When God Doesn’t Make Sense
Learning to Trust God from Habakkuk 1
There are times in the Christian life when what we see happening around us does not seem to line up with what we know to be true about God. We know God is good, sovereign, holy, and faithful. We know He hears prayer. Yet sometimes we look at our circumstances, our families, our nation, our culture, or even the church and find ourselves asking, “God, what are You doing?” Or perhaps the more troubling question: “God, why aren’t You doing anything?”
If you have ever asked those questions, you are in good company. That is exactly where we find the prophet Habakkuk. He is looking at the world around him and struggling to reconcile what he sees with what he knows about God. Habakkuk begins his book with a question mark, but by the end he will arrive at an exclamation point. Chapter 1 finds him wondering and worrying, chapter 2 finds him waiting, and chapter 3 finds him worshiping. It is a journey from sight to faith, and that journey begins with some difficult questions.
#1: GOD, WHY AREN’T YOU DOING ANYTHING?
Habakkuk lived during a troubling time in Judah’s history. Under King Josiah there had been tremendous spiritual reform. Idolatry had been confronted, pagan altars had been torn down, the Temple had been restored, the Book of the Law had been rediscovered, and worship had been renewed. For a time, it appeared that Judah was turning back to God. But after Josiah died, the nation rapidly deteriorated. The kings who followed him led the people back into wickedness, and the nation became characterized by oppression, injustice, violence, and spiritual rebellion.
Habakkuk had seen enough, so he prayed: “O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2, ESV). Those words, “How long?”, tell us that this was not Habakkuk’s first prayer. He had apparently been praying about his nation for some time, and what troubled him was not simply the wickedness around him. What troubled him was that he had prayed about it and nothing seemed to be changing.
Most Christians eventually find themselves in a similar place. We pray for God to change a situation, restore a relationship, heal a hurt, bring someone home, correct an injustice, or open a door, and yet nothing seems to happen. Sometimes the hardest part of the trial is not the problem itself; it is the apparent silence of God in the middle of the problem.
But Habakkuk is about to learn something important: God’s silence does not mean God’s inactivity. Just because we cannot see God working does not mean He is not working. Habakkuk thought God was doing nothing, but God was about to reveal that He had been working all along.
#2: GOD SAYS, “I AM DOING SOMETHING!”
God finally answers Habakkuk in verse 5: “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5, ESV). The contrast is striking. Habakkuk essentially says, “God, You’re not doing anything,” while God responds, “Habakkuk, I am doing something. In fact, I am doing something so significant that you would have trouble believing it if I told you.”
Habakkuk’s problem was not that God wasn’t working. His problem was that he couldn’t see what God was doing. That is often our problem as well. We see today, while God sees tomorrow. We see one circumstance, while God sees the entire story. We see one piece, while God sees the whole puzzle. What looks like inactivity from our limited perspective may actually be the unfolding of God’s providential plan.
Then God tells Habakkuk what He is doing, and it is certainly not what the prophet expected. God was raising up the Babylonians to bring judgment upon Judah. Habakkuk may have hoped for another revival like the one he had witnessed under Josiah. Perhaps he was praying, “God, do it again. Send another Josiah. Turn the hearts of the people back to You.” Instead, God essentially answered, “I’m sending Babylon.”
That was not the answer Habakkuk wanted, but it teaches us another important truth: God may answer our prayers in ways we never expected. Habakkuk wanted God to change Judah, and God was going to change Judah; Habakkuk simply did not like God’s method. He wanted revival, but God announced judgment. He wanted God to remove the problem, but God was going to use another problem to discipline His people.
We sometimes respond the same way. We pray, “God, fix this. Change this. Work in this situation.” Then God begins working in a way we never anticipated, and suddenly our prayer becomes, “No, Lord—not like that!” We want God to answer our prayers, but if we are not careful, what we really want is for God to follow our plan. Habakkuk reminds us that God’s wisdom is greater than ours, and sometimes His answer to one question creates another.
#3: WHEN YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND GOD’S WAYS, REMEMBER GOD’S CHARACTER
Habakkuk’s first question was, “God, why aren’t You doing anything?” God answered, “I am.” Now Habakkuk has a new question: “God, why would You do that?” Yet his response is instructive. He does not walk away from God simply because he does not understand God. Instead, he begins reminding himself of what he already knows to be true.
Habakkuk says, “Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? … O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof” (Habakkuk 1:12, ESV). In one verse, Habakkuk anchors himself in the character of God. God is eternal; He sees the beginning and the end and knows things Habakkuk does not know. God is personal; Habakkuk still calls Him “my God” and “my Holy One.” God is sovereign; even Babylon cannot operate outside His ultimate authority. And God is holy; He remains morally perfect even when His methods are difficult for Habakkuk to understand.
Perhaps the most important words are simply “my God.” Habakkuk is confused by God, but he is still clinging to God. He has questions for God, but he has not abandoned his relationship with God. There is a tremendous difference between bringing our questions to God in faith and walking away from God in unbelief. Biblical faith does not require us to pretend that difficult things are easy to understand. It allows us to wrestle with our questions while continuing to hold on to the God we know.
That is where many believers find themselves at different points in life. “God, I know You are good, but this doesn’t feel good. I know You are sovereign, but this looks completely out of control. I know You hear prayer, but You have not answered mine. I know You are holy, so I do not understand why You have allowed this.” Habakkuk teaches us that such questions do not have to drive us away from God. They can actually drive us deeper into what we know about Him.
#4: CAN GOD REALLY USE EVIL TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSE?
Habakkuk’s greatest difficulty is that Babylon is worse than Judah. He understands that his own nation deserves correction, but he cannot understand why a holy God would use such a violent and arrogant nation as His instrument. In verses 14–17, Habakkuk compares Babylon to a fisherman dragging helpless fish into a net. Nation after nation falls before Babylon, and with every victory the Babylonians become more impressed with their own power.
Habakkuk says that Babylon “sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet” (Habakkuk 1:16, ESV). In other words, they worship their own strength. They do not recognize God as the source of their success; they congratulate themselves. Their attitude is essentially, “Look what we did. Look how powerful we are. Look what our strength accomplished.”
So Habakkuk ends the chapter by asking, “Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?” (Habakkuk 1:17, ESV). In other words, “God, are You going to let them get away with this?”
And then Chapter 1 ends.
Habakkuk does not yet receive his answer. He is left with the tension between what he sees happening and what he knows about God. But perhaps that is precisely where he needs to be, because God is teaching him that faith cannot always depend upon having immediate explanations.
WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD IS DOING, I HOLD ON TO WHAT I KNOW ABOUT WHO GOD IS.
That is the great lesson of Habakkuk 1. Faith does not require that I understand everything God is doing. There are things God knows that I do not know, things God sees that I cannot see, and purposes God is accomplishing that I may not recognize until much later—or perhaps not in this life at all.
Habakkuk does not understand God’s methods, but he knows God’s character. God is everlasting. He is “my God.” He is “my Holy One.” He is the Rock. He is sovereign. Those truths become the solid ground beneath Habakkuk’s feet when everything else seems uncertain.
The same must be true for us. When we do not understand WHAT God is doing, we go back to WHO God is. I may not understand this circumstance, but I know God is good. I may not understand this delay, but I know God is faithful. I may not understand this loss, but I know God loves me. I may not understand why He has allowed something, but I know God is holy.
Sometimes we will not know WHY, but we can still know WHO.
And sometimes that is enough to get us through the night.
Faith is not saying, “God, I understand everything You are doing.” Faith is being able to say, even while the questions remain:
“God, I don’t understand—but I trust You.”
Bible References: Habakkuk 1:2 (ESV); Habakkuk 1:5 (ESV); Habakkuk 1:12 (ESV); Habakkuk 1:16–17 (ESV)
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