I have always found the name Habakkuk as one of the weirdest
names I’ve come across, funny in fact.
It is a small book nearly at the end of the Old Testament and I just
love it. Here I have learnt the heart of God for me, and I’ve been able to
learn to trust that there is no complaint I will ever have that God does not
have an answer to. Habakkuk was not a normal or rather conventional prophet who
told people what God was saying, instead he told God his and the people’s
complaints. A wise thing I see him displaying in that book is waiting patiently
on God and putting to good use, his listening skill. I have seen how listening
to God can be a problem for many people and I just love how he models a good
example for us to be able to sit still and be attentive to what God is saying.
It doesn’t say anywhere that God responded with an audible voice so I’ll take
it God responded through his (Habakkuk’s) mind and heart. He then carefully
wrote down all of God’s answers to his prayers.
He didn’t pester God, he trusted God. He had patience
(something I am slowly but surely learning). He continued in prayer when God
had answered his complaints, he is like that fella who wrestled God through the
form of a strange man, refusing to stop wrestling him until he received a
blessing. You must have read about him, right now I can’t recall where he is in
the Bible. Habakkuk did not stop, when God finished talking, he laid down
another complaint. Perhaps one may judge him for being complacent, but there is
a principle of giving all to God and not sitting in our anxiety and confusion *
Philippians 4:6* that we can learn from this man. I then got caught up in one particular
sentence that was part of God’s response to Habakkuk’s second complaint.
It says: 2:2-3
Then the Lord replied: write down the revelation (vision) and make it plain on
tablets so that a herald (or whoever else that reads it) may run with it. 3 For
the revelation (vision) awaits an appointed time, it speaks of the end and will
not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it, it will certainly come and
will not delay.
This is a popular scripture; I have read it countless times
before but I see a different effect from it tonight. See this was God’s
response and we might as well equate it to an instruction on his part. I love
how each one of his “instructions or commands” always benefit us. God is
setting another principle at work here and he is directing to us to become
radical and practical with our dreams and visions. These, by the way are
ordained by him, entrusted to us and used by him to shape and groom us into the
actual purposes of our existence. When
he says to run with it, I just imagined literal running, holding something in
my hand. I have to have a firm grip because the pace and extent of my body movement
can easily snatch it out of my hand. It is an extra determent on my side
because I will not only have my running to focus on but also the vision I am
carefully but quickly transporting.
An appointed time neh. I think I’ve mentioned that Mr.
Patience and I have not been getting along but we are resolving our issues.
This is an instruction from God, now aside from respect for him; I have chosen
to view this one instruction as a learning curve. Those who really know me know
that I am a dreamer and I have all sorts of dreams and aspirations. Patience
and waiting for an appointed time, my dear friends, is key. See, God just
didn’t include this but I think one of the things he meant here was that no
fruit can ever be used if it is not ripe. So at the time the vision is ripe and
mature in his eyes, he will release it to be used. He even then assures us that all visions
ultimately speak of the end. My Pastor has mentioned how we need to see things
with the end in mind, fits so well here.
It will linger for sure, but lingering as God is teaching us here does
not mean it is delayed. Seems there is a difference I was never aware of till
now. It will certainly come, it also certainly linger but it will not delay. I
have to say, I am honestly blessed by this revelation. Writing down and putting
plans down on paper is a sure sign of faith, faith that God will bless and
increase those he is pleased with and he will help us to grow to understand
that others, irrespective of how great they may seem, are either not for us or
for that specific season of our lives. I
am encouraged and persuaded that I serve a detailed and a planning God. It is
not a good idea to sit and wait for God’s will, playing our part means
carefully listening to him, writing down the visions and revelations, and
aligning ourselves to God’s will. “God blesses the work of our hands, not our
hands.” Benny Hinn said earlier. The harvest comes when we work. Working
towards those visions means being guided by God concerning those visions
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