Complain To The King!
BRD REFLECTIONS:
Habakkuk 1:12-17; 2:1-20 and Psalm 58:1-11 (NIV)
(Charmaine Lim from Small Group Ministry)
READ:
In Habakkuk, the prophet Habakkuk complains to God about the perceived lack of judgement against the rampant sin of the society around him. In Psalm 58, we also observe David complaining directly to God about the injustice that he sees around him.
OBSERVE:
The complaints are startlingly open, honest, even outrightly graphic sometimes. Habakkuk and David were holy men – yet, here they were, positively fist-shaking in their frustration before God! Habakkuk even questioned how God could “tolerate the treacherous” and remain silent in the face of such evil (Habakkuk 1:13). Is it really okay to be so direct with God?
Despite their complaints, their faith in God was evident. Habakkuk proclaimed he would stand by his watch, and David was utterly convinced that God would exact the justice he cried out for. God even answered Habakkuk directly – proof that God hears and answers us in our prayer.
APPLY:
I used to “clean up” my prayers, presenting myself to God with all due etiquette and not “bothering” Him with trivial complaints. Through years of spiritual formation, I’ve learnt to take my complaints to my King, and start laying bare my soul before Him. After all, He has shown me that He is the ultimate lover of my soul, and He knows my heart (Psalm 139:23).
The examples of Habakkuk and David remind me that I still have a long way to go. The openness and honesty in their prayers display a depth of trust and intimacy in their relationship with God. I yearn to have this relationship with God. Do I really dare to complain in this honest, fist-shaking way to Him?
DO:
Apart from taking my complaints to God, I should learn to take my emotions honestly to Him too. I learnt how to bottle up my emotions and process them in my head, but Habakkuk and David have shown me that I can lay bare these emotions before God too. I can trust that my God, the lover of my soul, is ready to listen and respond.
PRAY:
Father, You hear the cries of my heart even when I think I have silenced them. You knit me together in my mother’s womb, and You have searched my heart. There is nothing I can hide from You. I pray for an ever deeper, ever more loving, relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
