Habakkuk 1:12-17: a reflection

12Aren’t you from everlasting, LORD my God, my Holy One? We will not die. LORD, you have appointed them for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish. 13You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he, 14and make men like the fish of the sea, like the creeping things that have no ruler over them? 15He takes up all of them with the hook. He catches them in his net and gathers them in his dragnet. Therefore he rejoices and is glad. 16Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious and his food is good. 17Will he therefore continually empty his net, and kill the nations without mercy?

Habakkuk brings God an honest, hard question, wrestling openly with why God tolerates the wicked who swallow up those more righteous than themselves. You who are of purer eyes than to see evil, he says, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he? Habakkuk does not pretend he understands, nor does he hide his trouble; he brings his real, difficult question straight to God, honestly wrestling with the problem of why evil seems to prosper and the righteous to suffer. And he brings it grounded in what he knows of God, addressing God as everlasting, holy, his Rock. This shows that we can bring our honest, hard questions to God, wrestling openly with him. Habakkuk brought his hard questions honestly to God. We can wrestle openly with God over what troubles us. Honest questions can be brought straight to God. God can bear our real, difficult questions.

Notice that Habakkuk does not suppress his hard question or turn away from God because of it; he brings it to God directly. He is genuinely troubled by what he sees: the wicked prospering, swallowing up those more righteous than themselves, while God seems to keep silent. And rather than either pretending he understands or abandoning his faith, he brings his honest wrestling straight to God, asking his hard why. And notice that he does so grounded in what he knows of God: he addresses God as everlasting, as his Holy One, as his Rock, even as he questions. This shows us that faith is not always the absence of hard questions, and that we can bring our real, troubled questions honestly to God, wrestling with him rather than turning from him. God is not offended by our honest wrestling; he can bear our hard questions. To bring our real doubts and troubles to God, grounded in what we know of him, is a form of faith, not its opposite. We can wrestle honestly with God and still hold to him. Bringing our hard questions to God is faith wrestling, not faith failing. God can bear our honest, troubled questions. Wrestle with God honestly, grounded in what you know of him.

That is worth taking to heart, for we can bring our honest, hard questions to God, wrestling openly with him rather than turning away, as Habakkuk brought his troubled why straight to God. We can feel we must either pretend we understand or turn from God when we are troubled by what we see, by evil prospering and the righteous suffering; but Habakkuk brought his hard question honestly to God, grounded in what he knew of him as everlasting, holy, his Rock. God can bear our honest wrestling. When you are troubled by hard questions, do not turn from God or pretend; bring them honestly to him, wrestling with him as Habakkuk did. Bring your honest, hard questions to God, wrestling openly with him rather than turning away, as Habakkuk, troubled that God seemed to tolerate the wicked who swallowed up those more righteous than themselves, brought his difficult why straight to God, addressing him as everlasting, holy, and his Rock even as he questioned; for faith is not always the absence of hard questions, and we can feel we must either pretend we understand or abandon God when we are troubled by what we see, but God is not offended by our honest wrestling and can bear our real, difficult questions, so that to bring our doubts and troubles honestly to him, grounded in what we know of him, is a form of faith rather than its opposite, and we do well to wrestle openly with God, holding to him even as we bring him our hard questions, as Habakkuk did.

Lord, Habakkuk brings you an honest, hard question, wrestling openly with why you tolerate the wicked who swallow up those more righteous than themselves. You who are of purer eyes than to see evil, he says, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he? Habakkuk does not pretend he understands, nor does he hide his trouble; he brings his real, difficult question straight to you, honestly wrestling with the problem of why evil seems to prosper and the righteous to suffer. And he brings it grounded in what he knows of you, addressing you as everlasting, holy, his Rock. This shows that I can bring my honest, hard questions to you, wrestling openly with you. Show me that Habakkuk does not suppress his hard question or turn away from you because of it; he brings it to you directly. He is genuinely troubled by what he sees. And rather than either pretending he understands or abandoning his faith, he brings his honest wrestling straight to you, asking his hard why, grounded in what he knows of you as everlasting, his Holy One, his Rock. This shows me that faith is not always the absence of hard questions, and that I can bring my real, troubled questions honestly to you, wrestling with you rather than turning from you. You are not offended by my honest wrestling; you can bear my hard questions. Take that to my heart, for I can bring my honest, hard questions to you, wrestling openly with you rather than turning away. When I am troubled by hard questions, by evil prospering and the righteous suffering, keep me from turning from you or pretending; help me bring them honestly to you, Lord, wrestling with you as Habakkuk did, grounded in what I know of you, and holding to you even as I bring you my hard questions.