The Lord IS working

"O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you, 'violence!' and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted" Habakkuk 1:2-4.

Have you ever felt like this? I think I can successfully vouch for just about every person I've ever shared life with that we've all had our moments. We've all wanted to shout at God and ask, "Where are you?!?!" We've all wondered as if to say that our plan is better than God's as we shake an angry fist at the perfect Planner of the universe. We have this lase fair version of God as though He's the guy that lazily sits on His magnificent throne up in heaven going in and out of slumber watching idly as we destroy ourselves and everything around us.

But, you say, there are all these terrible people who get great jobs, get spouses they don't deserve, have the ability to do just about anything in life they want and to top it all off everyone loves them and wants to be like them. It's not fair. You say, here you are trying to follow God and you aren't getting the things you signed up for. You want the job, the money, the admiration....really? Is that what's going to make you happy?...Are you sure?

I think we have eyes that are too nearsighted. We see the immediate and grasp for it when the eternal reward of waiting is of so much more value. I think God is working in the midst of us and we either choose to not recognize the work as God or we want something else are so turn disdainfully at Him to hold a grudge. God says, "Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I AM doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told" vs5. God is working. God is doing great things in our generation. God is the same God that called down fire and hail to help His people. He's the same God that brought plagues to get His people out of harm, the same God that kept Jonah safe in the fish. He's the same God that will never leave us or forsake us. But, He's God and we're not. "If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay" 2:3b. We have a very jaded timeline when it comes to waiting. God has an eternal timeline.

"Let all the earth keep silence before the Lord" vs20b. Maybe the next time you're wrestling with God over your timeline and over your immediate 'need' for some big issue, take a second and realize that He's God. He's an active, aggressive, passionate, loving and powerful Father that is in all things, knows all things and provides all things. Maybe instead of bombarding the gates of heaven with all your requests, sit back and keep silent before the Lord. Either way, He'll sustain you, but I bet the fastest way to conform to the image of God is to wait patiently for Him and keep silent in His presence and know that He IS working, that He IS moving, and He IS doing great things that we wouldn't even believe if told.