No Matter What 7 February 2008

Habakkuk 3:1-19
Thursday, 7 February 2008

As is almost always the case, I am entering this season of Lent with an agenda. There are areas of my life in which and for which I need answers, direction, and breakthrough. I likewise am aware of the needs of those around me, my family, friends, and acquaintances whose issues differ from mine in their particulars but bear a great resemblance in their urgency. And so I am using this holy season as a time for focused and attentive prayer and seeking, with the expectation that by Easter some extraordinary deliverance or insight will emerge.

If one judges by Habakkuk's opening oracle (1:1), the prophet had nearly come to the end of his rope. "O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not listen?" he began, apparently after an extended season of seeking without any visible progress. The injustices and corruptions that had driven him to his knees continued unabated. The power and resources of his enemies were expanding, and God's deliverance appeared distant and tardy. Yet when we come to our text at the end of the book, we discover Habakkuk's song that burst forth in response to his encounters with God in the intervening chapters. The prophet was aware that things might well get worse before they got better. But by chapter 3 the breakthrough that emerged was in his own commitment that no matter what happened he still would rejoice and give God praise.

Our anticipation that God will meet us in the Lenten season is worthwhile. It is not a sign of deeper piety to expect little from God, as if God is somehow feeble and must be coddled but cannot be trusted. Jesus invited his followers to ask, seek, and knock. At the same time, we do well to seek the deeper trust that points us toward unrestricted rejoicing and praise without contingency. How wise it would be for us to commit on this second day of our Lenten journey that no matter what we will still exult in the God who is our salvation and our strength.

Sing, "It is Well with My Soul"

Let us pray:
At your word, O Lord, we ask for deliverance and breakthrough. We seek your face longing to be empowered by your wisdom. We knock desiring entrance into your presence. We have an agenda in prayer during this season, but we submit our goals, plans, wishes, and programs to your will. Even now, before we know all or what you will do in response to our prayers, we commit ourselves to rejoice and offer praise in plenty and want, in joy and in sorrow, in fulfillment and in disappointment, for you are our strength and our salvation. Help us to live up to our commitment, in Jesus' name. Amen.