18/05/2011 - The greatest of all occurrences

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“The burden which Prophet Habakkuk saw” (Habakkuk 1:1)
Oftentimes, a man of God is used to foretell unpleasant occurrences to those he loves. And that happened to Habakkuk who prophesied the coming of the Chaldeans and the subsequent captivity of the people of Judah. Those who serve the Lord must always render faithful service to Him. It’s never up to a servant to decide what to do, what to say, or where to be because that’s a prerogative of the Most High.
The word Habakkuk said was very strong: God would use a ruthless people to teach a necessary lesson to the Israelites. But, at the same time, the prophet cheered them up by saying that the Lord would perform wonders which they’d hardly believe in if he told them. Not everything goes smoothly in our lives. Today God still uses specific occurrences and certain people to tell us that we have somehow stopped paying heed to His Word.
Didn’t God mind what would happen to His people? Of course He did. He knew how the Chaldeans behaved, but He also knows that those who have faith can overcome any battle. My brethren, a servant of the Lord must always live by faith. The Almighty knew that the faith given to the Israelites was enough for them to go through that training. The same happens to all those who belong to God’s family: the faith He grants them is all they need to face any crisis and get out of any problem.
Habakkuk didn’t only announce the coming of the Chaldeans; he also said that they were well prepared. However, because of their evil attitudes they also fell in the end. And that happened exactly according to that prophet’s words. Habakkuk’s vision had to be written in such a way that even those who were on the run could read it (Habakkuk 2:2).
The Chaldeans were proud and their soul wasn’t upright in them (Habakkuk 2:4a), but why were they given power to oppress the people of God then? Well, trying to find out the answer to that is
pointless because what really matters is to know that the righteous will live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4 b; Romans 1:17). Don’t waste time trying to see what’s behind your afflictions. Just live by faith!
Before composing a lovely psalm (read Habakkuk chapter 3), Prophet Habakkuk proclaimed the Chaldeans’ woes and admonished them about their coveting evil gain for their houses, building and establishing a city with bloodshed and iniquity (Habakkuk 2:9-19). He was used afterwards to convey us a beautiful message: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
Note this: There will come a day when whole nations will be awake and all its inhabitants will seek to know our Creator. I’d do anything to take part in that unique phenomenon if I could. After all, I’ve been greatly used in the arrangement of such occurrence.
In Christ, with love,
R. R. Soares