WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: ‘Thank you, Lord, that you see the end from the beginning. Thank you that you are God – from everlasting to everlasting.’ Not giving up It would have been easy for Habakkuk to give up in despair. But he didn’t. He came right back at God, still questioning. Habakkuk knew what God was really like. And he had the courage to remind God of his own characteristics – his holiness, purity, immortality and steadfastness (vs 12,13). How could a God like this contemplate abandoning his people to the Dark Side? Habakkuk didn’t believe that he had. He obeyed God’s command to watch and see what would happen (1:5), deliberately taking up his position and mentally preparing himself to endure it for as long as it took. Watch and wait The thing about watching is that it shows that you still have hope. Habakkuk wasn’t prepared to stop hoping and praying. He wasn’t prepared to let the world go its merry way to destruction. He was willing to wait and watch until the God he loved and trusted chose to intervene. I’ve often heard it said that God has a special reward for those who are prepared to watch and wait until the end – past the point when others give up. Habakkuk was a good example of this sort of persistence. Respond: Have you been waiting for something for a long time? A breakthrough in a relationship, maybe, or help to deal with a persistent sin? Bring it to God in prayer again. http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-08-28