This post is Day 9 in a series of studies about “Joy”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.

Feel free to comment below with your own thoughts about each verse and how you will be acting on each thought. Also, if you haven’t yet signed up to receive the notifications of new studies, you can do that today. (The form is at the bottom of the page).

Joy – Day 9

These three short chapters make Habakkuk one of my favourite Old Testament books. They speak so much about what is happening in our day, and are full of our everyday human emotions. The Lord responds to this complaint with basically a Watch and Pray message in the verse for today.

Habakkuk 1:5

Look at the nations and watch – be utterly amazed. For I am doing something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.

The Thought

We hear nothing about this prophet anywhere else in The Bible. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, around 580BC as Israel went into captivity in Babylon, and basically Habakkuk was fed up that God didn’t seem to be doing anything.

These three short chapters make Habakkuk one of my favourite Old Testament books. They speak so much about what is happening in our day, and are full of “normal” human emotions.

There is not much joy (our theme for this month) in this book, but a promise from God that there will be joy before too much time has passed.

Habakkuk’s complaint begins with How long, Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen? (Habakkuk 1:2). How many among us have not felt like that during the last few years of covid restrictions, job losses, shortages of essentials and many consequent frustrations as we have watched a world suffer with wars and rumours of wars? (Matthew 24:6).

The Lord responds to the prophet’s complaint with basically a “watch and pray” message in the verse for today. A joyful message, full of promise for Habakkuk and his peers. We will look at that tomorrow.

Action

Read the first chapter of Habakkuk today and think about how it relates to our time. Feel the prophet’s frustration, but be encouraged that it will turn to joy before the end.

List before the Lord your complaints of the day and keep your list somewhere safe so that you can rejoice when each item is dealt with. Be prepared that God may not do what you want in the way you expect.

For a full list of online studies available on this site, please click here.

If there is a subject you would like to see on this site, please use the comment section below or drop us an email (there’s a link at the very top of the page). We can’t promise to cover them all, and our studies are usually prepared a month or two in advance, so please be patient.

For a full list of physical resources available through this site, please click here.