Humble Waiting

You may not know this, but the books of the Bible didn’t come with chapters and verses. Each book of the Bible was its own letter or document, and the chapter/verse divisions were later added to make navigation easier. For example, imagine the preacher telling you to turn to Ephesians and find paragraph 4, sentence 3. That would be challenging, so the chapter and verse divisions were added to make Bible reading, study, and memorization easier. 

Why do I mention this? Because I don’t think the division between Habakkuk 1 and 2 is in the right place. Habakkuk 2:1 is the prophet’s resolve after his second prayer in chapter 1. He says, “I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.”

Habakkuk had finished addressing God with reverent honesty concerning God’s use of the evil Chaldeans to judge his people. He is now resolved to waiting to hear back from God.

How well do you wait? If you are like me, waiting can be as difficult as the circumstances you are facing. We faced this as we walked through the adoption process with our girls. We knew God was in control and we trusted Him in all things but waiting through the process was a test of faith.

For others, the initial cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatments are extremely painful to walk through. But waiting to see how God will work in your circumstances can be just as difficult. You trust He will work, but you may not know how.

Or maybe you are walking through the difficulty of losing something significant in your life, whether it’s a relationship, a job, or a business. You are confident God will “work all things together for your good” (Romans 8:28), but the road ahead seems dark. Waiting to see the path He lays out next is no easy thing. 

And waiting to hear back from God was not easy for Habakkuk. But notice his humility. He doesn’t demand anything from God or vow to take matters into his own hands. In humility, he waits.

Humbly waiting on God is not easy for any of us. If you are in a time of waiting, will you take some time to ask God for patience through this time? Or maybe you know someone who is walking through a challenge, waiting to see how God will move. If so, will you spend time praying for them and maybe even offer them a word of encouragement?

By Philip Jones

Philip and his wife, Stacy, have been attending Immanuel since 2015. They are blessed to be raising four kids. His passion in ministry is to help others follow Jesus through teaching, preaching, and personal discipleship.