Transformation through Trust: Habakkuk

The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw. 
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence! and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous— therefore judgment comes forth perverted. ~ Habakkuk 1:1-4

Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.
For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. ~ Habakkuk 2:2-3

Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights. ~ Habakkuk 3:17-19


How much like us is Habakkuk here? Does it feel like the world is falling apart sometimes? That violence, destruction, and wrong-doing have control?
Habakuk's prayer to God is one of lament and even anger. How can God let all this happen? How many times have you asked that question?
Yet in the midst, God says to Habbakuk, it will come. God's vision has the last word. If it seems to take too long, keep waiting.
And through that promise, Habbakuk was able to transform. His trust in God turned his worry, fear, and anger into one that could lead him to new heights.
Dare I say into one that could help God's vision move into the world?
It's easy to get caught in despair at the state of the world.
Yet are we called through trust to be God's hands and feet in the world, proclaiming God's vision of love and peace?

Prayer: Move me, Lord, to be an agent of your peace. Amen

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