14For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Yahweh’s glory, as the waters cover the sea.
15“Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies! 16You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. 17For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the animals will terrify you, because of men’s blood and for the violence done to the land, to every city and to those who dwell in them.
18“What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols? 19Woe to him who says to the wood, ‘Awake!’ or to the mute stone, ‘Arise!’ Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all within it. 20But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”
Do you ever go about your daily routine as if you’re in a daydream? Worn down by the challenges in life you simply function on autopilot. Or you get so used to how things are you don’t expect anything to change so you settle for less than you had dreamt your life would be like.
Or perhaps your spiritual life is on autopilot, going through the motions, nothing fresh has happened in a long time and you don’t expect anything will anytime soon. Spiritually you need a shake.
In Habakkuk 2:14, God describes a time when the whole earth will be shaken out of autopilot, complacency and indifference and it will be filled with an awareness of His glory. The people in Habakkuk’s world were not lacking examples of God’s glory. His glory was all around them, just like it’s all around us.
Everything we find beautiful in nature, in our surroundings; rivers, hills, beaches, it was all made by God and it all speaks, shouts even, of how awesome and magnificent He is. However, when we lose this sense of awe, when we take it all for granted we lose our sense of otherness and our dependence on our creator. Then, because we were made to worship, if we won’t worship our creator God we will end up worshiping something or someone else. But Habakkuk 2:18 reminds us of the folly of this, “How foolish to trust in your own creation— a god that can’t even talk!”
We need to remove anything from our lives that displaces our devotion to God, distracts us from worshipping Him, or even has taken the affection of our hearts above Him. And the great news is that no matter how far removed we have become from God, He hasn’t gone anywhere! He hasn’t changed address. He is who He always is and was and will eternally be. So take some time to redress the balance, renew your awe and wonder and truly worship the only one worthy of our affection and praise.
Prayer:
O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art. Amen