“O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?
Or cry to you ‘violence’ and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous–
therefore judgment comes forth perverted.”
Habakkuk 1:1-4
These are the opening words of the prophet Habakkuk as he offers up his complaints to the LORD. It is interesting that this was the text I was prepared to preach last night, but backed out at the last minute so we could devote more time to praise and prayer with each other. But also, all along, I was wondering if this text would mean anything to my students. Could they relate to the message of this prophet who cries out over the violence he is seeing around him, while wondering if God is doing anything. Deep down inside, as evidenced by my previous post, that all Scripture is meant to be taught, and is relevant and practical to our lives. It’s just that we sometimes have a hard time wrapping our hearts and minds around some teachings, such as those from the prophets.
But then I woke up this morning and realized, the words of the prophet Habakkuk could not ring more truer than they did this morning, as I watched innocent lives being slaughtered without so much as a warning. I know God is in control…I know God is grieving over the loss of life today…but sometimes, like the prophet Habakkuk, I have to lament over the reality that at times it seems like there is nothing but violence, destruction and strife.
This incident will be a reminder to me whenever I try to question how practical a text will be in the lives of my students, or in my own personal life.
I ask that you would be in prayer for all those in London who have suffered the loss of a life, their families and friends. Please be in prayer for those who have brought such tragedy on the lives of these people. Please be in prayer for our world, as this is only one incident that highlights the pain and sufferring that takes place daily on a global scale.
And I ask that you would be in prayer for my students who are currently serving in missions around the world in three locations this summer.
