The Right To Question God Series

The right to question God is a right that God Himself has given to

His children. He inspired men of God to write about their own

questioning of God’s ways of dealing with the evils of life and all of its

suffering and injustice. None is more bold than the prophet

Habakkuk. He begins his book with a series of complaints as he cries

out to God about his prayers not being heard. He might just as well

cry out to the wall to save him, for there is no help coming from God.

He questions God to His face and says “Why do you make me look at

injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?” The world is falling apart and

the wicked seem to be in full control as they create violence and

injustice at will with no power able to stop them. Later in the first

chapter in verse 13 he questions God again as he says, “Why then do

you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked

swallow up those more righteous than themselves? ”Kirk Patrick in

The Doctrine Of The Prophets writes, “The book opens with a

dialogue between the Prophet and God, in which God is boldly but

reverently challenged to defend His action in the government of the

world.” Stuart Briscoe sums up his complaint, "Why is evil and

suffering rampant in our world? Goodness and justice seem to fail!

How is it, God, that you are so against wrong but you go on tolerating

wrong? God, is what you are doing fair? Is this honestly the moral,

ethical thing to do?"

Here is a man who represents every believer who has ever lived

who begins to wonder about the purpose and power of God in a world

of so much evil and violence. Where is God when we need Him? Why

does He not seem to care when evil is so prevailing in its power that it

seems of no value to be righteous? God wanted Habakkuk to write

about his questions and complaints to Him because He knew that this

would be a common issue all through history for His people. There are

many timid Christians who fear to question God, for it seems almost

like blasphemy for the creature to question the Creator. But the fact

is, every child comes to a point in life when they begin to question the

wisdom of their father in the way he is raising them, and every child of

God comes to a point where they question the wisdom of God in the

way He is dealing with them in a sinful and violent world. In other

words, there are things that just do not make sense in this fallen world

and we are compelled to ask why? We are compelled to question

God’s will and power because it seems from our perspective that He

does not seem to have the will or power to deal with the forces of evil

that prevail.

God says by including such questioning in His Word that it is

legitimate and right to do so, and so there is no point in trying to hide

your doubts. God says we are to go ahead and get them out into the

open and question His will and His ways. He actually wants us to

question and to come to Him in prayer with all of our doubts and

pessimism concerning the way things are. It is foolish to try and hide

these feelings and pretend that all is well with us and that we do not

care if it seems that evil is more powerful than good, and that Satan

seems to be in control of history rather than God. The Psalms

frequently ask the same questions of God that we read here. Some

examples are:

1. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for

ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

Psalm 13:12. How long will ye judge unjustly, and

accept the persons of the wicked? Psalm 82:2

2. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long

shall the wicked triumph? Psalm 94:3

The implication is that it is understandable that evil must be

endured for awhile, but when it is prolonged and goes on and on and

God does not step in to correct the situation, then we become anxious

and question God’s intention and control. We begin to doubt God’s

power to change things and protect His people from the forces of evil

and violence. His inactivity in times of suffering make us wonder if He

is indifferent to our pain. J. Hampton Keathley writes,

“Habakkuk’s name means to “embrace” or “wrestle.” As is

usually the case, his name has something to do with the message

of the book. I think it relates to the fact that he was wrestling