When Life Hits You Hard: What to Do in the Dip

Have you ever wanted to scream "I object!" at life? You know that feeling when you go through the drive-through, pay extra for sauces, and then discover there are no sauces in the bag? "That is just wrong on so many accounts." While that's probably a silly example, there are certainly bigger things in life where you just feel like you want to scream out, "I object!" That's exactly where we find Habakkuk in Chapter 2 of his book. "Habakkuk in a way is kind of taking God to court and saying what you're doing God, I don't understand it and it just seems not fair." If you're in a position where you feel like you're asking God "why" about certain things happening in your life, this lesson is going to be great for you.

Understanding the Dip

Last week we introduced what we called "the dip" - not nacho cheese or salsa, but "the kind of dip of in your own spiritual walk." You start as an unbeliever, then experience a spiritual high when you come to Christ, but eventually "you're going to hit those why moments. Something's going to happen in your life" and you find yourself in the valley. "There's really two kind of common responses" when we face these situations. First is "denial of reality" - you're just trying to stay positive while "the whole world is on fire around you." The second response is getting mad and walking away from God because "I thought God was just going to just like, make everything better." But there's a third option: "do the Habakkuk." Remember, "Habakkuk's name means to wrestle or to embrace." We can "wrestle and embrace God" simultaneously - having questions while maintaining faith, just like the man who told Jesus, "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief."

Three Actions for Responding in Faith

Stop and Listen

Habakkuk 2:1 says, "I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower, and I will watch to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when I am reproved." Habakkuk becomes like an Old Testament watchman, climbing up to the highest point to keep watch. "Many times when we face these times of being in the dip, when something happens in our lives, oftentimes it hits us at home. And oftentimes, if we're not careful and we're not purposeful in our response to some of these difficult situations in our life, many times we don't have the habit of stopping and listening for what God is going to say to us." We might be "so quick or so full of complaining or brokenness that we don't stop and listen to what God has to say to us." God primarily speaks to us through His Word, and "we may not always like what he has to say."

Write Down and Remember

In Habakkuk 2:2, "The Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it." God wants Habakkuk to capture His message exactly - "Don't add to it Habakkuk. Don't make it say something that it doesn't say. Don't rewrite it in your own words. Don't bend it. Don't distort it." Why is this important? Because "we have a spiritual enemy who is really, really good at distorting God's word." If we're not purposeful about remembering what God's Word says, we'll lose that anchor point we need during storms. Think of an anchor system on ancient ships. The "bits" were massive planks bolted to the ship's keel where every anchor cable was tethered. "Understanding and remembering God's truth, writing it down, hiding it in your heart, knowing God's word is good for you" - it becomes what we "tether to the bits in our life."

Wait and Believe

Habakkuk 2:3-4 delivers the key message: "For the vision is yet for an appointed time...Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come...but the just shall live by his faith." "We're not a waiting culture. We don't like to wait. We're a fast culture. We like instant results." But God told Habakkuk to wait, and "some people say it's upwards to 20 to 25 years" before God delivered on His promise. Here's the truth: "God's delays are not necessarily God's denials." Moses waited years in the desert, Joseph spent years in slavery and prison, Paul spent three years in the Arabian desert before his ministry began. "When you and I think of waiting, oftentimes we think of it the wrong way. We think of waiting as being stationary, as standing still." But we can serve while we wait, bringing God glory in everything we do.

Putting It Into Practice

The climax of this chapter is Habakkuk 2:4: "But the just shall live by his faith." When you're in the dip, this is your defining characteristic - not the storms you're in, not the uncertainty, not the losses or tragedies, but faith in God. "When your marriage seems to be falling apart, and everyone around you says to just throw in the towel, move on, there's other fish in the sea. You live by faith, and you remember the vows that you made, and you trust God to work out the details as you love your spouse." "When your kids seem to be disobedient, defiant, making the wrong choices, and everyone says, oh, no, I've seen that before. You believe by faith that God is working all things for good." Even if you don't see the answer in your lifetime, remember Habakkuk 2:20: "But the Lord is in his holy temple." God's on the throne. And Revelation 7:17 promises that one day "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." What do you do when you're in the dip? You listen for God's truth, you remember God's truth, and you wait in faith for it to come to fruition. The just shall live by faith.