Habakkuk 1:2 and 2:2-3

2
How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
----
2
Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation

and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald[b] may run with it.
3
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it[c] will certainly come
and will not delay.

“How Long, O, Lord.”

Jesus promised that He would return. We are all waiting for that glorious day.
Aside from waiting for the Lord’s coming… May iba pang bagay tayong hinihintay sa buhay.
We wait for the right time, opportunity, person, answer to our questions and to our prayers.

Waiting is not an easy thing to do.

We can see that Habakkuk was asking the Lord… “How long, O Lord, must I call for help?”

Gaano pa ba katagal, Panginoon?

Waiting is part of our everyday life. Paggising sa umaga… paghintay sa pagluto ng food, pag-
init ng water… paghintay sa sasakyan, sa traffic, pag-abang ng jeep, elev. All of us naexperience
na maghintay.

We know that it’s hard to wait. Ang hirap kaya. Kasi hindi natin alam kung darating pa ba ’yun.

Kaya si Prophet Habakkuk, sabi nya, ”Lord, gaano pa katagal?”

This is a lament, a desperate cry for help in the midst of great trouble.
Habakkuk was attentive to what was going on around him. Despite his prayers, he sees

violence, injustice and wrongdoing everywhere. God’s law appears to be helpless; it does not

seem to work, and the wrongdoers have gotten the upper hand.

Apparently, Habakkuk had repeatedly called upon God to act, to intervene, to set things right, to
just do something. Yet it seemed that God had not heard him and God would not act to save.
Finally, out of a deep sense of frustration and confusion, he cries out to God, “How long, O
Lord, must I call for your help, but you do not listen?!”

Ang hirap nung nagprapray ka naman, nagfafasting, nagpapakatapat, pero bakit walang
nagbabago?

Despite that, Habakkuk kept on trusting God.

Habakkuk assumes a disposition of waiting with confident trust in God.

He waits. Naghintay sya ng may katapatan.

In Scripture, to wait is to be active, to do something, something very important. In fact, it is the

most important thing we do, since waiting is an expression of faith, of being open and receptive

to God, to God’s action, to God’s voice, to God’s will, to God’s answer.

Kaakibat ng paghihintay ay… tiwala.

I. Waiting on the Lord requires patient trust

To wait is to be patient, which literally means “to suffer,” or to be acted upon rather than

acting, to be receptive to the action of others. To wait and to be patient is to trust that God is at

work even if we can’t see or understand what God is doing at any given moment of time.

Example: grocery store queue

Meaning, during that entire time of waiting, when things don’t seem to work, we still stay in

God’s presence. Hindi tayo lumalayo at tumitigil na hanapin ang presensya ng Panginoon.

Don't just stand there, do something. While God often says to us: Don't just do something, stand
there. Habang naghihintay tayo, kumikilos tayo… nagpapagamit tayo para sa glory ni Lord.
II. Waiting on God reminds us that God is in control
A. Waiting reminds me that I am not in charge

I'm the patient. I'm in the waiting room. In the real issues of life, we are not just waiting around –
we are waiting on God, therefore, we can trust His wisdom and His timing.

I've heard it said that the person who waits on God loses no time. I can wait with confidence.
Because I am waiting for someone, and that someone is God.

Waiting time is not wasted time.

Why does God make you wait…

Nothing worth having comes easy..Mas matagal yung paghihintay sa resto kesa sa fastfood kasi
mas special yung preparation kapag sa resto.. mas mahal ang bayad… mas mataas ang value at
quality ng food.

So kung naghihintay tayo ng matagal, it’s because God is preparing something big for us.
Hindi natin kailangan madaliin.

Example sa steak… we can tell how in a resto the doneness of our steak… blue, rare, medium
rare, medium well or well done. But it will take time. Kasi specially cooked for you yung steak
na ‘yun. Unlike kapag sa fastfood, you can’t say sa Jollibee na “Hi, I want one burger steak,
medium well please.”

A. Waiting means that we give God the benefit of the doubt that he knows what He is doing

Waiting is God's way of seeing if we will trust him before we move forward…if we will act and
do something on our own or we shall consult God first.

That trust is a patient trust. Whether it has to do with our relationships, our finances, our careers,
our dreams, or our churches. We have to trust that God knows what he is doing.

B. Waiting reminds me that I am not God

As a man, I want to fix things. DONATE! Mami’s Testimony … peritoneal

I want to fix my problems, my relationships, my conflicts, my career, and my church. Fixing and
controlling situations and people is like trying to expedite the rising of the sun. From time to time
I have to be reminded that I am not God (Aren't you glad?). We do not control things.

It’s okay to fail, to be delayed, to be denied of something. It’s okay to take a pause.

III. Waiting on the Lord allows God to do His work

A. God's timing is best
In the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, the prophet was asking similar questions. Using the
watchtower motif, the dialogue between the prophet and God:

"I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what
He will say to me and what I should reply about my complaint. The LORD answered me: Write
down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it. For the vision is yet for
the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it
will certainly come and not be late" (Hab. 2:1-3).

Our job is to be a watchman. Watchman must be confident and has an alert expectation that God
will do what He said He will do.

Watchman must be confident and has alert expectation that God will do what He said He will do.

After 12 yrs…

B. God is working

EVERY DAY WAS AN ANSWERED PRAYER… BOTTOMLINE NG PRAYER AY

LIFE…

During those times, we wait patiently on the Lord. We know that deep down He is working -
while it may be underneath, hidden deep in our character. In due time, God will reveal
everything He's grown in us.

Those who wait will never be put to shame. We will never be disappointed.

The Lord answered Habakkuk (chap 2:2-3)

2
Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation

and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald[b] may run with it.
3
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it[c] will certainly come
and will not delay.
This is why the Lord tells Habakkuk to write down the vision of his purpose for the world,

since it awaits its appointed time and has yet to be completed.

Twists and turns and delays

What is this vision? What does God give Habakkuk to put into writing and to hold until its

appointed time? What does God say to him about his vision for the world -- the truth of what is

going on, what is truly worth waiting for and will certainly come?

The Lord says, “See, the righteous will live by this faith.” This is not a program or a list of

things to do or a blueprint or a recipe for success.

So what are we waiting for?

We are waiting for God. Faith is a willingness to trust that God knows best and will bring

our lives and the world to a good completion. This is God’s vision for the world, what God has

promised and what we, by faith, trust will surely come in God’s good time and in God’s good

way.

IV. Waiting on God increases my strength

This is the good thing on waiting… Habbakuk 3:17-19

17Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
Sometimes we struggle to remember that it's good to wait for the Lord. It isn't easy. It goes
against the grain of our quick-fix society. But, there's a hidden benefit in waiting. In times of
waiting, our soul is revived and spirit is renewed.

Isaiah wrote, "but those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on
wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint" (Is.
40:31)

The time will come when those who wait on the Lord will soar.

Conclusion
God is the great mover. We are to push, to work. And if we wait, in patient trust, remembering
that God is in control doing his work increasing our strength, we will experience the move of
God on our lives and in our church.

Unseen growth: The Chinese bamboo tree is one of the most remarkable plants on earth. Once
the gardener plants the seed, he will see nothing but a single shoot coming out of the bulb - for
five full years! That tiny shoot, however, must have daily food and water. During all the time the
gardener is caring for the plant, the exterior shoot will grow less than an inch.

At the end of five years, however, the Chinese bamboo will perform an incredible feat. It will
grow an amazing ninety feet tall in only ninety days! Now ask yourself this: When did the tree
actually grow? During the first five years, or during those last ninety days?

The answer lies in the unseen part of the tree, the underground root system. During the first five
years, the fibrous root structure spreads deep and wide in the earth, preparing to support the
incredible heights the tree will eventually reach.

It's been said that when God wants to grow mushrooms, he can do it overnight, but when he
wants to grow a mighty oak, it takes a few years. What do we want to be, a mushroom or an oak?
If we want to be an oak, it is well worth the wait.

If God says, “wait.”

And we wait… while we wait, we are praying, we are faithful… at the end, we’ll be able to say,
“it’s well worth the wait.”