Why the name "Habakkuk?"

Habakkuk is a prophet from the Old Testament in the bible who writes down his conversation with God on why God was allowing all the violence and wickedness to exist. Or...why do good things happen to bad people? Heard that before? For many years, both Scott and I have appreciated the message of this book. Habakkuk is allowed to question God and God answers! Isn't that great?!

Now, there is a verse in Habakkuk that many people know. Actually, there are several familiar verses. You might recognize this one, "The righteous will live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4) Or in some versions it says, "The righteous will live by their faithfulness." It points to HOW one lives one's life...or better yet "WHO" one puts their hope in during this hard journey we call life.

However, the other verse you might know is Habakkuk 3:19. "The Lord GOD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of deer; he makes me tread on the high places."

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So what is the message of Habakkuk?

Well I am no bible scholar but...

in the process of Habakkuk's questioning God, he finds an answer. An answer that some of you might not like. Habakkuk questions why there is so much evil going on around him and why it always appears that the bad guys are winning! Sound familiar? God tells Habakkuk to watch and see what he would do about it. The thing is God's solution was to bring in someone even more wicked to deal with the wickedness going on around Habakkuk! That's not exactly the answer Habakkuk wanted to hear but God continues in saying "just wait and see what I will do and in the END everyone will know that I am GOD and all creation will be silent before me." Habakkuk then acknowledges God's fame and deeds in creation and history and proclaims that no matter what ill might befall him, He would trust in the LORD and even find joy and rejoice in the LORD!

So...we are grateful that we know that God will be victorious no matter what our world looks like now! We will live by putting our faith in God and God alone and we can even find joy and rejoice in the LORD no matter what happens!

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"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights."

Habakkuk 3:18-19