Getting Honest with God

If a person is going to live by faith, he is going to be confronted by problems.

Habakkuk’s life and ministry were plagued with problems. In the first chapter of Habakkuk the man of God complained about his problems and even assigned the blame on God himself.

Yet, it is an interesting observation to note that the Book of Habakkuk opens with in complaint but ends in rejoicing as Habakkuk declares, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.

When we first meet Habakkuk he is wallowing in the mire of despair and self-pity; he is stumbling through the valley of uncertainty and doubt. But when we leave him he has somehow climbed out of the valley and is sitting on the hilltops rejoicing.  What happened?

Something has happened between the first verse of the book and the last verse. And whatever has happened I would like to know. I would like to know so that my complaining can be turned into rejoicing. I too would like to live by faith. I would like to live a life of victory. I would like to have a solid spiritual foundation where the Lord God is my strength.

But if we are to end up where Habakkuk did, then we must start where Habakkuk started.

Habakkuk started his journey of spiritual renewal by getting very honest with God. This is vividly manifested as he voiced his complaints against God in the early part of chapter one.

Yes, Habakkuk is the story of a man of God who has a problem with God.

Have you ever been angry with God? Have you ever felt like God was ignoring the evil that oppresses your life, the injustice that surrounds you, the fact that the “bad guys” are too often winning?

Habbakuk got mad… and directed his anger at God.

Now before you judge Habakkuk, at least give him credit that he must have truly believed in God’s sovereignty or Habakkuk would have leveled his complaints to someone else. If you truly believe in the sovereign God of the Bible then you really have no one else to complain to other than Him if things don’t seem to be as they should! Right? Think about it.

Habakkuk faced up to his problem with God, and the FIRST thing that we must do if we are ever going to know the joy and spiritual renewal that Habakkuk eventually knew, we must face up to our problem with God.

Consider what Jesus said in Luke 22:31-32. Jesus warned Peter and the disciples that Satan wanted to caused them so problems in life, even spiritual problems. But Jesus assured Peter that He was praying for them. Carefully notice that Jesus didn’t say that He prayed that Satan would not cause them problems or even that they would not fail. Jesus specifically said that He prayed that their faith would not fail.

Remember, faith is a gift from God. How can that which originates from God fail? It can’t. But the only way to know what true faith looks like in your life is for you to have an encounter with the Sifter.

I think that God designs problems in our life, often even using Satan as a messenger boy to deliver them, so that everything that is not of genuine faith can be sifted out of our lives. I think it is to our benefit that our lives are often ravaged by turmoil so that we can discover exactly what in our life has its origins in God and what does not.

Until we get honest and face our problems – even our problems with God, spiritual renewal will elude us. The first step towards spiritual renewal is honest faith.