Why Doesn’t God Do Something? (Part One)

I was reading the book of Habakkuk when my attention was interrupted by a “breaking news bulletin” on CNN. A 22-year-old gunman had gone on a rampage in a Tucson, Arizona, supermarket. Many were wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Six were killed, including a 9-year-old girl. The event had been scheduled as “Congress on the Corner,” the effort of a member of Congress to keep her constituents informed.

The connection of what I was reading in this minor prophet and the news item was astounding! The verse read, “How long, O Lord, must I cry for help, but you do not listen? Or cry to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save?” (Hab. 1:2 NIV). The biblical text and the 21st-century violence connected before my eyes. Like many others in the Bible (and today) the prophet was struggling. Asaph wanted to know why good things happened to bad people (Ps. 73). Job wanted to know why bad things happened to good people (Job). Habakkuk was eager to know why God was not answering when he cried for help.

Problems

1. The silence of God (Hab. 1:2). Backslidden Israel was out of control morally, and Habakkuk’s preaching was met with indifference. His resulting cry for God’s intervention was met with silence—his prayers went unanswered. He saw the injustice among his people, and God seemed willing to tolerate it (Hab. 1:3). “Habakkuk prayed that God would do something about the violence, strife, and injustice in the land; but God didn’t seem to hear. In verse 2, the word translated ‘cry’ simply means ‘to cry for help,’ but the second word means ‘to scream, to cry with a loud voice, to cry with a disturbed heart’ ” (Warren Wiersbe, Be Amazed, p. 110).

2. Unanswered prayer today. Desperate people continue to make this passionate cry.

• It is heard in hospital corridors: “Why doesn’t God help my dying loved one?”
• It is a prayer from a man’s discouraged heart. He was downsized 24 months ago and has prayed fervently to God for a job. “Why are you silent, God?”
• It is a couple’s passionate prayer. They lost their home and moved in with relatives, and it isn’t working. “Help us, God!”
• It is the painful cry from the man who lost both legs in the service. “Why doesn’t God stop the war?’
• It is the prayer of the family of the 9-year-old girl shot down by the gunman. “Where were you, God?”

Answers

1. God’s activity. Listen to God’s answer to the prophet’s cry: “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed” (Hab. 1:5-6). God was telling His man that He isn’t silent. He heard and was getting ready to chasten His people. God’s response dealt with the nations, and particularly Babylon. The prophets had predicted the captivity as God’s way of correction. For 70 years, Judah would “hang their harps on willow trees” (Ps. 137) and say goodbye to their homeland.

2. Babylonian cruelty. In graphic language, God described the cruelty of the armies of Babylon (Hab. 1:6-11). Habakkuk was not pleased with God’s answer. He struggled with the idea of God using a pagan empire as a chastening rod. Even though the Israelites were backslidden, the Babylonians were known worldwide for their wickedness (v.13).

3. The God of history. There’s a mystery in the question of God and the nations. But if we recall the vision of the image in Daniel 2, we’re reminded of God’s control of the destiny of nations ancient and current. With selected metals and a careful timeline, God showed Daniel that Babylon would be succeeded by Medo-Persia and would in turn be followed by the Greeks and then by the Romans. And God’s eternal kingdom will be established in the days to come (pictured in the 10 toes of the image). It is a breathtaking sweep of the God of history. It was God’s way of reassuring His prophet (and us) that He knows what He is doing.

Recovery

The prophet may have been puzzled by God’s silence and then His activity, but we find help in our day and in our struggles in Habakkuk’s recovery. How was he helped? What can we learn about those times when we wonder if God is reading His children’s mail (our prayers) or we’re sensing they have landed in the “dead letter office”?

1. Embrace the character of God (1:12-17). In Psalm 77, Asaph wrote, “My heart mused and my spirit inquired: ‘Will the Lord reject forever? Will He never show His favor again? Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has He in anger withheld compassion?’ ” (vv.6-9). Asaph and Habakkuk seemed to be roommates in their despair. Recovery for Asaph was found in the activity of God (vv.10-15). For the prophet, it was rehearsing the character of God:

• He is eternal (Hab. 1:12).
• He is holy (1:12).
• He is just (1:12).
• He is a rock (faithful) (1:12).
• He is pure (1:13).

In our seasons of doubt, remembering the character of God can lead us down the road to recovery.

2. Return to the prayer tower. The prophet made a decision to “Stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint” (2:1). Like him, we need to continue to watch and pray.

In part twon, we’ll look at some good advice from the prophet.