my response?

was looking at the book of habakkuk in the old testament. was having a tough time reading through because i was rushing and not looking at the context of things. made myself read again, and then one more time. though this was written in days long ago in situations that i personally can't relate to (national conquest and major violence seen first hand), God has been slowly letting me chew on it...realizing that there are some very pertinent lessons for right now.

first, i decided i would love to have habakkuk as my friend. (would want to come up with a nickname of some sort though--habakkuk doesn't roll off the tongue or type easily) he's bold and he's honest. he readily admits his fears and concerns (with great detail too). he has no problem asking honest questions and asking for a response--why is all this tough stuff happening? don't you see it, God? You can do something about it! he engages in his conversation with great emotion and passion. he cares for what is taking place to him and the world around him. he trusts in a God that is in control of a situation that seems out of control to him, in a situation that appears that God has nothing to do with it.

second, habakkuk gives time for God to talk--even when the answer isn't one that he expected or wanted. i don't know what the real life conversation was like, but here in the text, habakkuk shuts up after his comments and questions and then listens to what God has to say. boy, it's easy to talk--tough to wait and listen.

i think what floors me the most about this passage is two-fold.

there is such an open dialogue between habakkuk and God. questions and answers. feelings and explanations. candid thoughts with loving, honest replies. no feelings or comments were minced or shaded--things were spoken so openly. we can learn from that today--we all can have that type of candor with God. personally, i've learned that when i try to say the right things to God instead of how i really feel or what i really want to ask, i'm disappointed every time. but when i come to God with everything exposed, there is such a tender God there that loves me through--speaking and answering in ways that touch me to the core of who i am. (even though i may have expected God to answer things differently or switch to doing something my way)

i adore habakkuk's response at the end of the passage.
(chapter three, verses seventeen and eighteen)
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
God didn't give habakkuk the answer he may have necessarily wanted or circumstances that seemed just in his perspective. but habakkuk's choice was to praise a God that is in control of all things, despite what was going on around him. i love how habakkuk was free to list all the things that weren't going right around him--he was simply showing us that there are all kinds of reasons to doubt God's timing and plan, all kinds of reasons to simply draw inward and cry against a God that would allow such. BUT, there is that last statement:
YET i will rejoice in the Lord, i will be joyful in God my Savior.
in the middle of the difficulties, his response was praise. it was joy (which is so much different than happiness). God is still God despite the difficulties of things around us. He is using those difficulties to shape us to grow more of His character--to be more loving, more kind, more patient, more understanding, more tender, more thoughtful, more forgiving...

i have to ask myself: is this my response? when life is hard and things go differently than i wanted or expected, is my response like habakkuk's? i would like to think so...at least some.