When God Doesn't Make Sense: Lessons from a Confused Prophet

Do you ever get confused? I get confused on a daily, moment by moment basis. A lot of times I just have a face that all the teenagers know - like he's confused, he has no idea what he's doing right now. But here's what I've discovered: if we look around actual life, what it really is, is this big, massive riddle. And trying to get an answer to the riddle sometimes doesn't make sense. What's weird about life is the more you try to figure it out, the actual more confusing it gets. Today I want to introduce you to a prophet who felt exactly the same way - and his story might just change how you handle your own confusion with God.

Meet Habakkuk: The Wrestling Prophet

Today we begin a series in the book of Habakkuk. That's kind of, like, hard to say. There's like, two different ways you can do, like, Habakkuk or Habakkuk. Either way, it sounds like a cat having a hairball. But either way, it's my favorite minor prophet. This is a minor prophet that was written thousands of years ago, but it's still amazingly applicable to our lives right now. And that's what God's word is. It's always sufficient. And it's a minor prophet not because of its value, but because of its size. Habakkuk's name most likely means to wrestle or to embrace, and we'll see him do both of those things throughout this book. He's probably a temple musician and a prophet to Judah. What's special about Habakkuk is he doesn't ever, throughout the three chapters, address Judah directly. What the book of Habakkuk is special about is the whole book is a dialogue - a question and answer between Habakkuk who asks the questions and God who does the answering.

The Context: A Nation in Crisis

Where we find Habakkuk is in a confusing time. Israel has been split into two kingdoms - the northern kingdom (Israel) has been dominated by Assyria, and Judah (the southern kingdom) is scared, thinking, when are we gonna get dominated? Judah had experienced some hope under King Josiah who spurred reform, but then time passed and they started going farther and farther away from God. They fell into worshiping Baal, sacrificing their own kids to Molech, ignoring the temple, and letting it be destroyed. The court systems were corrupt with unjust Judges who were being bribed.

Habakkuk's First Complaint: The Absence of Punishment

In Habakkuk 1:1-4, we see Habakkuk's first major complaint. He says, "O Lord, how long shall I cry? And thou wilt not hear, Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me and there are that raise up strife and contention." Habakkuk is basically saying, "God, why does evil go unpunished? Why aren't you doing anything?" That word "cry" appears twice but they're actually different Hebrew words. The first cry is sava, which means he's calling out for help. But that second cry is zakhe, which means scream - he's crying out with a disturbed heart. Habakkuk is not just being the silent prim and proper person sitting in a seat, like, "Lord, I'm really struggling." He's like, "Lord, I'm on my knees begging to you. I don't understand this." Sound familiar? Common questions that people ask that you should ask - I think it's good to ask - are: Why do good people suffer and evil is prospering? Why isn't God answering my prayers? Why is there so much pain in the world, yet God seems so silent?

God's Confusing Answer

What I love is that God responds in Habakkuk 1:5. He says, "Behold ye among the heathen and regard and wonder marvelously. For I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you." God is saying, "Habakkuk, if I told you what I'm about to do, you would not even believe me. The great things I'm about to transform and do in your life and in the life of Judah and life of the world, you would not even believe it." That's so encouraging to me because if God really told me the plan he had for me, I don't think I would actually believe him. If he told me at 13 that I'd be in Finley with a family, with a church family, with a new baby girl in Ohio as a youth pastor, I wouldn't believe him. But then God reveals part of His plan, and it's not what Habakkuk expects. God says, "I'm raising up the Babylonians to punish Judah."

The Babylonians: God's Instrument of Judgment

In Habakkuk 1:6-11, God describes the Babylonians as a "bitter and hasty nation" who are "terrible and dreadful." Their horses are "swifter than the leopards and are more fierce than the evening wolves." These people are mean, they take whatever they want, they're not bound by laws or rules, and they see themselves as their own God. Historical records tell us about their wickedness - they had multiple gods served through witchcraft, they would put conquered Kings in cages and parade them around, and their cruelty had no boundaries. They took King Zedekiah, killed his entire family in front of him, and gouged out his eyes. The last thing he saw was his family dying. You need to know that because we're just like, "Oh, Babylonians, they're probably not great." No, the Babylonians are evil. They are wicked, they are disgusting.

Habakkuk's Second Complaint: The Instrument of Punishment

This leads to Habakkuk's second complaint in verses 12-17. He's essentially saying, "God, why would you punish evil with more evil?" In verse 12, he goes back to his theology: "Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, mine holy one? We shall not die, O Lord. Thou hast ordained them for judgment, Almighty God, Thou hast established them for correction." He's saying, "Lord, here's what I know about you. I know you're everlasting, you're my God, you're holy, I know your promises. But here's what I don't understand - why would you decide to use them?" He continues in verse 13: "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity? Wherefore lookest thou upon them that dealt treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?"

The Dip: When Faith Meets Crisis

This is where Habakkuk finds himself in what I call "the dip." Before we're saved, we're living in hopelessness. But when you get saved, you typically have this amazing passion for life - you start getting pumped, you have joy, you're reading God's Word and it's jumping off the page, you're serving, everything's going really well. But there will be times - and it could be one really big time or multiple different times - where you'll hit a dip. You'll have a crisis of faith. Something will happen. There comes a point for every believer where something changes. Your prayers aren't being answered like they were, your devotional time becomes less frequent, serving becomes inconvenient, your connections at church are wavering. It could be something bad happens - someone passes away, a relationship is severed, you have job troubles, you get a sickness. What's happened is you hit a crisis of faith. You've hit a dip. And that's exactly where we see Habakkuk. He's in this dip, saying, "What am I supposed to do? Lord, answer me." And here's his answer: blank. It's blank. He didn't say anything.

Learning to Wait and Trust

What Habakkuk does in chapter 2, verse 1 is crucial: "I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will watch to see what he will say unto me, what I shall answer when I am reproved." He's saying, "All right, I've asked the question. He didn't respond. I know what I'm supposed to do when the Lord is seemingly silent" - and that's to wait and trust. Charles Spurgeon said it well: "If we are more humble, we should be more patient... We have kept the Lord waiting long enough, and we need not wonder if he tries our faith and patience by apparent delays. In any case, let us settle this in our hearts, that he must and will fulfill his promises." The Lord is never silent. Maybe we don't hear him audibly, but he's not silent in his word. There are countless times where I'm like, "God, you're not talking to me." You know what I haven't done? I haven't picked this up, haven't read it. He gave me a whole book where he talked to me, and then I have the audacity to say, "Lord, you're not answering my prayers."

The Greatest Mystery: God's Love

Some people say Romans 11:33-36 is a cop out when it talks about God's unsearchable judgments and ways past finding out. It's like, no, it's not a cop out. It's the most incredibly comforting thing ever. That an amazing God far above us, while I may not understand, I know my God is above all, and he does understand. What baffles me, what doesn't make sense to me is truly the gospel. That the Lord in heaven, who is so far above everything, saw fit to send his son to die for me, and he knew my wickedness. The greatest mystery is God's steadfast love for me and for you.

Putting It Into Practice: When God Doesn't Make Sense

So what do we do when God doesn't make sense? Here are four key steps: 1. Be Real You got to be real with God. Don't fake it. He already knows the real you. He wants to talk to the real you, not the fake you. Go to God and say, "Lord, I'm going to be real with you." 2. Ask Questions Voice your questions. You have questions, things you're wondering, things you're wrestling, things you're struggling, and it's time to get them out of your head and voice them. Say, "Lord, why would you or why wouldn't you? This doesn't sit right with me. This doesn't seem fair." 3. Have Dialogue with God Start fellowshipping with him, having time where you're talking to him. This week you might say, "God, I don't understand, but I know you do. Help my doubts. I'm going to you, I'm going to others, godly people in my life that can help me as well." 4. Trust the Truth I often don't understand things, but when you're in a dip, when you're at the heights of heights, you need to hold on to God. Be like Habakkuk. Don't let go because he never let go of you. Hold on to God and see that he takes perfect care of you, no matter what the storms like, no matter if they make sense or not. God does take care of his children. Questioning is a part of our journey, those crisis of faith situations. But every believer can face their doubts by understanding that God is working even when we can't see it, even when it doesn't make sense. Just like Habakkuk learned, sometimes God's answers come not in explanations, but in Revelations of His character and His faithfulness.