Pause IV Day 4 Only Holy One


Pause IV, Day 4
Habakkuk has heard the Lord’s reply to his anguished plea for God to fix what was broken in Israel, and he doesn’t approve.
As we saw yesterday, the Lord responded to Habakkuk with gracious kindness inviting him to look around and assess from the Lord’s perspective. Yahweh encouraged Habakkuk that what the Lord planned would be astounding. By the close of Habakkuk’s prophetic book, by the way, Habakkuk ends up agreeing with the Lord, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. For now, Habakkuk doesn’t agree, in fact he is wrestling deeply with two seemingly conflicting realities.
One, Habakkuk knows several unchanging truths about God, and he verbalizes them back to the Lord. As you read through today’s passage, pick out what those truths are and write them down. Then add to Habakkuk’s list by writing some truths you know about God that are always true, regardless of your circumstances.
Two, Habakkuk sees evil, violence, wrong-doing, and massive injustices. He cannot comprehend why the Lord would somehow plan to right the wrongs by sending punishment to Israel in the form of another nation who lived wickedly.
How often have we held a truth about God’s character in one hand, while looking at brokenness or injustice in our other hand, then pleaded with God for understanding?! I know I have, many times in many different scenes in my life.
At the close of Habakkuk’s book, he makes a decision to trust the Lord and what he knows of His heart over the circumstances around us. But for now, he wrestles. Let Habakkuk’s struggle encourage you! God isn’t asking you to jump to the conclusion and skip the middle part of wading through challenge. Give yourself permission to pause, and be reminded the Lord is present even in this.
Grab your Bible, a journal and pen,
and open your heart to bask in the presence of the Almighty!
Today's Challenge
1) Be a scribe and copy the precious words of Scripture down word for word. Make space in your journal to write down all of Habakkuk 1:12-13 today. As you copy, lookup a cross reference or two as you come to them (they are the small letters next to certain words in your study Bible or online at www.biblia.com). As you write, think of the incredible gift it is to be invited into God’s presence through His word!
2) Choose one of these options to walk into greater depth with Jesus as you make the intentional choice to grow with perseverance and determination!
a) Pitch in to do something extra at church. Whether it’s helping with cleanup, opening doors, trimming weeds, or offering to help in a child’s classroom, step up to loving deeper by serving in a new way.
b) Send a note of kindness and encouragement to your pastor!
c) Check out some local ministries in your area and make plans to serve with them for an afternoon. Maybe it’s organizing school donations, serving soup, or stuffing backpacks for kids. Even better, get some friends to join you!
d) Prayer walking is a simple way to begin shifting the eyes of your heart to truly see others. Walk around your neighborhood, some city streets, the aisles of your grocery store, or intentionally sit at a local coffee shop and pray, pray, pray. Pray for the people around you, pray for hearts to turn towards Jesus, pray for your own heart to be ready to share the full gospel if given the chance. Don’t worry about seeing results, that’s God’s job!
e) Strike up a conversation with a random stranger. It may move to spiritual topics, it may not, but showing love to those outside our immediate circles always begins with a simple conversation. “What have you been doing today?” “Do you live nearby?” “Where do you go to church?” “What are your favorite local restaurants?” “I love your top! Where did you get it?” These open-ended questions work well!
3) Share the exciting, bold ways you are growing deep today with the rest of the GT Community! Our Facebook community page is always open! Or snap a photo and tag us on Instagram @gracefully_truthful
Habakkuk 1:12-17
12 Are you not from eternity, Lord my God?
My Holy One, you will not die.
Lord, you appointed them to execute judgment;
my Rock, you destined them to punish us.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do you tolerate those who are treacherous?
Why are you silent
while one who is wicked swallows up
one who is more righteous than himself?
14 You have made mankind
like the fish of the sea,
like marine creatures that have no ruler.
15 The Chaldeans pull them all up with a hook,
catch them in their dragnet,
and gather them in their fishing net;
that is why they are glad and rejoice.
16 That is why they sacrifice to their dragnet
and burn incense to their fishing net,
for by these things their portion is rich
and their food plentiful.
17 Will they therefore empty their net
and continually slaughter nations without mercy?

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Pause IV Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Looking for other journeys from this theme? Here’s a link to all past studies
in Pause IV!