Dear Lord,
I look around me and I see decline. I see sin becoming rampant. I see what was abominable becoming adorable. I see destruction and violence and strife and contention. I see your law ignored and justice withheld. I see the wicked surrounding the righteous. How long, dear Lord, will you wait to send relief?
Sincerely,
Habakkuk
Dear Habakkuk,
Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your time that you would not believe if I told you. I am raising up forces of evil -- fierce, impetuous evil, dreaded and feared, showing no regard to anyone but themselves. I will use them to judge your nation.
Signed,
YHWH
Dear Lord,
I take it back. Never mind. Let's just go on the way it is, okay?
Sincerely,
Habakkuk
Of course, Habakkuk wasn't writing about America; it was Israel. And the "forces of evil" that God was calling had a name -- the Chaldeans. And it did happen as He said it would. And, oh yeah, Habakkuk never said, "I take it back. Never mind." No, that would likely be our response.
Still, the parallels are really close and, when you think about it, a little bit frightening. Good thing we have a good God. (That doesn't mean we're safe from temporal judgment. It just means that if/when He does it, it will be good.)
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