Wait Upon The Lord

Habakkuk 2:1-2 (NLT)

¹ I will climb up to my watchtower
      and stand at my guardpost.
   There I will wait to see what the Lord says
      and how He^[a] will answer my complaint.

 ² Then the Lord said to me,

   “Write my answer plainly on tablets,
      so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.

These two verses contain a few very important concepts that God pointed out to us. First of all, when we need His answer, we have to stand at the guard and wait for His answer. Second of all, when we stand patiently and seek Him with our whole heart, He always answers. Finally, when God says something, He says it clear, so there is no miscommunication or misunderstanding that could be claimed on our part as an excuse to disobey His word.

I think I can relate to the verse one and boldly say that I missed that mark by too many occasions when I prayed to God to answer some critical matters, but I failed to stand on the watch and listen to what He really gets to say. Instead, I took the liberty to answer my own questions and solve the problem on my own. I think we do that too often when we pray and ask for God`s intervention in a specific situation, and then we go about and make decisions on our own without waiting patiently to what God does and says. He convicted my heart awhile back on this issue when I would come to Him and I would pour out my heart and pray zealously regarding specific circumstance, and then I would go to sleep or go about doing what I think is appropriate (most of the time turns out to be inappropriate in His eyes though) instead of waiting patiently for His answer.

Habakkuk was writing regarding the events that took place in Judah (most likely regarding the Babylonian`s conquest of the area), but we don`t really have an exact time period to pinpoint. There is also very little that is known about Habakkuk himself, and I like that about him. I personally like to be anonymous, so I don`t get a chance to claim all the glory; instead I give it all to God. What we see here in the scripture, is Habakkuk desperately trying to seek the answer regarding all the unrighteous behavior that takes place and the judgment that`s coming on Judah as a result of it. He is “climbing to his watchtower” (that`s hard labor just to get to the place where he could seek the Lord). I`ve been too many times in situation where I can`t get to my secret place where I could get alone with God and ask Him all these questions that I have; a place where I could focus and bring my thoughts together to be honest with God especially during the days when things get too hard to bear.

Once he climbed to the watchtower, he “stood at his guardpost” waiting patiently upon the Lord to answer. This is a crucial part to realize for me that I have to wait patiently for God to answer when I ask Him of something because He said it in His word through Jeremiah that He would be there for those who seek Him:

²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
      To the soul who seeks Him. (Lamentations 3:25, NKJV)

The Lord is definitely good to those who seek Him, He rewards each one of us based on our heart`s attitude. We show Him that we believe that he is capable to handle whatever impossible circumstances there may be when we seek Him diligently with all heart.

God also said in Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God rewards those who show their faith and stick by it; we please Him when we have faith especially in impossible situation like mine. It took me awhile to get to the place where I have nothing but a complete trust in God with my whole heart. It`s not easy in my situation when I face the same issues, the same problems that seem endless, but God knows what time would work best to change my circumstances, and so I wait at the “guardpost” upon the Lord, and I know that His reward would be great.

Habakkuk confirmed God`s truth that He is faithful, and He replies to those who diligently wait upon Him to get the answer. In the verse two God answered and, He made sure He answered clearly. There was no miscommunication as to what God required of Habakkuk to get across for others to read. God made sure He told Habakkuk to write down the message in plain words for all kinds of people to be able to read and understand it. It doesn`t matter how much of an uneducated person one can be, when God speaks, He makes it so blatantly clear, that we can`t have excuses to disobey. I like how God always makes sure He gets His message to me one way or another. He`s using, scriptures, people, events, circumstances to get across to me whatever He needs. He doesn`t grow weary with my deafness or hardness of heart.

I think it`s important to keep these concepts in mind when we come to seek God and ask for His intervention, that we go to the secret place allowing us to be with Him without interruptions, that we wait to the end to Hear His answer, and that we realize that when God speaks, His message is clear. It is satan who tries to make things convoluted and unclear to confuse our thinking, but God`s message is always clear and never, ever contradicts His word. If you`re not sure about something that God tells you to do, go to His word and check against it to make sure it is the same truth because God would never contradict His own Word.