Asking Why

"Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds." Habakkuk 1:3

Frequently people find themselves asking why. Why did I have to go through this? Or why did this happen to me? Or to them? Habakkuk asked those same questions of God. His people sinned greatly, and they needed to be punished, but Habakkuk did not like God's choice of punisher. Israel had been given plenty of chances to repent for their sins, and always refused God. So God sent in their enemies- the Babylonians to deal his swift punishment. Habakkuk understood this, but that didn't mean he wanted to see it or experience it himself. Habakkuk knew that God had to let the people make their own choices, and then deal with the consequences of their choices.

God does not force us to live his way. He also does not enjoy causing people sorrow or times of hurt. But all those dark times, the times where you feel as though you are under attack are designed to bring you closer to him. God's "discipline" is always meant to lead us back to him. Later on in Habakkuk, God gave the Israelites promises for the future. God always answers us. Habakkuk lamented to God, and God heard him, and he answered. We may not like the answers he gives us, but if we listen carefully, we will see that there is always a rainbow at the end of the trial. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light is our Lord, waiting patiently for us to make it through just one more trial.