Joy Comes from Waiting on God

Do you have joy today? Is there joy in your heart and in your life? I’m not merely talking about feelings because those can fluctuate given circumstance. I’m talking about something a little bit deeper. Do you have profound joy? If not, the question is, “Why?” I think all of us would choose joy if it were that simple. So, the ultimate question is, “For what or whom are you waiting?”

Habakkuk had a choice in difficult times. Whom was he going to wait on? Was he going to wait on a perfect world, on a perfect understanding of that world? Was he going to wait on perfect circumstances, or was he going to wait on God? He chose to wait on God.

Habakkuk 1:1 says, “The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.” The book begins as a burden, a heavy weight, a ponderous chain of a wicked world. God’s people were living wickedly and when Habakkuk protested to God about that, God replied that He was going to judge His people with the Babylonians. Habakkuk replied, “God, they are even worse than your own people. How can you do that?”

It began as a burden and in the last couple of verses of chapter 3, the book ends in rejoicing. Habakkuk 3:18 says, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” So, joy comes from waiting on God. It does not come from waiting on a perfect world, perfect circumstances, or the anticipation of what will be on your ship when it comes in. It is waiting on God and walking with God.

There were a lot of misconceptions that precipitated the book of Habakkuk. One was the misconception of the Babylonians, the people in power at the time, concerning false gods. They thought their false gods were the reason for their victory and the source of their strength. They were mistaken.

Then there are the misconceptions of the prophet Habakkuk about the true God. This is perhaps even more of a problem. Today, you may not believe in idols and perhaps are not trusting in your own strength for success, but you may have misconceptions about God. Sometimes we feel as if God is unknowing. The book of Habakkuk begins with a series of questions that I think I would be asking God in such circumstances. Habakkuk says, “God, your people are living wickedly and You are going to reprove them with an even more wicked people, the Babylonians? How? What? Why?” It is painful when we don’t know why it is we are seeing what we are seeing.

There is the misconception that God is unable. God dispelled that misconception pretty quickly. The entirety of chapter 2 is God pushing back on this and saying, “No, I am going to judge My people and destroy the Babylonians.” In verse 2 the Lord answers Habakkuk and in verse 6 He characterizes what follows as a taunting proverb, where God is taunting the pride of the Babylonians. It is a psalm full of woe and trouble.

In chapter 3 we see that sometimes we believe God is unmerciful. Chapter 3 is Habakkuk’s prayer in reply to God’s answer to his question. God says, “I will judge.” Habakkuk 3:1 says, “A prayer of Habakkuk.” Verse 2 says, “O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years…in wrath remember mercy.” He is saying, “I was confused that You were not taking action, and now I am afraid because You are. It is more than I would have expected or even wanted, but don’t stop what you are doing. I don’t want you to work in the past or future. I am not there. Right here and right now make Yourself known, and in Your wrath, remember to be merciful.”

Then, he gives a story, a poetical rendering of God with His people. He brought them out of Egypt into the Promised Land, and He was a fearful God indeed. Verse 10 says, “The mountains saw thee, and they trembled.” Verse 16 says that when Habakkuk heard, he trembled. Both man and nature trembled at the power of God. In verse 17 we find the judgment that God was capable of bringing, “The fig tree shall not blossom.” Then, we see a whole series of things that would be the results of God’s judgments. Even though these things would happen, verse 18 says, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Verse 19 says, “The LORD God is my strength.” So, He is strength and He is salvation. He is wrath and He is mercy. He is past and He is future, but most importantly He is in the midst of the earth. He is right here and right now.

He is strength and He is salvation, so joy comes, not from waiting on a perfect world or understanding, but from waiting on and trusting in a perfect God who has perfect understanding. Habakkuk said, “God, what, how, and why?” It was his waiting on God that provided answers that he could not provide for himself. It is waiting on God, not my power, but God’s power. Habakkuk could not set his people straight or the world straight, yet God is a God of incredible power. He spoke the worlds into existence. He is sovereign today. So, joy comes not from perfect circumstances, but from a powerful God.

Joy comes from waiting on God and walking with God, not from my judgment. It is not in my ability to discern what should be done and when, but God is a God of judgment and discernment. He knows right from wrong, a good time versus an imperfect time, and God is worth waiting on. Do you have joy today? If not, what are you waiting on? Joy comes from waiting on God, not from waiting for a perfect world.