I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Habakkuk 2:1
Habakkuk asks God then waits in faith expecting God to give him an answer. Habakkuk is a great role model. Often we ask God than run around trying to fix the problem ourselves. We aren’t good at waiting when nothing seems to be happening.
Yet when we view waiting from God’s perspective much is happening. Faith is being expressed in the waiting process. We wouldn’t wait if we didn’t believe God was interested, involved and engaged in our lives. We wouldn’t wait unless we believed that God was capable of solving the problem. We wouldn’t wait if we didn’t believe God cared.
The act of waiting is an act of submitting to God’s timetable which sends a message to the enemy of our souls. James writes, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Our waiting on God says we’re standing firm in our belief that God will act. We’re resisting the devil’s temptation to be impatient and thus enforcing the victory we have over him.
Through waiting, Habakkuk comes to realise that ultimately God is Sovereign and more powerful than even the Babylonians, who are mere putty in God’s hand. So Habakkuk is encouraged and strengthen. God can be trusted to handle the situation.
Likewise, through waiting, we realise God is Sovereign. We’re encouraged and strengthen by the process. We can be at peace, knowing, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just” (Deuteronomy 32:4).
