Wait and Write
In a late night experiment on April 26, 1986, two electrical engineers were conducting an unauthorized experiment in the control room of a nuclear power plant. They were trying to see how long a turbine would ‘free wheel’ when they took the power off it. Taking the power off that kind of a nuclear reactor is a difficult, dangerous thing to do. They had to manually override six separate computer-driven alarm systems that warned, “STOP! – DANGEROUS! – GO NO FURTHER!” However, rather than shutting off the experiment, they shut off the alarms and kept going. Then at 1:21AM, it finally happened – the No.4 reactor exploded! The result was nuclear fallout recorded all over the earth, from the largest industrial accident ever to occur in history – Chernobyl.
God repeatedly warns His people about violating His covenant. But, what happens when you try to tell someone something and they won’t listen? What happens when you give warnings, but they go unheeded? You can’t force someone to do what you think, especially when it comes to obeying God. That was the dilemma of Habakkuk and his contemporary, Jeremiah.
In Habakkuk 1 the prophet challenged God regarding what he saw as Judah was crashing and burning spiritually. Habakkuk thought God was disengaged through indifference and inactivity. Then God told him of his solution with the Babylonians being sent to conquer them and Habakkuk thought He was inconsistent.
Now all Habakkuk can do is wait and write. Notice Habakkuk 2:1 (ESV):
I will take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Sometimes we have to wait and see what the LORD is going to do. While we are waiting we must remember to continue doing His will. It is not a time to let down our guard, but to reinforce our resolve and even more closely follow Him. Psalm 37:34 (ESV) reads:
34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
In Habakkuk 2:2-3 (ESV) the LORD tells him to write what he is told and to keep waiting. Notice the text:
2 And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
What God was saying through Habakkuk was worth writing and certainly worth waiting for. It was going to be hard on the nation of Judah but in the long run, the nation would wake up to the reality of the LORD and His will. The remnant would eventually return from Babylonian captivity and rebuild the nation.
If America is to be restored it will be by the hand of God. It won’t be by Trump or some “political end-run.” This is why we need GodNAmerica.
We are called to active duty, not passive. While we wait, we keep His covenant, which includes engaging the enemy with the spiritual weapons of Ephesians 6 because as Paul stated, in verse 12 (ESV):
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
We must be ready as we wait on the LORD.
Habakkuk had a story worth telling and so do we. Tell the story of Jesus every way you can. But, tell the whole story. For instance, Jesus is the epitome of love from God, but in His love He is also just. Don’t forget that God will not hold us blameless if we freely go along with the willing sinfulness of our culture.
We are in kind of a holding pattern right now. I wonder if God is waiting to see who is willing to repent and truly come to Him and who isn’t. Peter said it like this in 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV):
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Do you remember Thomas Jefferson’s concern for America? He said:
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.
Which do you think is coming to America, Judgment or Redemption? While we wait to see, let’s keep His covenant. Let’s tell the story of the longsuffering God who gave His Son to avert eternal condemnation. This same Son provides a roadmap of how to live now as well. Maybe we can put God in America again and have “a new birth of freedom.”
Keep The Light of God’s Story Burning!