Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are to pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
– Habakkuk 1:12-17
Devotion
Habakkuk is amazed, and asks a very pointed question: “How come?” Habakkuk is trying to reconcile how God can do this. And he starts with God’s character. He begins by acknowledging that God is “everlasting” and then focuses on the fact that God is “holy”. He then compares God’s character with Babylon’s character. In essence, Habakkuk is saying: I thought you were on our side? How can you team up with them against us? Habakkuk now has two choices. He can allow his questions to be either destructive or creative. He can use his struggles/doubts to turn from God and to renounce his faith; or he can use them to push toward God, trusting Him for an answer.
The Big Question
Have you ever wondered why God (eternal/holy) allows such evil/suffering in the world? Or how evil people seem to prosper more than you? Will you allow these questions to cause you to turn away from God or use them to push you toward God?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence reflecting on what God has revealed to you today.