How to Conquer Desperation: Three Truths from Habakkuk
Desperation is an interesting motivator. For example, my body has recently been reacting to something I’m not yet aware of, that has given me itchy pimple-like spots. They come and go, they move around, and they are annoying. Lately, it’s morphed into full rash mode down my leg. I’m desperate for relief and motivated to find answers.
My situation is not emotionally charged, although I’m sure my sweet pastor husband is very tired of hearing me say, “I itch so badly!” Most times, when we feel desperate, our emotions are on the brink of heartbreak.
Why We Feel Desperate
When we say words in anger, we can feel desperate to take those words back somehow. Some of us make decisions that we long to go back and change because we realize we chose unwisely. If you are a parent, you’ve experienced desperation because of excruciating pain your child is experiencing, or because you see their life alter far beyond what you had hoped, and you ache for something different.
There are parents and family members who are living out desperation as they grieve the loss of someone they love and adore due to a mass shooting. There are parents and family members of those who have survived a mass shooting, and they live in desperation because that one experience forever changed the one they love. Each one is desperate for answers, for the pain to be gone, for peace and for hope.
Desperation is a Result of Sin
The truth is, since sin entered the world through Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey, all of humanity has been desperate to regain what was lost. Whether we realize it or not, we ache for an open, dependent relationship with the God who created us and loves us more than we can comprehend. We are desperate for salvation.
God’s Story
The story of the Bible is the story of God revealing Himself and His plan to return us to that relationship. Early on in God’s story, He chooses the nation of Israel to be His people. God Almighty chooses the Israelites to demonstrate to the world the goodness, love, holiness, and glory of the One and Only God, Yahweh.
God does remarkable things for the Israelites, and they have their moments of true worship, adoration, and gratefulness. However, the nation of Israel also experiences many moments when they struggle to follow God’s guidelines, choose to disobey, and then live in ways that break God’s heart. Throughout God’s story, God graciously pursues them and allows events in their lives to help them realize their need for what only God can provide.
The Prophet Habakkuk and God’s Story
There is a story of a prophet named Habakkuk in the Old Testament; his story is told in the book named after him. As Habakkuk begins his book, Israel is waiting for the Messiah, the one who will come and save them. They have a specific idea of what the Messiah will do and how things will be once he appears. When you look at all of God’s story, you learn the Israelite’s idea of Messiah was not God’s idea of Messiah.
In Habakkuk one, we learn about Habakkuk’s desperation.
“How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.”
Habakkuk 1:2-3 CSB
Habakkuk’s Desperation and Three Truths for Us
The book of Habakkuk is Habakkuk’s conversation with God concerning his desperation, and the desperation of the Israelites. In this short book of only three chapters, we learn three things that can help us in our moments of desperation.
Truth One: God’s Ways are Beyond What We Can Understand
The first thing we must recognize is God’s ways are beyond our understanding. In Habakkuk 1:5, God tells Habakkuk, “…I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear about it.” God chose to use an evil nation to conquer the Israelites and bring them to the point where they grasped their desperate need for God.
Please don’t interpret that to mean, God is bringing evil on us today so we will see our need for Him. I don’t believe that to be true or in keeping with God’s character. When you study the story of Habakkuk, you discover God used an evil nation, AND He still preserved the Israelites, and protected them, but they lived through harsh times. God disciplined his children for their good.
Desperate Times Don’t Equal Discipline
Our desperate times are not necessarily an act of discipline. The truth is, if I choose to disobey God, God will most likely allow the natural consequences of my choice to happen in my life. And, if I listen to the Holy Spirit as I endure those consequences, I will learn a powerful lesson. We can also experience circumstances that leave us in desperation because of someone else’s evil acts. Those evil acts are a result of humanity’s sinfulness, and they are never God’s choice.
What is hard for us to grasp is why God doesn’t step in and fix things, after all He is all-powerful and loving. Why do bad things happen? I don’t fully know. I do know we live in a world where man chose sin over obedience, and until God declares His second coming, we will battle sin and difficult circumstances due to the influence of that sin. Nevertheless, God is always working His purposes and offering redemption, but how He chooses to do that, and when, and through whom, is beyond my comprehension. God is beyond my comprehension; He’s beyond everyone’s comprehension.
Truth Two: Choose to Trust God and Wait
The second idea we learn from Habakkuk is choose to trust God and wait. Habakkuk complains to God, he blasts God for what he thinks is unfair action, or lack of action. But Habakkuk believes God is who He claims to be, and he trusts the God who has fought for the Israelites for generations, the God who has been faithful.
In Habakkuk 2:1 Habakkuk says,
“I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what he will say to me and what he will reply about my complaint.”
Habakkuk 2:1 CSB
Habakkuk purposefully waits for God. He doesn’t go rushing around trying to fix things. He places himself in a position so that he hears God, sees God, and doesn’t miss God. That’s genuine waiting.
Desperately Waiting
I can remember a time in High School when I called my dad to pick me up after a basketball game. He said he was on his way, so I stepped out of the arena and waited. I watched and waited until the parking lot was empty and the arena doors were locked. My dad still hadn’t arrived. I studied every car that turned toward where I was standing. I stood right on the curb; I didn’t want my dad to miss me somehow. My dad did finally arrive, after he had finished the TV show he had gotten caught up in.
Waiting is continually looking, expecting another to show up. Waiting includes placing yourself in a position to be found. However, waiting doesn’t involve choosing another route or keeping yourself occupied doing something else so that you miss what you are waiting for.
When we wait for God, placing ourselves in a position to be found can mean reading God’s Word, journaling through our questions, and/or praying the same prayer for days or even years. As we wait, we must restrain ourselves from getting too busy pushing our agenda forward that we miss what God wants to reveal to us. Waiting is listening, and searching, and living with eyes wide open for a glimpse of God’s movement in our lives.
God’s Perfect Timing
In Habakkuk 2:2-3, God says,
“Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will surely come and not be late.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3 CSB
As you read the rest of Habakkuk 2, you learn God calls out five different actions that He will punish. In other words, Israel won’t be left in desperation forever. Many times we feel as if God is taking too long, just like I felt with my dad. But God isn’t distracted by something else, God is choosing the perfect timing.
Truth Three: Focus on Who God is and Celebrate
The third lesson from Habakkuk is to focus on who God is and celebrate. We don’t normally think about celebrating amid our desperation. Habakkuk didn’t celebrate living through harsh circumstances and long difficult years; Habakkuk celebrated the truth of who God is.
In Habakkuk chapter three, we learn God is merciful, holy, praiseworthy, glorious, powerful, sovereign and Savior. Regardless of the circumstances of our lives, God remains the same. The Psalmist declares in Psalm 73, “God’s presence is my good.” (Psalm 73:28, CSB) In the book of Malachi, God declares, “For I the Lord to not change…” (Malachi 3:6, ESV) and the author of Hebrews states, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8, CSB)
Reasons to Celebrate
We can always celebrate the truth that God loves us with an unfailing love (Psalm 86:5), that He is faithful (Lamentations 3:22-23), and that He listens to us (Jeremiah 33:3). Knowing God is always near (Matthew 28:20), that He goes before us (Deuteronomy 31:8), follows behind us (Psalm 139:5), and upholds us with His right hand (Isaiah 41:10) is worth celebrating, especially when we are desperate. Habakkuk says it this way:
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds in the stalls, yet I will celebrate in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! The Lord, my Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights.”
Habakkuk 3:18-19 CSB
Living Into the Three Truths
If you are feeling desperate today, my heart aches for you. Your pain is real and valid. AND God is still God. Even though we may not understand what God is doing, we can still choose to trust who He is.
I challenge you to choose to trust Him and place yourself in a position to not miss Him as you wait. Read God’s Word. Talk to God about the good, the bad, the hard, the senseless, talk about it all. Allow your spirit to be quiet and listen for His words to you. He may speak through a verse, a song, a friend, a quiet word or two in your spirit, or He may just flood you with His presence and that will be better than words.
Focus on who God is more than what makes you feel desperate. Celebrating who God is may not look like a party with balloons and confetti. It could be a prayer of gratitude that He is near. You might sing a song of worship that reminds your heart of His goodness or memorize a verse that brings hope to your need. God might challenge you to take a friend to coffee and you find yourself encouraged by the presence of another who is striving to celebrate in desperation.
We will continue to face desperate moments because we live in a world where sin is rampant. And, God is good, God is faithful, God is with us. Furthermore, God continues to write His story as He pursues us, leading us toward home. We may not understand every plot twist, but we can find assurance in the truth that God wins in the end. Amen and amen.
First photo of woman by ian dooley on Unsplash
