Habakkuk 2:4b  …the righteous shall live by his faith.

Habakkuk was a prophet of God, God’s spokesman to His people at a particular point in time. He may not be as famous as Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, or Jeremiah, but he was still God’s prophet. This book is written in the form of a dialog that took place between Habakkuk and God, but the message was intended for all the people. It came at a critical point in Israel’s history just as the Babylonian empire was rising to prominence.

The Lord reveals that He will use the Babylonians to punish His disobedient people. However, God also reveals that He will eventually destroy the Babylonians and bring salvation to Israel. The prophet asks God, “How long, O Lord? Why give the Israelites all of these hardships if you are going to deliver them later anyway? Why not just skip over the troubles and get to the good part? And why use a ruthless and godless people like the Babylonians to punish your chosen people?”  God was not trying to give Habakkuk a complete diagram of His eternal, mysterious plan for dealing with His people. These events cannot be properly understood in the short term. Only in looking back can we see how this was all a part of God’s plan for bringing His people to eternal salvation. For Habakkuk and the people of his day, the coming captivity confronted them with an important question: How would they stand before the God whose ways they could not understand — would they rely on themselves, or faithfully rely on God?

Habakkuk’s question was asked in a particular historical situation, but it is a question we still ask today: How long, O Lord? With drought conditions and people losing crops and livestock, when livelihoods and lives are threatened by hurricanes and floods, the question of Habakkuk comes to mind: HOW LONG, O LORD? Why don’t you do something, God? Don’t You know what we are going through?

These questions reveal that we are still under the impression, or the delusion, that God’s ways should be made transparent to us. We think God should tell us why He allows these things to happen. We want to be privy to all the details, believing that God owes us a clear explanation for the way He runs things. But feeling that way means that you are not really hearing (or listening to) the answer God gives. It is the same answer He gave through Habakkuk: the righteous will live by his faith. Amid all the troubles that face you, are you willing to submit yourself to God and trust in Him? Are you willing to live by faith? God has promised to care for you. This does not just mean that He will provide salvation for the faithful when this life is over. God will care for the faithful here and now. When tragedy strikes, it is as though God is asking, “Do you truly believe that I will take care of you?” The righteous will live by his faith.

This statement is one of the foundations of Christianity. You must live by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is not just one aspect of man’s relationship to God, not just one part of your life. Faith is your existence, your total being as His follower. You know that you, just like the Children of Israel, have done things that are not pleasing in God’s sight. All kinds of sins continue to plague you: laziness, cheating, putting things other than God first. But your faith in God’s saving plan, your trust in the one He sent to bring forgiveness, is your way to life. Knowing what God has done for you through Jesus Christ should assure you that He cares about you. The God who loved you enough to rescue you from sin and death by sending His Son to the cross in your place will not abandon you in your day to day problems.

Whatever your problems, continue to trust in the goodness of God, knowing that He loves you, that He is still in control. The righteous will live by his faith. This is where the rubber hits the road, putting your faith to work in the face of hardships. When you’ve got a killer sinus infection, when the kids are fighting and screaming, when the money won’t cover all the bills, even in the face of disaster, the righteous will live by his faith. You can do so confident that the God who sent His Son to be your Savior from all sin will not abandon you. He continues to care for you in all things. Your faith is to guide and influence how you handle the trials you encounter.