10 Helpful Offerings from Habakkuk

Last week I asked y’all to think with me on this book on the following question: What does this passage offer to aid me in my Christian growth and how will I apply it?

Here are my answers. 

• When times are going badly, it is good to review the mighty deeds God has done for me and others. This will encourage me to trust God in my today and tomorrow. This week when I’m discouraged, I will review God’s deeds and thank Him.
• When Habakkuk was pained by life’s injustices, he honestly talked to God about them. This week I will do the same when doubting God’s presence, goodness and ability. I’ll go to God in prayer and honestly say what I’m feeling.
• After Habakkuk prayed, he confidently waited for the answer. I want to do the same. This week when I pray, I want to confidently wait upon God for the answer.
• Constantly hearing about the evil in the world discourages and frightens me. I need to remember that I have a choice as to what I see and hear. This week, I want to be mindful of what type of news I am listening to. I want to make sure that the “good” news takes precedence.
• Many times justice does not happen as I think it should. This psalm and other places in the Bible make it clear that evil will not go unpunished. This week when I am tempted to doubt God’s justice, I want to read psalms like this one and remember that God is watching and at His given time there will be justice, which might not be on earth.
• It is a dumb thing to worship an idol. Unbelievers are not the only ones to worship them. I worship “things” that I dumbly think will rescue me. I need to tell myself the truth about gods versus God. This week, I want to remember and rehearse (in my mind) how much stronger, alive and willing my God is by going over past victories and relevant Scripture.
• When I get weary of the evil on this earth, I want to remember that this is but a dot in time. This week I want to worship by meditating on the idea of God’s glory filling the earth.
• Sometimes God is silent to the cries of Believers, even to my cries. This does not mean God is unloving, weak, displeased, etc. This week I want to take God’s silence in stride. I want to tell myself that God’s plans are not mine. And when I don’t hear back from Him, I can still trust and rejoice in Him.
• Sometimes Believers experience evil. I’ve been the butt of evil. These types of experiences can cause one to doubt God’s goodness and/or sovereignty. This week when I doubt God, I want to discern what lies I believe. Then I want to replace those lies with truth from Scripture.
• Habakkuk ended his book with deciding to rejoice in the Lord despite the evil around him. His rejoicing took the form of reviewing God’s mighty deeds in song. This week I want to choose to be joyful in the Lord. Some of that rejoicing will be in song.

Would you share your gleanings?