9.23 Habakkuk

Allan Katch

9.23.2020

Habakkuk 1-3

Summarize what you read in one paragraph:

The book of Habakkuk is a book of prayer and discourse with God. The prophet is in anguish as he watches the wicked go on with their wickedness and the righteous being forgotten. What’s amazing about Habakkuk’s complaints is that God actually answers him. He explains that he has a plan and that we need only to live by our faith in Him. After that, Habakkuk gives an inspiring song of praise to God that echoes the Lord’s power and majesty. The prophet’s verses evoke both fear of God and trust in His power. Though the world may be crazy, God gives us so much to be joyful about.

What is one key verse?

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no 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.

How does what you read change your vision of God?

Suffering exists in this world. Evil people do evil things; righteous people stand by idly and watch. These chapters showed me how God is in control. He sees what’s going on and is bending it to His will (with our help!). There is never a point where God is surprised by what’s going on in the world or when he says, “Oh gee, I might need to do something about that.” He is in control, and He gives us SO much to be happy about. Every time we see one reason to despair, we have twice as many reasons to rejoice in God our Savior. 

How does what you read change your vision of yourself or others?

It can be easy to think I need to fix things myself. When I see a problem in my life or the lives of those close to me, it’s instinct to try to solve it somehow. Habakkuk did a good job of showing me that reliance on God, as well as prayer, can positively impact my situation more than I ever could.

How will you Go With God because of this reading? (What is an action step?)

To put these verses into action, I want to focus on Joy (a pretty awesome fruit of the Spirit). Throughout my walk with God, I never want to get to a point where I can’t rejoice in God, so to do that I want to focus on thanksgiving and praise in my prayer times. While brokenness and contrition have a special place in prayer, I believe God wants us to be joyful when we talk to him and when we proclaim the Good News to others.

Where did you see Jesus in these chapters? (What made you think about Jesus?)

Jesus is the very reason we can rejoice. A lot of the reason Habakkuk was crying out to God was because he couldn’t see salvation from sin and evil in the world. Thanks be to God that we have that great Hope now and can rely wholly on Jesus’ sacrifice for us.