Habakkuk 1:3-6 (ESV)

[3] Why do you make me see iniquity,

and why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

[4] So the law is paralyzed,

and justice never goes forth.

For the wicked surround the righteous;

so justice goes forth perverted.

[5] “Look among the nations, and see;

wonder and be astounded.

For I am doing a work in your days

that you would not believe if told.

[6] For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,

that bitter and hasty nation,

who march through the breadth of the earth,

to seize dwellings not their own.

In this first chapter of Habakkuk the prophet struggles with two injustices. First, the people of God are living in sin. They are not living by God’s Law. Habakkuk knows that the Covenant under which they live says that God will judge his people if they do not keep his law, yet he sees no judgment coming. How can God let this go on?

The second injustice comes from God’s response. He will not let this go on. He will send the Chaldeans to judge his people. This throws Habakkuk into further confusion. The Chaldeans are worse than God’s own people. How can he use such evil people to judge his own people?

God has an answer in the next chapter, but for now, suffice it to say that we tend to look at life through a very narrow lens. If we do not see God answering now, we wonder where he is. If ungodly people prosper, we wonder if God really has the control he claims to have. God sees things through an eternal lens. When he says that people will not get away with their sin, you can believe it. God is playing the long game.

We can only see the present and remember the past. God has the future in his hands. What we see as ungodly people getting away with their sin, God sees as giving them just a little more time to repent. They won’t get away with it in the long run. What we see as a tragedy God sees as motivation to turn to him. Habakkuk can’t believe that God would send the Chaldeans to judge his people. That is unbelievable in his world. Yet God had a plan and they would not get away with their violence forever. The truth is they were eventually destroyed by the Persians. The Persians then allowed God’s people to rebuild their land. God knew what he was doing.

In our own world we give lip service to the God of justice, power, majesty, and glory, yet we often live with the fear and consternation of Habakkuk. How can this go on? Well, it won’t. The good news is that God promises, one day “every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Rom 14:11-12). So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” It may look like the world is spinning out of control and the ungodly have the upper hand, but the game is not finished. One day all will be set right. Count on it.