O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?
-- Habakkuk 1:2
Habakkuk was a prophet of God who lived about 2600 years ago. Now interestingly, his very name means “one who wrestles with God.” And that’s exactly what he’s doing in today’s verse.
Habakkuk is angry, argumentative, and anxious. He’s looking at the moral decay of his day, the spiritual decline and injustices, and he wants to know what God is going to do about it. Nothing’s making sense. He’s disillusioned and questioning God’s ways.
Now, I’m sure you and I can identify with Habakkuk in some way. Maybe you’re grappling with God and questioning why things happen as they do. Clearly, we live in painful and perplexing times. War and death, suffering and disease, calamity and disaster are part of our daily experiences.
And like Habakkuk, there may be times when you call out to heaven and get no answer. But listen, when this happens, you mustn’t let the fog of doubt dampen your faith.
Follow Habakkuk’s lead and push on through the doorway of doubt. As someone once said, “A faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.”
You will be tested and challenged. It’s a fact of a Christ-follower’s life, but you can choose how to respond to these tests.
When doubts arise, don’t wrestle with God, but let your faith be ignited by your trust in almighty God!
A FAITH THAT CANNOT BE TESTED IS A FAITH THAT CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”
Luke 19:6–8
In 1985, a young mother named Cathleen Webb contacted the Cook County State’s Attorney with a shocking revelation. Eight years before, she had falsely claimed that she had been raped. She had identified a man named Gary Dotson as her assailant, and he had been convicted and sentenced to prison. But in the interim she had gotten saved, and after talking to her husband and her pastor, decided that even though it put her at great legal and financial risk, she had to come forward with the truth.
At first her story was not believed by the authorities. It would take three years, and a DNA test before Dotson was finally released from prison. Webb wrote a book about the situation, donating the proceeds to Gary Dotson. She later died of cancer. Her husband spoke about her after her death. “She fully expected to pay more of a price than she actually did. There was a good chance that she might have had to go to jail. She couldn’t give Gary back his years, but at that point she did everything she could to make it right.”
If we are genuinely repentant for what we have done wrong, we will not only confess it to God, but do whatever is possible to rectify the harm we have caused. There are some things that cannot be undone, but as much as is possible, it should be our desire to address the pain of those we have wronged.
Today’s Growth Principle:
It is not enough to feel sorry for what we do wrong—we must do whatever we can to make things right.
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