O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4)

Habakkuk asks God questions very similar to ones we have. How long are you going to wait? Are you content with what is happening? How can you just sit idly by while violence, injustice, pain, and suffering continue? I can imagine this question being raised to God from the people in Israel this past week.

This question is one that has been asked over and over and will continue to be asked. Doesn’t he hear the cry of the child that is being abused? Doesn’t he hear as we pray for things to be made right? Is he paying attention as we continually pour out our prayers for help amid trouble? Does he even care?

God wasted no time in responding, but his response made no sense to Habakkuk, and let’s face it, it wouldn’t make any sense to us either. God was sending the Babylonians. After Habakkuk responds in confusion to what God is going to do, God responds with the heart of this prophetic message to us from Habakkuk today.

And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.  If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.  (Habakkuk 2:2-4)

The heart of the message of Habakkuk is what it means to live by faith. Habakkuk reminds us that living by faith is continuing to trust and to follow; continuing to walk in the steps of Jesus even when those steps go in a direction that we would rather they didn’t. Living by faith is realizing that His are the only steps that will lead us where we need to go – home to the Father.

Yet we are tempted to take other paths. Maybe we would like to give in to and participate in the hatred and enmity that is so pervasive. It is tempting to join in and engage in the name calling, the belittling, and the dehumanization of others that is so prevalent in our current context. It is so easy to do, and if as Habakkuk has suggested God is not really paying attention and seems to be okay with the violence, injustice, and evil they why not?

Living by faith is hard because it calls on us to think past, to see past what is right in front of our eyes. It calls on us to look for God and his purposes and how we can be part of them, whatever the situation may be. This takes time. That doesn’t just mean age, although it does take maturity. It takes dedicated time spent with God. It takes time spent looking at Scripture and being reminded of who God is and what he is doing. It takes spending time in prayer, bringing our concerns to him, asking for him to give us eyes to see the things going on around us the way he does. It takes spending time remembering God has done in our lives.

This allows us to react to and interact with the world around us, with the people around us in a way that is very different from most. It moves us away from panic and knee-jerk reactions that often lead us in the wrong direction. It will look strange to many, but it brings us a sense of peace and calm as we live knowing the One who is sovereign over all. It doesn’t mean that we understand everything that is going on. It doesn’t mean that the hurt and confusion disappear. But it does allow us to move forward because we know the One who has made great and precious promises and the One who is always faithful in delivering on those promises.

Living by faith is continuing to move forward when it doesn’t seem possible or even worth the effort. We hear this in Habakkuk’s prayer from chapter 3. In that prayer he recounts the great deeds of God. As we read it we hear of God’s work in creation, his rescue of his people from Egypt, his leadership during the wilderness wandering, and his defending Israel in the conquest of Canaan. Listen to how Habakkuk ends that prayer.

I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:16-19)

Each of us has been where Habakkuk was. Each of us has experienced trouble, disappointments and real sorrows that have come our way. We may have wondered or even questioned out loud whether or not it was worth carrying on. Living by faith is adapting this prayer of Habakkuk to our lives as we find ourselves in his shoes.