In the Minor Prophets, what we mostly encounter is a word from God to the people of God. But Habakkuk is more conversational. Before God can offer his own word, the prophet jumps in. “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?” (Habakkuk 1:2) The prophet looks around and sees insidious violence done to God’s people when they are at their weakest. The people are praying, praying to the God who sees the downtrodden, who hears them and rescues them – this is what the people of God have always proclaimed God to be. But now, these prayers are floating into nothingness, it seems. God no longer hears them. No rescue is coming.
You and I are probably not in the habit of talking to God like this. It might not occur to us that God’s people have a long history of telling God just how angry we are with God for all the times violence happens to the powerless. For all the prayers that don’t get answered. For all the relationships that fall apart. For the needs that are not met. For the healing that doesn’t happen. Habakkuk is completely comfortable voicing his disappointment with God because he knows that doing so is in fact an act of faithfulness. A lesser prophet would hold it all in and pretend everything is fine, or give up on prayer altogether. God can handle our anger and confusion. We have seasons of disappointment, angst, and unanswered prayers, and the most faithful thing we can do in these seasons is bring it to God.
The faithfulness of Habakkuk’s complaining is brought full circle when the prophet relinquishes his turn to speak and enters into the posture of listening. The anger was always moving in the direction of anticipating a compassionate response from God. “I will stand at my watch-post; I will keep watch to see what he will answer concerning my complaint.” (2:1) Sure enough, God does just that. “The LORD answered and said to me: There is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end and does not lie; if it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come.” (2:2-3)
Yes, God’s plan to set the world right takes longer than we’d like. God’s timing confuses us, maybe so much so that we feel ignored completely. But God is still the same rescuer he always was, and Habakkuk finally submits to the God whose justice and compassion are in fact at work in the world. “I hear, and I tremble within; my lips quiver at the sound. I wait quietly for the day of calamity to come upon the people who attack us. Though the fig tree does not blossom and no fruit is on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the LORD, is my strength.” (3:16-19)
There is joy in waiting for God to set things right. When there is too much violence and not enough healing and reconciliation, there is joy, because it’s better than the alternative – praise and joy being reserved only for when I get the outcome I want at time I want it (which makes me God), a shallow and anxious way to live. Even though we face anger, confusion and disappointment at all the prayers that aren’t getting answered, the good life is still experienced in joining Habakkuk and quietly waiting for the God who has always come through for his people, expectantly watching for the God whose justice and compassion are in fact at work in the world.
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