Readings for today: Habakkuk 1-3
I am sitting in the United Club in Washington/Dulles, waiting for my next flight which will take me to the Horn of Africa. My youngest daughter is with me. Our trip is long. Many hours over many flights to get where we are going. Eventually, we will fly on a Mission Aviation Fellowship plane and land on a dirt runway in a rural area where we will spend the week. No showers. No A/C. Little food. It is going to be a challenging experience but also a rewarding experience. I can’t wait.
We’re crossing a lot of barriers to get here. Geographic barriers like oceans and continents. Political barriers as we fly in and out of different countries. Economic barriers as the people we will serve are among the poorest in the world. Cultural barriers like language, dress, and other customs. The area where we are going is located in a nation where the rule of law has yet to be fully established. Infrastructure is almost non-existent. Traveling by road is dangerous and uncertain so we fly our team and our supplies in. We are working with some of the most courageous Christians I have ever met. They endure all sorts of hardship and persecution in order to spread the good news of the gospel among their people. It’s a privilege to support and resource them.
When I think of some of the people I know who live in this particular region, I am struck by how much closer they are culturally to the Scriptures. Verses like the ones we read today in Habakkuk are not philosophical abstractions for them. They live these verses. They pray these verses. They preach these verses. Consider these words from Habakkuk 1:1-4 MSG, “God, how long do I have to cry out for help before you listen? How many times do I have to yell, “Help! Murder! Police!” before you come to the rescue? Why do you force me to look at evil, stare trouble in the face day after day? Anarchy and violence break out, quarrels and fights all over the place. Law and order fall to pieces. Justice is a joke. The wicked have the righteous hamstrung and stand justice on its head.” This is their lived experience. They know what it’s like to stare evil in the face day after day. They know what it’s like to see anarchy and violence break out as roving gangs from rival tribes burn and pillage their way through their towns and villages. The leader of their country is as corrupt as they come. He stands justice on it’s head with regularity. Day by day, they cry out to God. How long? How long before you come to our help?
They also walk by faith. They claim the promises of Habakkuk as their own. Through drought adn famine and persecution and tribal warfare, they cling to the hope they have in Christ. The sure and certain knowledge that God’s rule will prevail. Listen to how Habakkuk describes it…“Though the cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I’m singing joyful praise to God. I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God’s Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I’m king of the mountain!” (Habakkuk 3:17-19 MSG) I don’t know about you but it’s hard for me to reconcile these verses with my life. I am blessed beyond measure. I am wealthy beyond measure. I am rich beyond measure. I’ve never known life-threatening hunger or water-born disease or lawlessness. So it’s hard to put myself in the shoes of those I will serve this week. That’s why I come. I want to learn. I want to grow. I want to see the world through their eyes. I want to read the Bible through their eyes. I want to see Christ through their eyes so I may draw ever closer to Him.
Readings for tomorrow: Joel 1-3