Read Habakkuk 2:1-5.
Hope is a dangerous thing. What if the thing you hope for doesn’t come to pass? The prophet Habakkuk cries out to God for God’s people and hopes and waits for justice. This is classic lament: we rail at God and hope for a just response. And then what do we do in the waiting time?
Habakkuk, while waiting for justice, stands at a watch-post, devoting himself to wait with full attention. This is a dangerous thing. What if the waiting ends up being a waste of time?
In my work, I get asked continually why we keep fighting for justice. Why do we keep lamenting the broken pieces of our systems into a seemingly silent void? Why do we hope that anything will actually change?
And it’s because of the hope of good news. We hope that eventually the people who are holding up broken systems will turn around. We hope that Christ, who knows all about the brokenness of humanity, will listen and respond. We hope that the prophetic words that God speaks through us will be heard as good news for the poor, downtrodden, and brokenhearted. When we make room for hope, we make room for Christ to enter into our brokenness, and we get to be right there when the good news arrives. You will always put your hope in something. May whatever is good and just come to pass.
Pray
Dear God, make room for hope within me, that I may see how you are working for justice in our broken world. Even in my lament, speak to me. Open my eyes to see your good news preached in unlikely places, keeping me ever-watchful for your coming into the world. Amen.
Rev. Krystal Leedy
Pastoral Fellow
Words for Waiting 