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Say What Now, Lord: Faithfulness in the Disconnect — 2/3/2026 10:00 AM
Today's speaker is Dr. Will Smallwood, Vice President for Advancement at Cedarville University. Dr. Smallwood looks at Habakkuk 1-2, and the conversation between Habakkuk and God that we find there.
Notes
Habakkuk 1–2 shows a conversation between Habakkuk and God. This prophet is wrestling with a disconnect between what he knows about God and what he’s actually experiencing of Him.
Habakkuk lives in a time of turmoil in Judah. The people do not honor God. Habakkuk models amazing honesty as he pours out his heart before God, confused about why God is not doing anything amid all this wickedness. Habakkuk isn’t praying the words he thinks God or others wants to hear. He is communicating from the depths of his heart: lamenting.
God responds, saying He is raising up the Babylonians to judge Judah. This is a violent, wicked group of people. Habakkuk wanted God to help, but not in this way, so he begins his second complaint.
Habakkuk shows that when we lament to God, we should appeal to His character. He points to God’s everlasting nature and sovereign power over all of history. The Babylonians are doing nothing outside the controlling hand of God. He calls God a Rock, the Protector of His people, and appeals to His pure holiness. He says it just doesn’t make sense that such a God would use this evil nation to judge Judah. He ends by saying he will stand and wait for the coming judgment, but that he needs a minute to process everything and figure out how he will answer.
God responds a second time, telling Habakkuk to wait. One of the best things you can do is develop a robust theology of waiting, desiring God’s timing and plans rather than your own. Often, we try to rush things and take care of them ourselves, but God is always right on time. He’s never early or late. God is constantly working. He is doing about ten thousand things in your life right now, and you know about only one.
When you don’t understand what God is doing or have the full picture, trust in Him. Believe confidently in His promises and be faithful! Many of us wonder what God’s will is for our lives. The answer is not a specific job or specific place but faithfulness. Where are you being faithful in your life right now?
God also assures Habakkuk that He will judge the Babylonians, announcing woes upon them because of their atrocities. And amid these atrocities, He promises that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of His glory. God is using your moments of waiting and difficulty to bring glory to Himself and knowledge of Him to others.
Finally, He reminds Habakkuk — and us — to look and be astounded because He is still in His holy temple. The awe of God working all things for good in our lives should cause us to be silent and wonder in His faithfulness.
Perhaps you’re walking through a moment of disconnect, and your understanding of God is not aligning with your experience with God. Amid that disconnect, will you choose to trust in His promises today?