SEPTEMBER 17, 2015
Doesn’t God Care?
“For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the
Lord. — Isaiah 55:8
Read:
Habakkuk 1:1-11
Why does the
intoxicated driver escape an accident unharmed while his sober victim is
seriously injured? Why do bad people prosper while good people suffer? How
often have you been so confused by things going on in your life that you have
cried out, “Doesn’t God care?”
Habakkuk struggled
with this same question as he saw the distressing situation in Judah where
wickedness and injustice were running rampant (Hab. 1:1-4). His confusion drove
him to ask God when He would act to fix the situation. God’s reply was nothing
short of perplexing.
God said that He would
use the Chaldeans as the means of Judah’s correction. The Chaldeans were
notorious for their cruelty (v. 7). They were bent on violence (v. 9) and
worshiped nothing but their military prowess and false gods (vv. 10-11).
In moments when we
don’t understand God’s ways, we need to trust His unchanging character. That’s
exactly what Habakkuk did. He believed that God is a God of justice, mercy, and
truth (Ps. 89:14). In the process, he learned to look at his circumstances from
the framework of God’s character instead of looking at God’s character from the
context of his own circumstances. He concluded, “The Sovereign Lord is my
strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on
the heights” (Hab. 3:19).
Lord, it is easy to
let my circumstances change how I understand You. Help me to remember that You
are good and faithful, even though I can’t see everything and may not
understand how You are working.
Our situation may look very different from God’s point of
view.
INSIGHT:
The book of Habakkuk is a dialogue between
the prophet Habakkuk and God. Ministering to the rebellious kingdom of Judah
120 years after Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, Habakkuk was
perplexed as to why God had not punished Judah for her sin (1:2-4). God
responded that He would use the Babylonians to punish Judah (vv. 5-11).
Habakkuk was even more perplexed that a holy God would use an evil pagan nation
to discipline His own people (1:12–2:1). He then learned that God would punish
Babylon too (2:2-20). Habakkuk, praising God’s faithfulness (3:1-15), affirms
his trust in God to do what is right (vv. 16-19). Sim Kay Tee
Source: Our Daily Bread 2015