ARTICLES

“O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!”

And You will not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2)

There are moments when the world feels unrecognizable. Violence fills the headlines. Injustice seems to prosper. The innocent suffer while the corrupt appear to flourish. In those moments, many people ask a question that echoes through the centuries: If God is powerful and loving, why does He allow this?

We often feel pressure to respond with neat theological answers. We speak of living in a fallen world or of God’s mysterious purposes. While those truths matter, they can sometimes sound distant from the ache people are actually feeling. What we rarely do is admit that we, too, have asked the same question. We hesitate to say aloud, “God, what are You doing?” as if such honesty might reveal weak faith.

Yet the prophets show us another way.

Habakkuk looked at the moral decay of Judah and cried out to God in anguish. He saw injustice, strife, and violence, and he did not soften his words. He brought his confusion directly to the Lord. Even more troubling, when God answered, He revealed that He would use the Babylonians to judge Judah. The Babylonians were ruthless and cruel. How could God use a nation even more wicked to correct His own people?

Habakkuk did not pretend to understand. He did not silence his questions. But neither did he walk away. Instead, he chose to stand and wait. “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected” (Habakkuk 2:1). That posture reveals the heart of true faith. He wrestled with God, yet he remained before God.

Robust faith is not fragile. It can handle hard questions. It can endure tension between what we believe about God and what we see with our eyes. Faith does not require pretending that evil is less evil or that suffering is less painful. It invites us to bring our confusion into the presence of the One who rules over history.

Habakkuk never received a full explanation of God’s ways. Instead, he received a deeper call to trust. By the end of his prophecy, he declared that even if the fields produced no food and the flocks disappeared, he would still rejoice in the Lord. His circumstances had not changed, but his confidence in God had matured.

We live in a time when it is easy to grow cynical or numb. Yet God welcomes our honest questions. He does not turn away from the one who cries out in confusion. He invites us to stand watch, to wait, and to trust that He is at work even when we cannot trace His hand.

When you find yourself asking, “God, what are You doing?” do not silence the question. Bring it to Him. Stand on the rampart of prayer. Wait for His voice. Faith that wrestles and waits is faith that endures.

PRAYER

Lord, we confess that we do not always understand what You are doing in our world or in our lives. Teach us to bring our questions honestly before You without abandoning our trust. Help us to stand watch, to wait for Your voice, and to rest in the truth that You are sovereign and good. Strengthen our faith to endure even when answers are slow in coming. Amen.