Habakkuk

Wow. First off, an update on all things "90" Days:

a. I failed to finish on time. To be precise, I finished 16 days behind. I fought a valiant fight to close the gap to 8 days with about 10 days to go, but then the academic year started and it was all over.

b. That said, I'm not particularly torn up about it. I've continued to plug away and just started Luke this afternoon. To use a marathon analogy, I'm at mile 22 or so. Just 4 more to go. I can do 4 more.

c. I have a blogging backlog. Or would that be a "backblog" by chance?!? To put it simply, I'm going to post about Habakkuk this afternoon when in theory I should be writing about Mark. Quite a difference there!

d. One thing has NOT changed through all of this...I continue to relish my time in the Word and Jesus is meeting me. In addition, it's incredibly fulfilling to be accomplishing this goal, even if I am still running while the others are getting their post-race massages...

So on to Habakkuk. Like Amos, this is another book that is uber-familiar to me. In fact, one of my staff buddies (here's looking at you Maris!) and I actually taught Habakkuk this summer to a group of students on a missions trip here in downtown Fresno. So, some impressions of my good friend Habakkuk:

1. The book of Habakkuk is more of a conversation that we are allowed to overhear. No long-winded prophetic oracles for Habakkuk! Unlike the rest of his prophetic brethren, Habakkuk engages God in a back and forth conversation. He is not prophesying to anyone! To be specific, 1:2-4 is Habakkuk's first complaint to the Lord. Then 1:5-11 is the Lord's answer. Habakkuk isn't thrilled with the response, so he has a redirect in 1:12-2:1, before the Lord answers again in the rest of chapter 2.

2. What's a "shigionath?" I mean, it sounds bad, honestly. "So, Hal, what did the Dr. say?" "Yeah, the X-ray shows I have a massive shigionath on my heel..." Right? The footnote to 3:1 calls it "probably a literary or musical term." Poking around online, there seems to be confusion about what this term really connotes. One sample: "Some think the basic meaning is 'to wander' in reference to a wandering style of thought or melody or to the unconnected expressions of a lament." OK...

3. What I love most about Habakkuk is his posture towards the Lord and to his circumstances. At the end of the day, this is what we impress upon our students when we open up Habakkuk. In 2:1 there's this great image that Habakkuk gives us for someone who is concerned about injustice and crying out to God, but doing those things in a posture of waiting mixed with humility. Really, there's a expectation that Habakkuk has that God will act. He is positioning himself on the ramparts looking for the response. And yet it's a reverential act, as if Habakkuk knows that if anything is going to happen to resolve the situation it will necessarily have to be from God. Some might call this "active waiting." It's a good model for me as I think about the world and what its ills, whether it's flooding in Pakistan or the economic implosion. What does it look like for me/us to come to the Lord with our petitions and then to wait with hope and expectation for His reply?!?