God, My Strength

The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

Habakkuk 3:19

HABAKKUK STRUGGLED WITH a basic question all of us ask sooner or later when we look around at the sinful world about us: Why don’t you do something about it, God? He saw murder and rebellion, but the murderers and rebels not only seemed to slip away but also boasted of their sins to their friends. Habakkuk looked around and spotted thieves robbing good people right on the street, prostitutes standing on the corners and beckoning young men and old, and merchants who cheated those who bought their goods. Sound a little like what we often see in the world today?

God answers Habakkuk that he will send the Babylonians to discipline Israel by defeating them in war and taking them into slavery. The Babylonians were merciless, torturous, bloodthirsty people. Habakkuk is horrified. He cries out, “How can you do such a thing?”

God answers again, this time saying that all who rebel against him—Israelite, Babylonian, or whoever—will be judged. It’s then that Habakkuk realizes a grand truth: God truly is in charge of all things in human life. For that reason, Habakkuk can trust that no matter what happens, God will be there and will give him the strength he needs to triumph. God gives you the same promise.