Devotional – Habakkuk
Cale Pritchett

Scripture:

Habakkuk 1:2-4
How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”, but you do not save?
Why do you make me look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. 

Habakkuk 2:2-4
Then the Lord replied, “write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay. See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness….”

Habakkuk 3: 17-19
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are not grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. 

Devotional: Faith is More Reliable than a Groundhog
Twenty minutes ago, I was outside shoveling snow. It’s a Sunday in January, and instead of being in the warm sanctuary of my church, refilling my cup through song, sermon, and community, I was outside in sub-freezing temperatures, shoveling snow. While I was shoveling, I was angry. I have so many other things I’d rather do with my time than shovel snow. And as a Child of God who tries to put God in the context of everything, my inner angry voice couldn’t help but ask God about it. The conversation went something like this - “God – what were you thinking with snow?!  Did the universe really have to be created in such a way that snow; right here and right now, is needed? There had to be a better way, right? Maybe if the earth orbited the sun in a perfect circle instead of the oval type of shape it does now? Or if the earth spun in such a way relative to the sun that weather and temperatures were the same all over the earth? Do you just want to torture me?  I just want to be drinking coffee and playing Mario Kart inside right now….” Gods didn’t directly respond to my angry rant, but I’m pretty sure I could feel sense heavenly eye rolls. 

I know Winter is needed. (I can’t explain why, but I’m sure it is!) And I know spring is coming and will bring for the sunny and fun filled days of summer. Despite that knowledge, it’s still hard not to be just a bit more sad and a bit grumpier in the winter months. It’s hard not to ask, “why do we need dumb winter”, and hard not to turn to the annual Groundhog ritual and ask expectedly “when is Winter going to end?!”.    

Life overall is like that. Great periods of time, like the Summer for me, can require bleak periods of time, like Winter. Even when we can’t explain it or understand why. So what do we do during those bleak periods? How can we stay joyful? Where can we find hope? (Hint: it’s not the Groundhog on Groundhog Day). 

In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet Habakkuk is going through one of those bleak periods. Not one caused by cold temperatures and the need to shovel snow, but a more legitimate concern: violence and injustice caused by others. And he takes his anguish and pain about it to God, asking him how long he has to endure these hardships and why God makes him go through such hard times.    

And God responds. With words. Not with eye rolls. God’s answer to Habakkuk? Faith. God tells Habakkuk that the answer to his questions lies with the knowledge and belief that God knows what’s best. He tells Habakkuk that the relief he needs will be revealed in time. God acknowledges that the relief might linger, but that it will come. Habakkuk responds by recognizing God’s Holy greatness by simply looking around him. Seeing creation and knowing what God is capable of gave Habakkuk the strength he needed to keep moving forward and not let his situation turn his back to God. It gave him the strength to lean on his faith.  

So, like Habakkuk, I’ll trust that God probably knows much better than me how snow and weather should work. Won’t stop me from complaining to God about it (God listens!), but through my belief and faith that God knows best I’ll look for joy and fulfillment in other ways after I put the shovel down. 

Prayer:
God of Habakkuk, God of snow, and God of summer – thank you for your gift of the earth and everything that comes with it.   Help us to remember and trust in your ways, even when we don’t understand them, and to turn our questions and bitterness into praise of your infinite power and grace, and into gratitude for the grace you gave us through Jesus. Amen.