Daily Devotional

“There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel,” says the truism. In other words, no matter how bad things are, they will get better eventually. But that’s not always true, is it? Perhaps that light at the end of the tunnel is really the light of a train about to hit you. What do we do when life gets worse, not better? For that, we turn to the book of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk is a fascinating little three-chapter book nestled in the midst of the Minor Prophets. Most prophetic literature is a message from God to the people via the mouth of the prophet; Habakkuk, by contrast, is primarily a dialogue between the prophet Habakkuk and God. Habakkuk opens with a piercing question: “How long, O Lord?” (1:2). Habakkuk calls out the disconnect between what he knows to be true of God and what he sees around him. God is just, and yet the wicked prosper; “justice goes forth perverted.” Why does God not act?

In his response (1:5), God promises Habakkuk he is doing a work in his days “that you would not believe if told.” We can imagine Habakkuk smiling to himself: Oh boy, here we go! God is going to do something awesome! Then God’s answer hits like a ton of bricks: “I am raising up the Chaldeans” (1:6). God’s solution to the injustice rampant in Judah is conquest and exile by the Babylonians.

Habakkuk is shocked and appalled. How could God use a people MORE wicked than the Judeans to remedy their wickedness (1:13)? Will Babylon’s wickedness go unpunished (1:17)? How is this fair? Habakkuk then waits for God to answer his complaint (2:1).

God responds with grace, allowing Habakkuk a glimpse of His future plan (2:3). First, however, he reminds Habakkuk that “the righteous shall live by faith.” Notice that before giving Habakkuk the answers he seeks, God calls him to an attitude of trust in and reliance on Him: to walk by faith, and not by sight (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7). Then in the rest of chapter 2, God reveals that Babylonians who plunder Judah will themselves be plundered (2:8). All will be set to rights: “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (2:14).

Habakkuk’s response is fascinating. In a lengthy prayer depicting God as the Divine Warrior who smites His enemies (3:2–15), Habakkuk finds comfort in eschatology: in the end, God will bring judgment on His enemies and salvation for His people (3:12–13). In the present, however, Habakkuk resigns himself to “quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us” (3:16). Talk about faith! What follows is one of my favorite statements of trust in God in the entire Bible. After describing the most devasting effects an agricultural society could experience, (“though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines...”), Habakkuk says, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (3:17-18). Habakkuk goes beyond stoic resignation to actual delight in God, even in the face of horrific tragedy. The goodness and justice of God are such that we can rejoice even if the worst should happen: “though he slay me, I will trust in Him” (Job 13:15).

How, then, does Habakkuk help us live “in the tunnel,” as it were, navigating those dark times when God seems to be silent, evil seems to triumph, the innocent perish, and all hope seems to be lost?

First, it’s okay to question God. “How long, O Lord?” is a repeated prayer throughout Scripture in the face of evil and injustice (cf. Psalm 6:3, 13:1, 79:5, 89:46, Revelation 6:10). In the tunnel, it’s okay to ask “God, why don’t you do something?”

Second, God does things we don’t expect. He’s “not a tame lion,” to borrow a phrase from Narnia. His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts are thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). Life may not go according to our plan, but it ALWAYS goes according to His.

Third, all will be set to rights. God’s oracle against Babylon encourages Habakkuk that in the end, ALL injustice will be punished. Justice will be done and will be seen to be done. God will wipe every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4). As Longfellow put it, “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; / the wrong shall fail, the right prevail, / with peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”

Finally, God give us joy in the darkest of places. In the tunnel, we grieve, we mourn. That’s okay. The most verbose book in the Bible was written by a guy with the nickname “The Weeping Prophet.” But at the end of the day, no matter how bad things get, we have reason to rejoice. God is good. God is just. All will be set to rights. In that sense, then, the truism is true: there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

"English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers."