When God Seems Silent

Some mornings, the hardest prayer to say is the simplest one: “Lord, how long?” When the world feels loud with violence, unfairness, and nonstop bad news, God can seem strangely quiet. I walk through Habakkuk, one of the most honest books in the Bible, where a frustrated prophet brings his questions straight to God and refuses to settle for shallow answers.

We look at what Habakkuk actually complains about, what God says back, and why the answer is both surprising and steadying. God reminds him to “look at the nations” and trust that He is at work even when it is not obvious. That leads to Habakkuk’s powerful prayer in chapter three, a reminder that awe and need can live in the same sentence: “Help us again… and in your anger remember your mercy.”

Then we bring it home with a clear, practical anchor for daily life: “the righteous will live by trusting in Him.” When we feel piled on by one problem after another, we have to decide where we look for help. Psalm 121 points us upward: our help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 

Transcript

Welcome And Daily Reset

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Good morning and welcome to Starting Right. I am Danny Mack, and I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting right.

Habakkuk’s Complaint About Injustice

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Toward the end of the Old Testament, there was a book named after the prophet Habakkuk. It's a short book, it's only three chapters long. It's a unique book in that it records conversation between God and Habakkuk. The prophet had actually initiated this conversation with God, and it was based upon his distress about what he saw as God's inaction in the world. He wanted to see God do something more, particularly when it came to dealing with the justice towards evildoers. The book of Habakkuk shows us this prophet in full frustration mode. And in his frustration he called out to God, and God was gracious enough to begin to answer him. In chapter one, verses two to four, he starts it out this way Lord, how long must I ask for help and you ignore me? I cry out to you about violence, but you do not save us. Why do you make me see wrong things and make me look at trouble? People are destroying things and hurting others in front of me. They are arguing and fighting. So the teachings are weak and justice never comes. Evil people gain while good people lose. The judges no longer make fair decisions. Habakkuk's frustration is evident right there in those first few verses. There was so much evil thriving. There was completely out in the open. But God somehow was remaining completely and strangely silent. Where was he? How long could God allow this mess to continue?

God’s Surprising Plan Revealed

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God's response was down in verse 5. Look at the nations. Watch them and be amazed and shocked. I will do something in your lifetime that you won't believe even when you are told about it. God went on to tell Habakkuk that the people of Judah were going to be captured by the Babylonians. And until they humbled themselves before God and repented, they would actually be slaves to the Babylonians. And in the end it would turn around and things would work out because God was still in control. Habakkuk asked more questions and God gave more answers throughout the first two chapters of this book. And then we get to

A Prayer For Mercy In Crisis

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chapter three. And in chapter three, Habakkuk begins to pray because he now understands what God's going to do. And his prayer in chapter three and verse one is so powerful. He said, I have heard all about you, Lord. I am full of awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again, as you did in years gone by, and in your anger remember your mercy towards us. I'm sure there are times right now when we all wonder why God's not answering our prayers. Why are so many evil things happening in the world? And we feel like we're just getting piled up on with one thing after another, one problem after another, one disaster after another. We're almost expecting another one to take place. And yet God is still in control. God is always in control. He's always looking out for us. He's always helping us and taking care of us. He wants to do what's right for us. He wants to give us the strength that we need to have in our lives.

Where Help Really Comes From

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The answer of God really can be clarified when we look in chapter two and verse four of Habakkuk. So the evil nation is very proud of itself. It is not living as it should. But those who are right with God will live by trusting in Him. The greatest problem that we face is when we lose sight of where our help comes from. We sometimes think our help is going to come from our friends or from the government or from something else or someone else. Somebody will win the elections and will solve all of our problems for us. It's not going to come from any of those places. Psalm 121, verses 1 and 2. I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. That's where our help comes from. That's what Habakkuk knew, that his help was going to come from the Lord. That's what the psalmist knew when he wrote 121st Psalm. That's what every person of faith knows. Our help comes from the Lord. It doesn't come from anywhere else. We need to trust in God. We will live when we trust in God. We will see answers. We will have hope. And just like Habakkuk, when we see the evil going on around us, God will give us comfort and assurance and peace in our lives and in our hearts if we look to Him and don't look to the problems.

Keep Your Eyes On Christ

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Keep your eyes focused on Christ, because in Him is our hope and our salvation. Because we live by faith and not by sight. Have a great day, my friends. We'll talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today. And I invite you to join me Monday to Friday right here on Starting Right with Danny Mack.