There are times when it seems we have to go even through despair, as individuals and as nations. This was the experience of the prophet Habakkuk, and of Israel. Habakkuk begins in Chapter 1:2 saying, “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear?!”
Sometimes it appears God is not answering us. When I was in the prison, 1972-3, I prayed and I prayed: for food, for deliverance and for my wife to be allowed to visit. It seemed God didn’t answer. I remember the morning, alone in my cell when I said, “O Lord, I can’t pray anymore. The Heavens are like brass, shut up against me. You don’t answer me!” But in my desperation that day, God DID suddenly answer! With such Power, that it seemed that the whole of Heaven was opened, and all the Glory of God came down into that cell! But it came because, like Habakkuk, I was saying, how long must I pray, and how long will You not listen or hear me?
There are periods in all our lives when it seems God is not answering. But that does not mean God is not there, that He’s not listening. My father always used to say that in the laws of physics, every action has a reaction. Every wave is followed by a trough. And every trough is followed by a wave. He taught me, our emotions and experiences vary. But under pressure, we mustn’t think God is not listening to us. The communist prison was the worst time in my life – yet God used it to work one of the biggest miracles in my life! When I look back, I thank God for that time! Like Habakkuk, there are times when we have to go through the despair, “How long will I cry, and You will not hear?!”
But now in Habakkuk 2:1 the prophet says, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me on my tower, and I will watch what God will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” In the midst of his depression and anxiety, Habakkuk resolves, “I will watch and wait to see what the answer is, and what shall I say to Him if I’m reproved…” You know, there are times, spiritually, when God HAS to reprove us. There have been times in my life when I have had to face reproof. And there have been many times when I have been over-concerned and over-anxious.
Looking back over more than 70 years of ministry, seeing the many difficult times I’ve been through – God has never failed me once! Don’t be discouraged. I want you to get a Vision of what God can do in your life! Get into your ‘watchtower’ and pray until God answers you, and shows you His Power and His Glory!