Slices
Prepare
Are you good at waiting, or do you find that you quickly become impatient? Think back to a time when you were waiting to hear some important news. Were you able to place your expectations or anxieties in God’s hand?
Bible passage
Habakkuk’s second complaint
12 Lord, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, you will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
14 You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
he catches them in his net,
he gathers them up in his drag-net;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to his drag-net,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?
2 I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
Explore
You are probably familiar with Jesus calling his disciples to be fishers of people, but in this passage we have a more terrible image. Habakkuk describes the fearsome Babylonians as deep-sea fishermen who drag their net through the ocean, scooping up all the peoples in their nets (1:15). I am reminded of scenes from the David Attenborough television series Blue Planet where shoals of mackerel are systematically devoured by the dolphins, sharks and whales. The vision feels a pretty bleak one. The peoples are like helpless and scattered fish, powerless against the organised destruction and pillage of the invading army.
And yet Habakkuk is not going to give up. He imagines himself as a watchman on the towers of the city looking into the distance (2:1). What will he see on the horizon? Will it be the dust clouds of the advancing Babylonians, or will it be a messenger bringing news of God’s salvation? Whatever the outcome, Habakkuk knows that his responsibility is not to run but to watch and wait. In this season of Advent, as we look to the long-expected coming of Jesus, this feels like a particularly appropriate passage to meditate upon.
Respond
Where do you need to ask for patience today? Is God calling you to stand and watch, trusting him to act in his own time?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Hosea 7,8; Psalms 137,138
Pray for Scripture Union
Recently, Jack Newbould (Mission Enabler in Wales) has seen an openness among churches on his doorstep. Please pray for continued connections with local churches and an eagerness to work together to reach the children and young people in the community, especially with the new Christmas Unwrapped resource.
