Habakkuk complained that his own country was violent and lawless. God's answer is that he is raising up a nation that is worse at both. Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves, which means they answer to nobody. No appeal, no committee, no higher office to write to.

One distinction the whole book turns on: God using a thing is not God endorsing a thing. Habakkuk spends the rest of chapter one arguing that exact point back at him, so you are in good company if it lands badly.

Habakkuk asked God to do something. God said yes. It was just a yes shaped like the last thing on earth he would have asked for. Some of us have been calling that silence when the honest word is grief.

Anchored in Habakkuk 1:6-7. Part of The Waiting Season, a walk through the three chapters of Habakkuk.