8 August 2020

The Lord answered Habakkuk and said:
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.
From Habakkuk 1: 12 – 2: 4 (NRSV)

Habakkuk was another of the prophets struggling to understand where God was in all the sufferings of the Exile. They were receiving words of power and assurance but still they were being oppressed. God’s response is hopeful but realistic. He tells Habakkuk to have enough confidence in his prophecy to write it large – so large that someone running past it could still read it.. so not tucked into a scroll for the experts! Yes, people will wonder when it is going to happen and become impatient for the liberation they have been promised. But it will come – in God’s good time which usually proves itself to be exactly the right time.

• • When have you grown impatient at a delay in something being sorted out?
  • What helps us to stay faithful and patient when things do not happen as quickly as we wish they would?

Pray today for the patience to endure – something you might be dealing with at the moment – or in readiness for something that comes up in the future.