Where Do You Run in Times of Trouble? Are You a Watchman? —THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY HIS FAITH —Hope for Today Through a Study on the Book of Habakkuk —Lesson 5

When your world seems to be falling apart, do you know where to run? Some people run to other people, to drugs, to alcohol, or to a multitude of other things. Where we run says a lot about who we are and to whom we belong. When we were children, most of us ran to the ones we most trusted—our parents. But what about when we are all grown up?

 

Nothing will rock your world like the death of a child. When my daughter was killed in an automobile accident just days before her 17th birthday, I was admittedly straying from the Lord. I did not immediately run to the Lord for help. In fact, I sat numb on the sofa all night waiting for the light of day to dawn, not only outside, but in my own heart. When the morning sun arose on that bright May 4th morning, I was facing the bookcase that guarded all my dusty ‘treasures’ which had sat untouched for many months. As if calling me to themselves, I began opening devotionals one after the other looking for any strands of hope that would settle my anxious soul and heal my shattered heart. That moment I reached for His Word, the Lord of all comfort drew me to Himself and received this stray lamb to Himself speaking words of peace and comfort through Scripture. Peace that passes all understanding enveloped me, and my joy returned. It was through the death of Melissa and a long season of grief that I learned to quickly run to the Lord when disturbing thoughts and fretful worries initially overcome me threatening to undo me. I learned to run to the Lord and stay there, immersed in His Word and in prayer, until He calms the storms raging inside this anxious child. As He reveals Himself to those who eagerly seek His face, their faith will grow deep roots to stand strong in any raging storm that comes their way.

 

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe. (Proverbs 18:10) The Name of the Lord signifies all that God is. It represents all His attributes that provide sure refuge for us to cling to. Even before an understanding of this verse, I have been known to describe this running to the Lord and settled peace that comes therefrom as getting above your troubled circumstances and looking down at them from His perspective. Turns out, when this verse says that the righteous runs into it (the Tower) literally means ‘set on high’. It means “she reaches a position where she is set above the trouble or the danger that besets her.” We will see another picture of this at the end of Habakkuk in 3:19—The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places.

 

He has made…He makes me. People will look at you and say, “I could never go through that.” No. You could not. God will give grace sufficient for any trial through which He calls us to walk. Walking through our trials by His grace in the strength that He supplies glorifies Him. Walking through trials in a way that glorifies God, we will always know that it is not in our own strength.

 

You might say, I understand running to God when I need answers, but what answers could He possibly give a grieving mother in the death of her daughter? The questions running through my head looked like this: Who are You, Lord? What do You want from me? Why? Was Missy’s death because You are chastening me? Where is my daughter? How can I be certain she knew You? All those questions were answered in understanding His character, especially His sovereignty. In times when there seems to be no hope, Beloved, He is the answer! He is all we need in times of trouble. When Melissa died, the Lord God was my strength. He made my feet like hinds’ feet and made me walk on my high places. All glory to Him!

 

God is the Almighty sovereign over this universe and all His creation. What He wanted from me and always wants from me is submission to His will and to intimately trust Him. Once I understand those two things, I no longer need to know the answers to the ‘why’ questions. It is enough that He knows and that everything is part of His perfect will. He got my attention and drew me back to Himself through her death, but the day of Melissa’s death was planned before the foundation of the world. I trust that she knew Christ and saw evidence in her young life of the fruit of her salvation. Therefore, trusting Christ in this life, she is with Him now. Wrestling through these hard questions, sifting them through the truth of His Word, He brought me to the place where I could thank Him for the seventeen years He allowed me to have her in my life. And I could praise Him for the eternity we will have to worship Him together and to look forward to that day.

 

Habakkuk had questions that needed answers. What God said He was about to do did not seem to fit with His character. He was concerned that God’s actions in bringing the wicked Chaldeans against His own people in judgment for their long-standing love affair with idols was inconsistent with who He is. When the psalmist was having a difficult time understanding why the wicked around him prospered while God was seemingly unconcerned, he ran to the Lord for answers just like Habakkuk. Psalm 73:16-17—When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.  Embracing God’s answers, the psalmist cries out: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” God was the answer. He is always the answer to our most difficult questions. God’s first round of answers to Habakkuk’s questions only brought more questions. Undeterred, he was determined to wait and watch for God’s reply.

 

Waiting and watching for God’s answers to our prayers is quite possibly one of the hardest things for us to do as Christians. We don’t like to wait for anything! Fast food, Amazon Prime, Google…we want our food, our purchases, and answers to our questions without having to wait for any of it. (It was difficult in prison not to be able to run to Google for those answers that were on the tip of my tongue, but even after racking my brain for days, I just could not come up with.) Yet, God does not cater to our impatience. In fact, He often delays in order that we might develop more patience! And then, sometimes, the answers He gives are not the ones we wanted to hear anyways. At that point, do we bow the knee, embrace God’s sovereign plan, or walk away? Habakkuk wasn’t going anywhere. Like Peter speaking for himself and the rest of the disciples in John 6:68-69, the prophet could very well relate: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

 

Habakkuk was asking God the tough questions. He was willing to wait and watch for God’s answers and was committed to embracing whatever hard news God might deliver. “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved.” It is interesting that Habakkuk wholeheartedly believes God will answer him. He has asked God to answer him in faith without doubting that God would provide the wisdom he needed to walk through whatever trials were headed his way. He was no double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. He will stand firmly on his guard post stationed on the rampart keeping watch and ready to reply when God reproves him. Faith in prayer trusts the God who is sovereign over all. Faith trusts God in good times as well as when trials come. That is what is meant by unwavering faith.

 

The psalmist in Psalm 5:3 said: In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

 

The watchman first runs to his strong Tower in order that he may be able to stand firm and warn others of dangers to come.

 

The watchman stood guard high upon the city wall with the purpose of spotting any advances of the enemy and warning the people to get ready to defend themselves. Prophets were watchmen in that they gave early warnings of approaching judgment. Habakkuk knew that if a prophet was not faithful to announce any impending danger, his own hands would be stained with the blood of the people who died. (See Ezekiel 3:17-21; 33:1-3). He took his responsibilities seriously, wanting to be found faithful. He was also deeply concerned for his own people. This time, however, the confusion came in the fact that it was God who was advancing the enemy against His own people.

 

One must ask the questions: Was the duty of a watchman only for the prophets of old? Who are the watchmen today? Whose responsibility is it to warn the people of judgment to come?  

 

Judgment is coming for all those who don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ. It would not be a stretch to say that most believers in the church act as though they believe it is the responsibility only of pastors, elders, and teachers within the church to warn of impending judgment. However, it is a gospel issue. And who is called to spread the good news of the Gospel? Every believer. In Acts 20:26 Paul said he was innocent of the blood of all men. What did he mean by that? He had been faithful to share the Gospel wherever God placed him. Where has God placed you? When we stand before Christ, I don’t want to have blood on my hands, and I’m sure you don’t either.

 

Normally, everyone is eager to share a bit of good news. Often, children race to be the first to share some piece of good news with others. They want to be the first to go and tell! So, why do believers struggle to share the best news in all the world with others? Because in the case of the Gospel, there is always bad news before the good news. People do not want to hear messages of ‘doom and gloom’. They want to hear the message of the false prophets: “Peace, peace. You shall have peace. All will be well. It’s all going to turn out okay.” Believers know that unless God opens the ears of those hearing the message and moves their hearts to receive the message, they react negatively. Even believers in this world struggle in their flesh to be liked, to be accepted, and to fit in. Nobody wants to be labelled strange or peculiar. But that is what we are; the sooner we understand that and embrace it, the easier it will be for us to share the Gospel with others. The message of the false prophets is easy to hear. Their message will be true for believers who have repented of their sin and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ to save them. The trouble is that those listening to the false prophets were not saved! Their rebellious hearts, stubborn pride, and idolatrous lifestyles proved as much. We must be able to handle the hard truth and heed the warnings of judgment to come.

 

Habakkuk knew that God could handle his hard questions. It was right that he would take his doubts and concerns directly to God. When we ask God the hard questions, Beloved, are we fully yielded to hearing the hard answers from a good God? Do we trust Him, no matter what His answers are or the circumstances that may come our way? A good servant, Habakkuk stood eagerly waiting and watching for His master’s response. Often, we can trust Him for ourselves but not for those we love…say our children. Habakkuk wanted God to spare the people he loved, but he would have to submit to the Lord’s will when things didn’t look like what was ‘good’ for them.

 

Back in 1979, when I first believed I was saved (I was not), I was wrestling over some ‘major’ decision at the ripe old age of 18. I remember a seasoned saint asking me, “Karla, have you prayed about it?” I honestly replied, “No, because I’m afraid God won’t give me the answer I want Him to give me.” I laugh at that now. At the time, I couldn’t have been more serious. I didn’t know God.

 

Can we rest in Him even in hard answers? Yes! Because the One we rest in is sovereign and is always working things for the good of those who love Him. One church we went to always opened with what I thought was rather corny at the time. The pastor would say: “God is good!” The congregation would respond: “All the time!” He would say, “All the time!” The congregation would then respond: “God is good!” We can trust that God is good all the time because it is not just what He does, it is who He is.  

 

Sometimes we are hesitant to share the message of judgment to come or judgment of God’s wrath against sinners because we don’t want to give a message of doom and gloom. We don’t want to be hellfire and brimstone ‘preachers’. We only want to give good news, but there is no good news of the gospel until we have understood the bad news.

 

Imagine the guilt I may have carried and my horror even today if I had not exposed my daughter to the truth of the gospel—bad news that begs for the good news of the gospel. Only God knows for certain, but I believe Melissa knew Christ. Though she may not have understood the depths of the gospel, of God’s grace, and been a theological scholar, she had committed her life to Christ at a very young age. I can rest in that. But listen carefully—even if we don’t know for certain whether our loved ones who pass before us were saved or not, we can trust a good, faithful, and righteous God whose will is always perfect.  

 

Will you be found faithful to go tell the bad news of sin’s judgment, the wrath of God, and the judgment to come for those outside Christ so that you are able to then give the good news—the best news anyone can ever hear? And will you be found faithful to run to the Lord with your hard questions, then to embrace hard circumstances from the hands of a loving and faithful God trusting Him to work all things for your good and His glory?