Habakkuk can teach us a lot about why we might be waiting for God to answer our prayers.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3
A few things that are really interesting about this passage that I want to highlight. First, the vision that Habakkuk received from the Lord is for an appointed time. Everything that the Lord promises to us is for an appointed time. It might be that the promise He gives you is near-term, or maybe it's a long-term promise that is developed through years of prayer and waiting on the Lord. Whatever the case is, your promise will not arrive until the appointed time is here, so pray for your appointed time to come!
The first word tarries is the Hebrew word mahah, and it means to linger, tarry, wait, delay, hesitate. The second tarry is an entirely different word, 'âchar, and it means to delay, defer, remain behind, to loiter, procrastinate, be late.
It's interesting that our Lord made sure to differentiate between these two words. Although the vision is taking its time and is delayed, it is not late.
The Lord Himself was the one who spoke these words to Habakkuk, telling him that although the vision is taking time to come to pass, He the Lord is not procrastinating in bringing it about. The same is true for your life today. If God has promised something to you He is not late in answering.
The Lord told Habakkuk, "Though it tarries, wait for it.." The word wait is the Hebrew verb chakah, which means to adhere to; to await:--long, tarry, wait. But its akin to the Hebrew verb chaqah through the idea of piercing. Chaqah means to cut, carve, cut in--carved work.
The Lord told Habakkuk to wait, and the word He used indicated that the waiting would hurt, it would pierce Habakkuk. Learning patience, growing in longsuffering, hurts. Becoming like Jesus, the one pierced for us, hurts.
But the Lord promises that if we are obedient and wait, the promise WILL SURELY come. Amen!
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