S131P5 – The questions of Habakkuk: God’s yielding
Hab. 1:14-15
Why do You make men like fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler over them? They take up all of them with a hook, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their dragnet. Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
I came to Christ later in life. I joke that God was kind of a gentleman when He called me, but that is not completely accurate. I spent the first two-and-one-half decades of my life doing what I wanted and behaving like one of these fish. I lived like I had no ruler over me. Habakkuk describes the behavior of these people in warfare, and that is a mirror of what my life was like. I took as I wanted to take. I injured as I wanted to injure. I not only disregarded the Lord as a valid authority, but I took steps to intentionally defy the standards and values his followers ascribed to him. I did not love him, which means I clearly hated him. The question is why God would allow me or anyone to live in such defiance.
From the beginning, God wanted me to love him. He wanted me to notice him and realize how good He is. He wanted me to fall in love with the real him, but He would not force my hand. He might have been hard with me on many fronts, but He was a gentleman when it came to loving him. He yielded to my desire not to be anywhere near him. He let me go my own way even though He wanted nothing more than to have me follow him and live rightly. He loved me, and He wanted me to love him, but real love does not compel the heart. As much as He desired that I follow him, He desired more that I be the one to make that choice. Otherwise, my allegiance and obedience would not be genuine.
Each of us has encountered many people in the world who make us want to scream out, “you need Jesus.” Our desire would be for the Lord to show up and shake them into submission because their lives are filled with evil. I think we are fooling ourselves if we do not realize that He desires these conversions infinitely more than we do. Just because He does not force that change, it does not mean He wants them to remain that way, to remain his enemies. His love is no less for them, and that is why He yields. Genuine love waits. Father, help us to patiently help others realize their need for You and to lead them toward making that choice.