It’s the early 1960s. Mom and Dad decide to take all of us on a trip from Fort Worth, Texas up to Gramma‘s house in a little country setting called West Addison just outside of Vergennes, Vermont. The logistics of the trip…over 1700 miles, over 28 hours if you drive straight through over the course of 2 to 3 days, in a 1956 four-door Chevrolet station wagon with no third row seat, no power steering, no power brakes, no cruise control, no GPS, no air conditioning, no seatbelts, seven of us kids ranging in ages from 1 to 9 years, comic books, treats, water in an old metal thermos, Mom and Dad.
It was a dream.
Dad was the one who wanted to go straight through…”If I had my way we’d still be out there on the road!“… but Mom was really calling the shots, knowing that we kids would need to stop, get out, run around, get something to eat, and rest for the night.
I don’t recall any specific conversations, but I have no doubt that there were multiple times when one or more of us asked that classic question “Are we there yet?” Quite possibly also a variation…“How much longer?“ And certainly we may have even descended into outright complaint…“We’re never going to get there!“
Dad didn’t stop to take the time to explain every aspect of the trip, including the mileage, the road conditions, paying attention to how the vehicle was operating, the watching out for other motorist, intended stops for fuel or food. Most of the time he remained silent and watchful, continuing to navigate the course. Mom did take opportunities to turn around and tell us “Just a little longer a little longer,” and even helped to distract us by helping us focus on the coloring books or comic books or whatever we may have had with us.
We were kids…impatient and restless. We didn’t have the perspective that our father at the wheel of the vehicle had. He had his eyes on everything, capable of responding to any and all situations, in his experience and with his knowledge he had the foresight to understand the perils of the journey. Even if he had explained in detail, we would not have been able to understand.
To us kids time seemed to be standing still, and we were unable to comprehend the endless miles, but at the end of our trip, we rejoiced in the riches of our destination… Gramma‘s house! The trials and tribulation of the long journey were remembered no more.
As we continue our journey through the Bible, focusing on prayer, we read the accounts of many others on their journeys. If you haven’t already, you will very soon encounter Habakkuk. You will find him asking those same sorts of questions we have children asked on our endless trip… “How long? When? Why? Where are you? Can’t you see? Help me. I don’t understand.”
I won’t be focusing on what specifically he asked, but that he questions God at all. Finding himself in an incomprehensible situation, and as we read chapter 1, this is exactly what we see him doing.
Is this a case of audacity challenge? Outright complaint? Or perhaps is Habakkuk truly seeking to understand?
Habakkuk was not the only one that scripture records as questioning God…
Revelation 6:10 (NKJV) - “They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?””
And many of the psalms contain the same expression of lamentation and exasperation, lack of comprehension, and a desire for answers.
You know, though Dad was frequently silent in the face of the din that can be caused by seven children, make no mistake…he was listening. Dad had no time to field complaints, had his own limits tested when we were impatient, would not brook a challenge even for a moment, but had endless patience and capacity if he knew that one of his children was seeking to understand.
How much more our heavenly Father? We know He’s listening, His love is everlasting, and that He has endless patience for those are truly seeking to understand.
As children of God on a long journey, sometimes we too are impatient and restless. We don’t have the perspective that our Father has, His eyes on everything, capable of responding to any and all situations, in His wisdom He has the foresight to understand the perils of the journey. And even if He explains all in detail, we are not fully capable of understanding.
In addition, we do need to understand that when we ask, sometimes the answer is “Wait a little while.“
Revelation 6:11 (NKJV) - “Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.”
Sometimes the answer makes it clear our question is out of place…
Acts 1:7 (NKJV) - “He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”
And often we forget that God, having created time itself, is outside of that framework and does not abide by it…
1 Peter 3:8-9 (NKJV) - “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
With specific regard to God‘s reply to Habakkuk, He tells the prophet …1:5b (NKJV) - “I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.”
It’s never wrong to bring our questions and concerns to God, but we must be sure we do it in a respectful way. In addition, it’s also good to remember that every question we could ever think to ask has already been answered. Our best response is the same conclusion that Habakkuk reaches…
2:1…”I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me” (NKJV).
Habakkuk 3:17…”Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19a God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.”
Just as with the trip to Vermont, as we walk through this world and find ourselves asking when, why, and how long, let us not be surprised if it appears God is silent like Dad often was at the wheel of the ‘56 Chevy, because honestly our questions have been answered even before they have been asked. Like a good parent, God requires us to pay attention to what we’re doing and to do whatever we do in His service, and leave the timeline to Him.
The trip to Vermont for us kids was an unspoken lesson in patience and trust. God’s reply to Habakkuk is a much more clearly stated lesson in that same spirit, and something we all need to study and practice.
Finally, as with the joy we experienced as kids on the trip to Vermont to Gramma‘s house, once our faithful journey is over and we are with God, we will rejoice in the riches of our destination…our Father’s house! The trials and tribulation of the long journey will be remembered no more.