The Christ Quarter
The Christ Quarter discusses God's Words through scripture, what those means and how they apply to our lives. I hope that God will speak to you through His Words and that my discussion of those words and will help to bring you closer to Him.
I am blessed to have this opportunity to share God's word with you and I thank you so much for listening.
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Thank you very much!
- Kirk
- TheChristQuarter@GMail.com
The Christ Quarter
Where is God when I'm hurting
Ever looked at the chaos around you and whispered, “How long?” Today we walk with Habakkuk through raw questions about evil, silence, and the strange mercy of God’s correction—and we find a sturdier peace than circumstances can offer.
We open the text where the prophet names violence, crooked judgment, and fear that grips communities, then we follow his turn toward remembrance: God is everlasting, holy, and unwavering. That shift from complaint about God to conversation with God becomes a lifeline for anyone living under pressure.
We dig into free will, consequences, and the ripple effects our choices carry into families and neighborhoods. Rather than blaming God for human wounds, we explore how Scripture shows a Father who warns, permits freedom, and corrects to restore—not to crush. Habakkuk’s honesty gives us permission to bring our hardest questions into prayer while refusing cynicism.
We also unpack the crucial difference between happiness and peace: happiness depends on outcomes; peace rests in the character of a God who does not change. From “the law is slacked” to “we shall not die,” the prophet holds tension—God judges and God preserves—and that tension becomes our anchor when life feels unfair.
You’ll hear practical ways to stand firm when you don’t like God’s timing or methods: practicing lament without losing faith, remembering who God is before rehearsing what hurts, and looking for growth when pressure exposes our sharp edges. If you’ve ever felt unseen or disposable in a world that ignores, uses, or abuses people; this conversation will remind you that God sees, God hears, and God acts in His time.
Lean in for an honest, hopeful journey through Habakkuk and leave with an understanding for your own waiting, courage to keep praying, and a peace the world can’t explain.
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Welcome to the Christ Quarter. I'm so glad you're here with me to take 15 minutes of this day to enjoy the presence of Christ and the words of Christ. Today we will read a brief section of Scripture and discuss what it means and how it applies to our lives. It is my hope that God will speak to you through these words and bring you closer to Him. I am blessed to have this opportunity to speak with you and I thank you so much for being with me here today. Today's scripture selection is Habakkuk chapter one verses one through four and verses twelve through fourteen. The King James Version reads as follows The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O Lord, how long shall I cry and that will not hear? Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me, and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth, for the wicked doth compass around the righteous, therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. Are thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine holy one, we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment, and O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue? When the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he, and maketh men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no ruler over them. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the freedom and the ability to discuss your word and enjoy your presence. Help us to understand your word and your will for our daily lives more fully. We ask that you bless this discussion of your word, that it will speak to someone who needs to hear from you. We ask that you will use these words to bring someone closer to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The verses for today are familiar. Sometimes when we look around at what is going on in the world, we have to ask ourselves, where is God in this? Why does a good God allow such evil to exist and not only exist, but thrive? So many bad people have so much and seem to have peace, while so many good people are poor, are struggling, and are stressed out. It is easy to blame God for this, but it is not his fault. Blaming God for the bad things that happen is like blaming one's parent for your sibling jumping out of a tree and hurting himself. Your parents taught both of you to avoid that tree and why you should avoid that tree. Is it then their fault when you or your brother goes directly to that same tree? No. God has given us free will, and what we do with it is up to us. The problem with that is that when we choose not to follow God's instructions for how to best use that free will, we cause trouble. We cause trouble not only for ourselves, but for others. In the example like I gave here, the sibling that did not climb the tree is stressed out and worried. A doctor and a nurse will have to use some of their time to heal the child. One or both parents will likely lose time from work, and so on. The choices we make have far-reaching ripple effects that touch shores we can't see and are not even aware of. While as Christians, we can look to God for our peace, our strength, and our joy, it does not remove us from the situation that is the world today. Having joy and peace does not always equate to having happiness. As followers of Christ, we know that we will go through uncomfortable times, painful times, and worse. But we can hold on to God's unchanging hand to carry us through. We can continually have the kind of peace that the world cannot understand. Today we are in the first chapter of the book of Habakkuk. We find Habakkuk distraught and even angry with God. Habakkuk is showing us that we can ask God why. Not in a disrespectful way, asking God why he isn't doing things our way, or asking God if he actually knows what he's doing, but rather asking God to give us an understanding of what his plan is and how we fit into it. Even if the Lord responds with weight, we have that assurance from him. Again we have here Habakkuk distraught and angry with God. So let's get right into it. The first section of today's text, verses one through three, reads The burden that Habakkuk the prophet did see, O Lord, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save? Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me, and there are that raise up strife and contention. Habakkuk's issue and anger are similar to Job's, but where Job's was personal, Habakkuk includes others and is much broader in scope. Habakkuk is concerned with the chaos he sees all around him and God's seeming choice to ignore it. How can God ignore the chaos affecting his people? Why hasn't he stepped in to improve their lives? Habakkuk sees violence all around him. His reference to spoiling and violence likely refers to the personal on the ground results of war, such as murder, human violations, destructions of families and communities, and destruction of personal property. Strife and contention are, to me, referring to how those who have survived the death and destruction of the day, the current day, are reacting, knowing that the violence and destruction of today and of yesterday will likely begin again in the morning. Backup is asking, as many have in similar situations, how can God ignore this? The second section of today's text, verse four, reads, Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth, for the wicked doth compass about the righteous, therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. In this verse, Habakkuk briefly describes the result of the surrounding chaos. It is as though the emotion display by Habakkuk in verses one, two, and three have drained him. It is easy to visualize Habakkuk in tears as he cries and prays to the Lord. The law is slacked or weakened. Correct judgment does not exist while wrong judgment prevails. The community is surrounded and controlled by evil people. I can just imagine the people of Habakkuk's community, especially those with children being afraid to even speak for fear of bringing attention to their families. The last section of today's text, verses twelve, thirteen and fourteen read Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, mine holy one, we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment, and O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he, and maketh men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things that have no ruler over them. Here Habakkuk says, We shall not die, stating his confidence that God will not allow his people to be completely killed out. At the same time he acknowledges that his people are deserving of correction, although he does not understand God's method of correction or his harshness. Habakkuk asks God why he doesn't also correct those that are doing evil to him and to his community, to God's people. He seems to be saying, I know we did wrong and deserve to be punished. Those other people over there, they're even worse than we are. Habakkuk compares his people to the fish of the sea and the creeping things, things that are so numerous as to have very little individual value, inconsequential things that are below notice. He seems to be asking, are we of so little value? Are we so beneath God's notice or care? Judah had been falling deeper and deeper into sin, moving further away from God and unintentionally showing God how much they needed correction. God chose this time to step in. It is not surprising that Habakkuk does not agree with God's method of correction. It wouldn't really be correction if he did. God does not change. Even when we don't understand why certain things are happening or not happening, remember that God is in control and working things out for our good. When God is smoothing out our sharp edges or using someone to smooth out our sharp edges and is uncomfortable, remember that it is for our improvement. Also remember that God sometimes puts a challenge before us to show us whether or not we've grown in Him, whether or not we've learned our lessons and learned to depend on Him always. God loves us and corrects us. When times are tough, look to God to see what we need to do and what we need to learn, and always depend on Him. That concludes our scripture discussion for today. Thank you for spending this time with me talking about, learning about, and enjoying Christ. It is my hope that God has used my words to touch you today and has brought you closer to Him. Let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.