Why me?

Reading of the Day: Nahum 2-3, Habakkuk 1

Habakkuk 1:3: Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

These words in Habakkuk 1:3 are coming from the mouth of Habakkuk the prophet. Interestingly, although prophets normally write what God speaks to them so they can relay the message to Israel, this was actually Habakkuk mostly writing to himself while wrestling with God over everything that's been happening. His words were definitely something Israel should have taken heed to, but this was mostly something deeply personal that Habakkuk was struggling with. He was a man trying to live for God in a broken world...and although we normally think of prophets as strong & confident in their callings, this was a raw & real read of a man who had that same calling, but we got a peek into the humanity behind it that isn't always higlighted. He basically asks God, "Why are you showing me all this? Why do you want me to see this? The spoiling. The violence. The strife. The contention..." He most definitely had a "why me?" moment. Knowing how bad things had gotten in Israel, I'm sure he thought that there was no possible way things could turn around. Beyond their straying away from God, Israel was being overtaken by many nations. It seemed like a hopeless mess. After reading this passage, I could relate to this. There are so many times where I look around & think, "Why me?" But we experience these things not to be tortured, but to be the ones to pray about them! We might slip into feeling like Habakkuk, wondering where to even begin...but the war begins on our knees! It may not even be up to us to do anything to fix the problem-that may resolve itself the minute we open our mouths in prayer! God just wants someone to be willing to see the problem with prayerful eyes...to see it all through HIS eyes! Just because we are trying to live righteously does not mean we should not be exposed to the worst of the world. We do not go out chasing evil, but we do prepare ourselves to come across situations where emergency prayer warriors are needed! That IS our calling! To live for God in a broken world is a constant reminder that we must not try to hide from the brokenness, but see it. Pray about it. And love people until they want to see Jesus too!