There was a season when I had been praying about a situation and some relationships in my life.
Eventually, circumstances changed. The situation was removed, and in my mind, I thought:
Thank You, Lord. That’s handled.
Except sometime later, the very thing I thought God had removed looked like it was coming right back.
Babycakes, I prayed.
And I don’t mean one of those pretty little prayers where you’re completely surrendered and end it with Your will be done.
No.
I had apparently already determined what God’s will needed to be and was simply waiting on Him to agree with me.
God, why are You allowing this? I already prayed about this. Please don’t let this happen again.
I even had my reasons.
Three of them, actually.
Very good reasons, if you would’ve asked me.
And then…
God let it happen anyway.
I remember thinking, God, this cannot be happening.
Eventually, that season ended, but we walked away knowing things we hadn’t known before.
Relationships became clearer. We had information that helped us make wiser decisions. Things were revealed that we probably couldn’t have seen from a distance.
I thought God’s protection had to look like preventing the situation altogether.
Instead, He allowed me to walk through it long enough to see some things clearly.
And boy, do I struggle with that.
I’d much rather God hand me the itinerary:
Here’s what’s happening. Here’s why. Here’s what you’re going to learn. Here’s how long it’ll last. And here’s confirmation nobody’s life is about to implode.
Thank You, Lord. I’ll see You Tuesday. 😂
And That Brings Me to Habakkuk
Because apparently asking God,
“Excuse me, Lord…what exactly are You doing?”
isn’t a new phenomenon.
Habakkuk looked at what was happening among his people, couldn’t understand why God was allowing it, and asked Him.
That’s one thing I love about this little book.
Habakkuk clearly believes in God. He’s talking to God, wrestling with God, and waiting for an answer.
His questions weren’t proof that he didn’t believe.
He believed enough to bring his questions directly to God.
And God answered:
“Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” — Habakkuk 1:5
Then God tells him He’s raising up the Babylonians.
Habakkuk’s response, in my very unofficial Jane translation:
WAIT. WHAT?! THEM?!
😂
Now he has more questions.
And isn’t that just like us?
We’re convinced that if God would just explain Himself, we’d feel better.
Then we get a little glimpse and think:
Well, that cleared up absolutely nothing. I actually have several follow-up questions.
My mama used to tell me:
“Curiosity killed the cat, and YOU were the cat.”
Apparently not much has changed.
Eventually we get to Habakkuk 2:4:
“The righteous shall live by his faith.”
FAITH, people. Faith.
Faith is easy to talk about when you already know how the story ends.
It’s harder in the middle:
God, I don’t understand this. Why did You allow it? Why didn’t You stop it?
That’s where faith actually has something to do.
Not pretending we understand.
Not refusing to ask questions.
Trusting God when we don’t have all the information.
I tell my son some version of this all the time:
You don’t need to know everything. You need to know what YOU need to do.
You don’t need to know every decision Mama and Daddy are making or what happens five steps from now.
You need to know what you’re responsible for right now.
And excuse me while the Lord turns one of my own parenting speeches right back around on me. 😂
Maybe I don’t need the entire itinerary either.
Maybe I need to know what God has asked me to do today—and trust Him with the parts I cannot see.
I Asked for Removal. God Gave Me Revelation.
That’s what happened in my situation.
I asked God to remove something.
Instead, He allowed it—and through it, things were revealed.
But I want to be careful here because sometimes we don’t get that hindsight.
Sometimes we never get to say:
“Ohhhh. That’s why.”
Habakkuk doesn’t end with everything becoming comfortable either.
By chapter 3, he’s describing crops failing, fields producing no food, and livestock disappearing.
And yet:
“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” — Habakkuk 3:18
That’s the part I don’t want to miss.
The lesson isn’t:
Trust God and eventually He’ll explain Himself to you.
It’s:
Can I trust God even if He doesn’t?
And goodness, that’s harder.
It takes me right back to Deuteronomy 31:1–8.
We may not know what the next season holds. We may not understand why we’re walking into it. We may even have three perfectly reasonable reasons why God’s current plan needs reconsideration. 😂
But He hasn’t left.
He hasn’t forsaken us.
And He can see what we cannot.
So if you’ve ever prayed:
“God, why are You allowing this?”
Go read Habakkuk.
It’s only three chapters, but babycakes, there is a LOT packed into them.
Bring your questions. Bring your confusion. Talk it through with God.
And maybe we can practice this faith thing together:
We don’t have to understand everything God is doing to trust the One doing it.
Let me know what you think, my hunnies. 💗
— Jane
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