Live By Faith

A fascinating little book in the Bible is from the prophet Habakkuk. He lived at a time of great wickedness in the Jewish southern kingdom of Judah. He looked around and saw all the injustice and oppression that was occurring among his beloved people. He cried out to God to do something. I am not sure what answer Habakkuk expected, but I do know that God’s answer was a surprise. God told the prophet that he was sending the Babylonians to come conquer and punish Judah. This response shocked the prophet. He complains again, how can this be the answer? The Babylonians were worse than the Jews. God responds to this complaint as well saying that eventually He would bring down Babylon.

In the book, God goes on to share some woes against all of mankind. He sees our practices that create economic injustice, the oppression of people, even slavery, He sees the abuse of alcohol and idolatry that corrupts everything. Let’s be honest, whether looking at the ancient Jewish nation or modern nations today, all eventually become like Babylon. Since sin entered the world mankind has become profoundly broken and rebellious. There is no hope in looking to ourselves or any government we create (although some are clearly better than others). The most famous verse in this short book is Habakkuk 2:4 b “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.” This book mentions the wickedness of Judah, Egypt and Babylon; hope is not found in mankind but in God. This hope is not always easy or even particularly evident in moments of great tragedy. It is a defiant, tenacious hope in
God, in His goodness and faithfulness.

I think the cross of Jesus gives us the primary reason for this kind of hope. God saw man’s sinfulness and found a way to pay for it that put the price on Himself. His love for us was so great that he found a way to redeem us. Habakkuk grabbed hold of this kind of tenacious hope. He exhibits it in the closing prayer of his book. He says, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to tread on the heights. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

There will always be some mystery surrounding the sovereignty of God and the presence of evil in the world, but there is nowhere else to turn. God is our only hope. His ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). We may not see it now but eventually accounts will be settled. Someday God’s final verdict on evil will be exercised.  In essence, we live by faith in God’s goodness and faithfulness. Like Habakkuk we celebrate Him despite our circumstances.

Hope is defined as “confident expectation.” For the Christian, hope is not a confident expectation in some pipe dream but in the person of Jesus Christ. In Him, we see perfection and holiness. In Him, we see the justice of God satisfied on the cross. In Him, we see grace (unmerited favor) offered to all who will accept it. Despite what we face in this life, because of Jesus we can be “joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:18). As we live by faith, we can fully experience hope. And in a dark world hope makes all the difference.


Pastor Derek Dickinson
Journey Christian Church