Habakkuk 1:3-4 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.

It sounds to me like Habakkuk could have been living in 21^st Century America! The current corruption of the American “justice system” is disturbing and disgusting to say the least. God’s answer for Judah at the point this was written was for it to be conquered by the Babylonians. We can only hope and pray that isn’t the sort of answer He has for America! The point, however, is that He does have an answer. As came out in yesterday’s reading, He does not leave the guilty unpunished. (Nahum 1:3) Habakkuk doesn’t indicate that he personally was the victim of the injustice he was seeing, but anyone with a tender heart would respond much as he did. With the Internet, we are far more aware of the injustice and other tragedies that are occurring around the world, so depression is practically the order of the day. This certainly calls for faith! We are not to ignore all the junk going on around us, but we are to trust that God is still God, and that He does have an answer even if we can’t see it.

Over 25 years ago I was lying in bed, not intentionally praying but simply mulling things over and thinking, “There are so many things I wish were different.” At that point the Lord spoke to me, totally unexpectedly and absolutely clearly: “How do you think I feel?” That gave me an instant awareness – the Buddhists would call it satori – that my problem was simply perspective. I was looking at things from “ground level,” on a moment-by-moment basis, while God sees everything, not just in geographic terms but also in time, from creation to the end of the universe. I will not gain God’s perspective while I am limited by this body, but I can choose to trust the One who does have that perspective, and is working in and through all the mess to draw people into a right relationship with Himself. I have found that daily living is daily trusting God, with myself and with all the circumstances I find myself in. Sometimes He chooses to use me as an extension of His rule and reign, just as Jesus taught us to pray. (Matthew 6:10) I am to rejoice when that happens, but never think that it is because of my own strength or wisdom. I am to keep myself available to Him in humble anticipation, trusting that His plans are indeed good (Jeremiah 29:11) and resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in Him, just as He has told me to do.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s a small thing, but thank You for the rain that will keep me from walking this morning as I had planned. Help me always hold my plans loosely, allowing You to do in and through me what You know is best, whatever it might look like to me in the moment. Thank You. Praise God!