Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

Verses two and three of this chapter have been given to my wife and me as from the Lord several times over the years and so are very dear to us, and the last line of verse four was one of the triggers for the Protestant Reformation, but this verse also speaks to me very strong­ly. Habakkuk was not alone in this, but one of his best character traits was that he expected the Lord to speak to him. Far too few people are that way today. In fact, not long ago when a Christian political candidate made reference to having heard something from the Lord, they were openly ridiculed by a TV commentator. The devil doesn’t want us to recognize that God is speaking to us; he wants us to focus entirely on the physical world. However, the physical world will pass, so the obvious course of wisdom is to be aware of the spiritual world and walk in submission to our eternal Creator and Savior. Some people are blessed with open conversations with God, but in my observation that is relatively rare. There is often a delay between what we say to God and our perceiving His response, and that is what Habakkuk is talking about here. However, like Habakkuk we need to have the conviction that He will respond, that we are not just praying into the wind. That involves first of all believing that He is real, and second, that He cares about us individually. As it says in Hebrews, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) I think most people have an innate awareness that there is something bigger and greater than they are, but for too many, even those who have gone through the motions of becoming a Christian, the idea that He rewards us individually, that He actually answers us, is beyond their grasp. The only one who rejoices at that is the devil.

I have no idea how old I was when I was first aware that the Lord had said something to me, but it must have been pretty young. I had the huge advantage of growing up in a home where God was as real and as present as anyone we could see physically. I knew my parents each spent time with Him individually every morning, but I wasn’t actually guided into such a practice myself. In college I thought, “I need to have regular morning devotions,” but that lasted exactly three days, if I recall correctly. (The Japanese actually have a proverb about resolutions failing after three days.) It wasn’t until after I was a married father, fresh out of the Army, that the Lord confronted me with my pride, no words needed, and I repented in tears, and from that point on I sought Him every morning. I could hardly be more grateful for His grace and mercy! I couldn’t begin to count all the ways He has spoken to me, sometimes even through my own mouth. He is amazing! As a pastor, it is my earnest desire that each of the believers realize that He is speaking to them, as well. They are used to the idea that “the holy man hears from God,” but they don’t consider themselves holy and so don’t bother to listen. They don’t know how unholy I can be at times! I need to communicate God’s grace and mercy to them in such a way that they will be hungry to hear from Him, and rejoice to be obedient to what He says.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You’ve had me speak on this topic several times. I ask for Your words to express it this time so that it will penetrate and stick, working Your will in each heart and life, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!