Episode 87: Habakkuk 2:-3
Today’s verse is Habakkuk 2:2-3
And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.”
Let’s pray together.
LORD, is the whole human race made out of impatience? It seems so sometimes. It feels that way to my restless bones, my fingers twitching and my feet tapping, my anxiety levels rising the longer I am kept waiting. I live in an act-now, convenience-based, seconds-is-too-long culture. Everywhere around me are people rushing, complaining, pushing, grabbing, shouting. More. More. Now. Gimmeee. And the loudest of all is me.
I pray, God, You do give us the things we need now. The money to pay the bill sitting in front of us, the food to feed our children for dinner, the approval for the apartment to lease, the doctor’s appointment that could save our lives. There are things we do need and You know what they are. I pray that You will provide. I pray that You see our need and You answer our call.
But, Jesus, there are so many things that I grasp for, that I don’t really need. I am always thinking about myself, what it is that I deserve. What’s mine? How am I being inconvenienced? What’s taking up my time? What’s eating my money? How can I get ahead of everyone else? How can I beat everyone else there?
Perhaps this simple idea that nothing I own actually belongs to me (including my time) is too strange and foreign, too insulting to my high thoughts of myself or to my comfort level. But it is a truth that I cannot ignore. I pray it is one You place before me on a regular basis so that it becomes more ingrained in my bones than the deep-seated need to come first and to have all that I desire at my fingertips. I don’t want to treat you as a cosmic power at my beck and call, and the first step, is realizing that I am Your creature. I am here by Your will.
LORD, there are deep desires within us, desires placed by You, I think. We are designed for things, generally and specifically. We may long for a spouse, children, a promotion, a place of our own, to visit somewhere, or do something. And these desires are not bad. We want to create and explore and build and connect. These are good things, Jesus. So foster them in us, help us yearn for what You’ve created us for. Complete the good works You have begun. Show us the way to them. Help us get there. Provide all we need to do them, to acquire them, to nurture them.
But build within us patience and trust. Patience to wait for whatever Your timing is. And trust to know that You are good and that we will not want it any other way. Nothing is perfect apart from You, God. Your visions are strong and given at the right time. They come to fulfillment and they grow and they are planted. They do not tarry and they do not die. You are faithful to do as You said You would do. Help us to wait for the vision, though it may seem to delay. Help us to know that it is not late. We have all we need in this moment. The rest comes at Your command and Your good will.
We trust You, God. Help us to trust You more. Help us to know grace and extend it. Help us be patient. Grow in us a love of the slow things, the ability to truly know and have peace and experience Your goodness. And let us not run, but let us wait. Make plain to us Your way and help us to walk in it.
I pray this in the faithful and enduring name of Jesus. Amen.
