As Habakkuk looks at the immorality of his own people and the coming violence of Babylon as God’s instrument of punishment, keeping calm and carrying on seems impossible. Yet, that’s where he lands in chapter 3. Instead of being motivated by a meme, Habakkuk is moved by God’s majesty. It’s faith and joy in God that enables Habakkuk to live fearlessly, no matter how bleak the future appears. How do we keep calm and carry on? We need a fear fuelled faith and a faith fuelled joy.

As we look out at our world, many of us see big things happening: death, disease and dictatorships; the suffering, sorrowing and silencing of the oppressed; wars and wokeness. We tend to take on and carry these burdens as we scroll through another round of ‘breaking’ news. What do we need when we’re crushed under the weight of what’s happening in the world, in our country, in the church, in our own lives? We need the assurance to say, “This is big, but God is bigger.” That is the comfort that Habakkuk finds in 2:6-20. Judah may be corrupt and unfaithful, but God is bigger. Babylon may be coming to slaughter and enslave, but God is bigger. So, how can we learn to pray, “This is big, but God is bigger”? By seeing God’s big justice and big sovereignty.

Don’t you feel under and down because of the state of things in the world? Do you ever ask: why doesn’t God do something? Can’t he stop the violence, bring justice and revive his church? Why does it seem like he isn’t listening? If you’re asking those questions, if you have that angst, you’re in good company with the prophet Habakkuk. This short book is all about living by God’s answers to life’s big questions. It’s this opening question and answer dialogue between Habakkuk and God that brings this theme to the fore.