The Three R’s that Lead us to trust

I’ve learned a lot about trust from a teacher who may seem strange to you. His name is Habakkuk, and he was an Old Testament prophet.

Why do I love Habakkuk? The reason is simple. God has met me in very personal ways in the pages of this hard-to-spell book of the Bible. The dates written in those pages span decades of my life. May 10, 1984, when my teens were in turmoil—which meant I was also in turmoil. November 28, 1999, when my granddaughter Sofia was born in Finland and struggling to live. January 2007, when I experienced my traumatic brain injury. The years 2020 and 2021, when both my daughters had cancer. All these dates recall painful situations where I had to cling to God, just like Habakkuk.

Let me tell you a little about this incredible man. Habakkuk is the only prophet in the Bible who speaks only to God and no one else. All the other prophets speak to God and other people, but reading Habakkuk feels more like reading someone’s diary than reading prophetic oratory. It’s raw, real, personal. It’s a book of deep struggle—an honest man trying to come to grips with what God is doing when God doesn’t make sense at all. Yet it is also a book of hope.

Habakkuk is a short book—only three chapters. Here’s how the book unfolds: Chapter 1 explains Habakkuk’s problems.

In the opening pages, this dear prophet cries out to God and asks Him why He allows wicked practices to continue in Judah. God answers, but His answer is more confusing than the original question—and creates a bigger problem. Let me outline it for you:

Problem #1: God, why do You allow wicked practices to continue in Judah? (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

Answer #1: I’m sending the Babylonians to take over Judah. (Habakkuk 1:5-11)

Problem #2: God, how can You use people who are more evil than we are to punish us? Why, God? Why? (Habakkuk 1:12-17)

Imagine that things in your country have gotten so bad—the people as a whole have wandered so far from God, indulged so gleefully in sins of violence and destructive behavior and cold viciousness—that you get on your knees and cry out to God to make it all stop. And God’s response is to anoint the most vile person in the world—Vladimir Putin, perhaps, or Kim Jong Un, or the figurehead leader of a godless terror network—as judge to wage war and destroy your country. How would you respond? You might simply scream, “No! God, You can’t mean that! Don’t punish our evil with people who are far more evil than we are. That just doesn’t make sense!”

Habakkuk does just that. He screams “Why?” at God and says, “I don’t understand You.” He asks “Why, God?” three times (see Habakkuk 1:13-14). But then he says,

I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. Habakkuk 2:1, ESV

Often the first thing we want to do when we don’t understand God is to push ahead with our own agenda. But Habakkuk yields to God even though he’s confused and frustrated. As he does, he shows us the way of trust: retreat, remember, recommit.

Retreat

First, Habakkuk retreats to a quiet, sacred place. Determined to be alone with God, he crawls up into a watchtower and waits upon the Lord. Do you have a place where you can retreat and be still before the Lord? Maybe it’s a special place outdoors where you walk and wrestle through questions with God, a specific chair in your house, or a closet you’ve turned into a prayer haven. For me, it’s the ottoman in my office. I kneel over it as I listen to the Lord. I was there in the middle of the night last night. As I bow my body and soul, my spirit sighs, and I am in the presence of the Holy One.

Remember

The words “look out to see” (Habakkuk 2:1) mean “watch intently”— as though you’re leaning forward in eager anticipation, sitting on the edge of your seat, knowing something is going to happen. It’s like Habakkuk preaches to himself, Habakkuk, remember—this is your God from everlasting. He is your holy God. You’ve trusted Him before; you can trust Him now. All is confusing right now, but God is still God. Be still, and wait expectantly for Him alone! Preaching God’s truth to ourselves is a good thing to do.

Recommit

When we are in pain, we must always come back to the truth of who God is. Understanding Hebrew grammar helps us see how Habakkuk did this. In Hebrew, the imperfect tense communicates incompleteness, or action still ongoing. Habakkuk is saying, “I will take my stand, and I will continue to take my stand.” With each “I will” in this verse, Habakkuk is stressing continuation: You’re the Holy God—I will wait—and continue to wait—for an answer.

Why am I making such a big deal about Hebrew grammar? Because knowing this has helped me. In Habakkuk 2:1, Habakkuk waits. In verse 2, God’s answer comes. I don’t think the answer came quickly. We don’t know how long Habakkuk waited and sat at his guard post. Personally, I believe he waited a long time. Maybe it’s because I know what it is to wait on God to answer, and I know you do too.

Habakkuk wanted a specific, personal answer, just like we do when we’re waiting on and trusting God. And God gives Habakkuk an amazing answer—it isn’t specific or personal, but it is clear. My word for you, Habakkuk, is this: “The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4, kjv). This phrase is so important that the New Testament writers quote it three times (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

Moreover, God also essentially says in verse 4, Habakkuk, I see these proud Babylonians. Their hearts are not right. I know that. Leave them to Me; but as for you, Habakkuk, trust Me. What’s Habakkuk’s response? He chooses to recommit—to trust God even when God doesn’t make sense to him.

Adapted from Hope for My Hurting Heart by Linda Dillow. Copyright © 2025. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.