Lord, do you see...?

Habakkuk 1:1-5
    How often do we find ourselves, like the prophet Habakkuk, questioning God? Asking, even in frustration at times, concerning events that take place in our world and in our lives. Events that make no sense to us, that seem to have neither rhyme nor reason cause us to say, "Lord, do you see what's going on here?"
     We may ask, "How long must I pray? Do you not hear me? Are you not concerned? Why don't you DO something?"
       The Lord answered Habakkuk by saying (paraphrsed), "Look...watch and be amazed, for I will work a work...which you will not believe, even if it were told to you!"  He said, "Habakkuk, pay attention, I AM at work and what I am about to do will amaze you, you are not gonna believe it!"
       Friends, our God is fully aware of all our personal problems and of the troubles in our society. He is not sitting idly by...He is not re-acting to surprise events, He is acting according to circumstances that we have brought on ourselves, perhaps, through disobedience.  The violence in our society is due to a rejection of God and these things are merely the consequences (see Proverbs 1:20-33). Wisdom cries out for attention, wanting to be heard, but man refuses to hear and goes his own way...therefore, God laughs at the calamity man has brought on himself...why? Because man rejected God's wisdom and choose his own way. There are consequences for rejecting God! There is a law of sowing and reaping.
     If through these consequences, we return to God, we will find Him waiting with open arms.  We have to stop what we are doing long enough to see what He is doing.  In Habakkuk's day, what God was going to do was not what Habakkuk expected Him to do. Sometimes the Lord answers our prayers in unexpected ways, but He always answers!  At times, He must do something TO us, in order to do something FOR us.
        A song written by John H. Sammis, a very familiar tune, "Trust and Obey" would be a good one for today. Emphasis on the Obey...