Waiting on God

By Steven L. Childers

Habakkuk 2:1-5
Waiting is one of the hardest things to do in life, especially during a time of crisis. No one likes to wait. If the truth were known, some of us would rather do the wrong thing than wait. Most of you have heard the American prayer: "Lord, give me patience...Let me have it right now!"

I have found, though, that waiting is the rule in life rather than the exception. The exception is an open door; when you have one, go! But open doors just don't happen very often! Green lights come just a few seconds in life. The rest of the time is filled with yellow lights and mostly red lights that continually flash, "Wait, wait, wait!"

Habakkuk was a man who knew what it meant to wait on God. Like all of us during the tough times in life, he was very tempted to switch the channels. But he resisted that temptation and in so doing set before us a model worthy of our study and imitation.

In Chapter 1 of this book, Habakkuk was very disturbed, for the people of Judah had wandered away from the Lord. Wickedness and gross immorality marked their lives. Habakkuk's heart was broken over it. And so he prayed fervently and continually for God to bring change. But nothing happened! He faced the trauma of Divine Silence.

God finally broke that silence, but when He did, what He told Habakkuk actually made matters worse for the prophet. For God said that He was going to send the wicked and cruel Babylonians to judge the people of Judah. Such a response from God just didn't make sense to the prophet. It seemed so unfair! Habakkuk now faced a new problem: The trauma of Divine Injustice. Why would God use a nation far more wicked than Israel to correct His people? It just didn't seem fair. It didn't seem right.

I. Wait on God for His Answers

And yet during this time of confusion, we find him saying in the opening verse of Chapter 2:
I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
Here Habakkuk paints for us the picture of a watchman climbing up a very high watchtower so that he might be on a constant lookout for whatever may approach be it an enemy or a friendly traveler. The picture is one of someone waiting in solitude, looking and listening.

You see, Habakkuk is confused. He's uncertain. In his role as God's spokesman, he doesn't know what to say to the people anymore. He doesn't even know what to pray. But he does know this: If he's not certain, the people to whom he ministers will surely not be certain. So, stationing himself on the rampart, he says here, "I will say nothing! I'm going to wait on this watchtower for God to intervene! I will wait for God to speak."

Resting in God. We are perhaps seldom more effective in all our lives than when we make a determined effort to stop and rest in God. Stop the complaining, stop the wrestling, stop the fighting, stop the inner churning and wait and see what God says to you about what you are facing.

I have found that before almost every significant decision in my life, there has been a time when I have been forced by God to wait. Because His answers do not usually come on my schedule, he forces me to step aside. Sometimes that may mean a trip to be alone, or just pulling away for a day or two or a weekend, Just to wait in silence for him to clear the fog and quiet my spirit.

In Psalm 46:10, God says, "Be still, and know that I am God." In Psalm 27:14, He says, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." And in Psalm 62, He inspired David to write: "Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved."

To be still and wait for God means that you must learn what it means to withdraw to get away from all the many confusing voices and distractions of this world. If we are really interested in hearing from God, we must discipline ourselves to quiet down before Him. As Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Jesus waited. We find in Scripture that even Jesus found it necessary to set aside regular times of solitude and stillness before God. Despite His extremely busy and demanding schedule, we read this of Him in Mark 1:35: "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."

In affirming Christ's full deity, we must be very careful not to deny His full humanity. Jesus being not only fully God, but also fully man knew what it meant to wait on the Lord. In those painful times of temptation and trials, He understood the importance of setting aside a time of silence to seek out the Father's comfort, direction, affirmation and assurance. And it was from those times that Jesus drew His confidence that whatever He faced was within the Father's will.

Quietness. I'm afraid that the loud and busy brand of Christianity today has forgotten that some of the best times with God are wordless, silent times, times where you stop talking, close your eyes, and meditate on what you have been reading in Scripture; times when you listen inside yourself deeply. As we meditate, the Holy Spirit speaks to us.

Please be assured that I have never heard an audible voice. It isn't that kind of answering. It's a listening down inside. It's sensing what God is saying about the situation. After all, His promise in Jeremiah 31:33 is, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."

It's very much like two persons that are in love. Isn't it true that the deeper the love, the less that has to be said? You can actually sit alone together by a fireplace for an hour or two and say very, very little, but it can be the deepest encounter and relationship you know anything about.

II. Rest in God's Faithfulness

In verse 2 Habakkuk reveals, "And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it." Here God is saying, "I know what I'm doing, Habakkuk. And I want you to write it down what I am going to tell you and give it to all the people."

Verse 3 continues, "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."

God is saying, I am not on the edge of heaven biting my nails wondering what to do with all this. I have planned very carefully every detail regarding the situation. My plan can never be frustrated no matter what. But what I am going to do will take place only at the exact, appointed time that I have ordained! Between now and that time, you must be still and wait patiently. Although you may have to wait longer than you'd like, I will carry out my plan at the proper time.

In the next two verses God begins to unfold the vision by giving Habakkuk a stark contrast between the wicked Babylonian and the man of God.

Of the Babylonian God says in the first half of verse 4, "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him." In other words, he is arrogant. In verse 5 God goes on to symbolize such a man as a covetous drunkard, and a cruel murderer.

Major truth. But right in the middle of this graphic and grotesque description of the ungodly Babylonian, God gives to Habakkuk in verse 4 a one phrase description of the true man of God. Here God says, "but the just shall live by his faith."

This truth forms a major thesis in three New Testament books. God begins His doctrinal presentation in Romans with this text in Chapter 1 verse 17, emphasizing what it means to be righteous. He uses this same text in Galatians 3:11 to emphasize the concept of justification, and in Hebrews 11 to teach the concept of faith. It was this very verse that turned the life of Martin Luther around and lit the torch of the Reformation. The righteous shall live by faith!

God is saying here, Habakkuk, if you live by feelings in the face of all the suffering and injustice of this life, you will be continually curled up in a corner quaking with fear. But no matter what you may face, you must learn to live by faith. You must learn to listen to me, wait on me, and trust in my character and my faithfulness.

Conclusion

That's what true faith really is! In the face of unfair suffering and painful confusion, when nothing makes sense, when the pieces just don't fit together and all the pat answers leave you empty, you trust in God, in who He is and in what He has done. Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen; that it is by such faith that the elders of old obtained a good report; and that without faith it is impossible to please God.

I know that some of you are struggling today. You are wondering why you are experiencing what you are. It seems so pointless. Please allow me to leave you with two other truths that come to my mind from this text.

First, know that things are not always as they seem. What may now seem to be totally absurd to you, will one day make sense. The lesson of Habakkuk is that sometimes you just won't be able to make sense out of your circumstances, at least not now. And until that final day, you must learn what it means to trust in God and His promise that it all really does fit in His plan. And if God tarries longer than you want, know that it is only for your good. Know that your time is in His hands, and He has promised to never delay one hour too long.

Second, remember that waiting strengthens your patience and lengthens your perspective. The short view of life is usually the false view. First impressions are often wrong impressions. Initial impressions of God's working are usually incorrect ones.

Pilgram's Progress. In John Bunyan's classic work, Christian decides to leave the Main Highway, which leads to Celestial City, and follow another Path which seemed easier. But this Path led him into the territory of Giant Despair who owns Doubting Castle. Eventually he was captured by Giant Despair and kept in a dungeon where he was advised to kill himself. The Giant said that there was no use trying to keep on with his journey. And for a time it seemed as if Despair had really conquered Christian.

However, after a time of prayer and meditation Christian broke out with these words, "What a fool I am to lie here in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well be free. I have a key in my heart called Promise that will....open any lock in Doubting Castle." And so he brought the key out and the prison gates flew open.

The message of Habakkuk is very simple: In spite of your circumstances, wait on God, for herein lies freedom. o

Rev. Steven L. Childers teaches practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, 1231 Reformation Dr., Oviedo, FL 32765.

Back To Top

Back To Previous Page