Grasping for Full Reliance on God

Written by Karen Lindia

“I will take my stand at my watchpost  and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me,     and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”-Habbakuk 2:1

I love the minor prophets, partly, honestly, because I enjoy a “short read.” Also, though, because God often speaks to me through them to pack a big and needed punch.  

I tend to let the problems of the day churn in my head, apparently imagining that in so doing I’ll arrive at a resolution and regain a sense of peace. And it seems that we have plenty to grieve us these days, doesn’t it?

Habakkuk reminds me that this always has been so for those who love the Lord. You see Habakkuk was deeply troubled about both the deteriorated spiritual status of Judah and about God’s use of an even more wicked nation to punish them. He must have wondered what was going on and why things were not working out in accordance with his desire for Judah to submit to the Lord.

I love the picture here of how Habakkuk sought God. He says:

“I will take my stand at my watchpost”—humbly waiting on the sovereign God to choose to speak.

“I will station myself on the tower”—above the fray of the world, focused on hearing from God.

“I will look out to see what he will say to me”—do you hear the Habakkuk’s expectation that he will hear from God and his intention to be attentive to what he hears? He’s communicating that he would look to God to determine how he, Habakkuk, would respond to God, depending upon God even to direct his response.

How often I fall back on self-reliance, even in responding to God! I’m grateful for this example set for us by Habakkuk. He, too, had wondered whether God was paying attention, why he was seemingly letting wickedness go unpunished. As he talked with God, though, Habakkuk was reminded that God is in fact sovereign, that His ways are beyond our comprehension, and that He is worthy of our praise and worship.

My prayer is that God will continue to transform each of us, too, to seek God more readily with patience, humility, focus and the expectation that He will answer.