence.
Wait Faithfully: Be Silent. Be Still.
