How Remembering God’s Faithfulness Strengthens Your Faith
Habakkuk 3:1–15
The book of Habakkuk takes us on an incredible journey of faith. In chapter 1, Habakkuk is questioning God. He looks at the violence, injustice, wickedness, and spiritual decline around him and cannot understand why God doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it.
Then God answers—and His answer creates an even bigger problem for Habakkuk. God is raising up the Babylonians to bring judgment against Judah. Habakkuk essentially goes from asking, “God, why aren’t You doing something?” to “God, why are You doing THAT?”
In chapter 2, Habakkuk takes his place at the watchtower and waits for God to answer. There God gives him the central truth of the book: “The righteous shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4, ESV)
There are times when we simply have to trust God. We don’t understand His timing, His methods, or what He is doing. But the righteous shall live by faith.
When we arrive at chapter 3, something has changed. The circumstances haven’t changed—Habakkuk has changed. Babylon is still coming. Judgment is still coming. The future is still uncertain. But Habakkuk is no longer arguing with God. Now he is worshiping God.
Chapter 1 begins with a complaint. Chapter 2 gives us God’s answer. Chapter 3 begins with a prayer. Habakkuk teaches us something every believer needs to learn: When you don’t know what God is going to do next, remember what God has already done. Sometimes the best way to face an uncertain future is to remember God’s faithfulness in the past.
#1: PRAY FOR GOD’S WILL, NOT JUST YOUR COMFORT
Habakkuk begins his prayer: “O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2, ESV)
Habakkuk is afraid. He is afraid for himself and for his nation. He cannot fit all the pieces of the puzzle together, but he has learned that the God who made the puzzle can be trusted.
Notice what Habakkuk doesn’t pray. He doesn’t ask God to make everything easy. He doesn’t ask for personal escape. He doesn’t even ask God to abandon His plan of judgment. Instead, Habakkuk prays for God’s work to be accomplished. His desire is that things would be right according to God’s plan, not merely comfortable according to his desires.
That is a difficult place to reach spiritually. Our prayers can easily become centered on what makes our lives easier: “God, fix this. Remove this. Change this. Make this go away.” There is nothing wrong with bringing those requests to God, but mature faith eventually learns to pray something greater: “God, whatever happens, accomplish Your purposes and be glorified through my life.”
Jesus taught us to pray this way: “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” (Matthew 6:10, ESV) Our prayer should increasingly become: God, be glorified in my life, in my church, and in this world.
#2: ASK GOD FOR MERCY
Habakkuk adds an important request: “In wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2, ESV)
Habakkuk knows Judah deserves judgment. He isn’t asking God to ignore their sin or compromise His holiness. He simply appeals to the character of God and asks for mercy. He doesn’t say, “God, remember how good we have been.” He doesn’t point to their accomplishments or merits. He asks for mercy.
That is ultimately the only ground upon which any of us can stand before a holy God. We don’t come to God boasting about how good we have been. We come recognizing that we are sinners who desperately need His mercy.
There are also times when difficulties should cause us to examine our own hearts. Instead of merely staring at the problem, we should be willing to ask, “Lord, is there something You want to change in me?” Sometimes God uses difficult circumstances to correct us. At other times, He uses difficult circumstances simply to accomplish His purposes through us. Either way, our response should be humility, trust, and dependence upon His mercy.
#3: REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE
Beginning in verse 3, Habakkuk starts looking backward. He remembers God’s mighty acts throughout Israel’s history—the Exodus, Sinai, the plagues of Egypt, the Red Sea, God’s provision in the wilderness, the conquest of the Promised Land, and the defeat of Israel’s enemies.
Habakkuk is strengthening his faith by remembering God’s faithfulness: “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.” (Habakkuk 3:3, ESV)
His mind goes back to God’s appearance at Sinai. God had heard the cries of His people in Egypt. He had seen their oppression. He had not forgotten them. God came down.
Habakkuk continues: “Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels.” (Habakkuk 3:5, ESV) Pharaoh thought he was in control. Egypt was the superpower of its day, while Israel was merely a nation of slaves. Then God showed up. The plagues came, Egypt was humbled, Pharaoh was broken, and Israel was delivered.
Habakkuk is reminding himself that the God he is trusting today is the same God who demonstrated His faithfulness yesterday.
#4: REMEMBER THAT GOD IS GREATER THAN WHAT YOU FEAR
Habakkuk describes God’s power: “He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways.” (Habakkuk 3:6, ESV)
Mountains that appear permanent are scattered before Him. Hills that seem immovable bow before Him., Everything Habakkuk fears is temporary—Babylon, nations, kings, and armies. But God is everlasting.
That truth changes our perspective. The things that frighten us can appear enormous when they are directly in front of us. But when we compare them to God, we begin to see them differently.
Habakkuk remembers how God parted the Red Sea. Israel was trapped. Pharaoh’s army was behind them, and the sea was in front of them. Humanly speaking, there was no way forward. But God made a way. Years later, He did it again at the Jordan River.
The lesson isn’t that God’s people never encounter impossible situations. The Bible repeatedly shows us God’s people standing in situations they cannot fix, control, or overcome themselves. The lesson is that what is impossible for us is not impossible for God.
#5: REMEMBER WHO REALLY CONTROLS HISTORY
Habakkuk declares: “You marched through the earth in fury; you threshed the nations in anger.” (Habakkuk 3:12, ESV)
God marches through history. Nations think they’re in control. Kings think they’re in control. Armies think they’re in control. Babylon certainly thought it was in control. But Habakkuk is beginning to understand that God is the One moving history. Babylon isn’t ultimately in control—God is.
The same God remains sovereign today. We don’t always understand what He allows, and we don’t always understand His timing. We may look at our world and wonder what God is doing, but God has not surrendered His throne. History is still His story.
#6: REMEMBER GOD’S ULTIMATE SALVATION IN JESUS
Then Habakkuk reaches the heart of his remembrance: “You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed.” (Habakkuk 3:13, ESV)
Why did God shake the nations? Why did He divide the waters? Why did He fight Israel’s enemies? For the salvation of His people.
But there is another important phrase: “the salvation of your anointed.” In its immediate context, Habakkuk is looking backward at God’s deliverance of His covenant people and His anointed leadership. But as we read the whole story of Scripture, we know where the language of God’s Anointed One ultimately leads: Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. He is God’s Anointed One.
God delivered His people from Egypt, brought them through the Red Sea, preserved them in the wilderness, brought them into the Promised Land, defeated their enemies, and preserved His covenant people. Ultimately, through those people, God brought forth the Messiah.
Jesus would accomplish a salvation far greater than deliverance from Egypt, Babylon, or any earthly enemy. He would save His people from their sins. At the cross, God took what looked like the greatest tragedy in human history and accomplished through it the greatest salvation in human history.
So when I don’t understand what God is doing, above everything else, I remember Jesus.
#7: DON’T LET SPIRITUAL AMNESIA STEAL YOUR FAITH
One of the great enemies of faith is spiritual amnesia. We forget the prayers God has answered, the doors God has opened, the times He provided, the valleys He brought us through, His deliverance, and how He saved us. Then another problem comes along, and suddenly we act as though this is the first problem God has ever faced.
Sometimes you need to stop looking forward for a moment and look backward. Remember what God has done. Remember His faithfulness, His provision, His deliverance, and His salvation. And above everything else—remember Jesus.
Habakkuk still doesn’t know exactly what the future is going to look like. Babylon is still coming. His circumstances have not changed, but his perspective has.
I may not understand what God is doing today. I may not know what God is going to do tomorrow. But I know what God has done before.
And the God who was faithful then is faithful now.
REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE.
Bible References: Habakkuk 3:1–15 (ESV); Habakkuk 2:4 (ESV); Matthew 6:10 (ESV)
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