Hang In There: Everything is Being Made New.

Take Habakkuk; and not much is known about him, other than what he has writing in his book. His book was more of a dialogue between himself and God, where much of that dialogue was an argument with God. Habakkuk could not fathom God’s ways, in fact, God appears to be unjust in the eyes of the prophet. (See Hab 1:1-4) His argument was that the leaders and the influential of his day, were abusing the poor and the vulnerable in order to make themselves richer while the poor got poorer. These were dark times in Judah’s history. He challenged the leaders in view of the law, but it was a waste of time. They despised the law and God, and so drove on with their merciless mission.

So what does he do with this perplexing situation? To whom can he turn seeing that the rulers and the powerful in the land are on the take? He turns to the only one who will listen and the only one who can actually purpose a solution: God. "Why do you make me watch this day in and day out? It's your law! But what good is it? The violators read your word and sneer. The crooks are eating your people alive. How can you watch this? They despise you and they despise your law. The people are having their bones ground to dust--they feel it all and they're your people. What are you going to do about it?" To be honest,the situation sounds remarkable familiar.It may well have been 2500 years ago, but occurrences of this type are still seen today, and are quiet commonplace. We complain about taxes, child labour, child abuse, fat cats in their large corporations getting fatter, while the men in the overalls lose their jobs and their pensions to fund it.

God had a response for Habakkuk. (See Hab 1:5-11) God declared that he was bringing in the brutal Babylonians to destroy the land. History tells us that barely one stone was left on top of another in the destruction. People where wiped out and the temple was obliterated and desecrated. This was God’s answer. As Christians and members of the human family, we have to know firstly that God hears us. Not only does he hear us, but he acts. The trouble is that he may not act in the way that we’d like! It may be, as it was in Habakkuk's day, that God's means of fulfilling the bigger picture would deepen our hurt or leave it untouched. But it would never be ignored!

God is famed in the scriptures as a God of deliverance and he does that and he does it well. Yes, but must it come through pain and loss and must we suffer in the process? Yes, when/if he wills it. Something very great and deep, and something more noble is being played out here. God is on the march, and our ills are healed as part of a bigger picture (the creation has been groaning since that day in the Garden). When it seems like things are bleak and dark and hopeless, we have to trust in God and believe that He reigns. As the Psalmist says… He utters his voice and the earth melts… God is our refuge… be still and know that I am God. Our ills might be healed completely or not at all. This is no cause for alarm. For while we might not taste deliverance in this life, the faithful will taste it in the next.

Hang in there, everything is being made new.

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