This Week's Devo

  The God Who Sees

Habakkuk 2:20

"But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." (Habakkuk 2:20, ESV)

There is something unsettling about waiting for justice.

Not the kind of waiting that happens in a checkout line or during a long commute. The deeper kind of waiting. The kind where you look at a situation and wonder if anyone else notices what is happening. The kind where you see dishonesty rewarded, faithfulness overlooked, or wrong seemingly go unanswered.

Maybe you've watched someone hurt others and appear to get away with it. Maybe you've seen doors close that seemed right, opportunities disappear without explanation, or prayers linger unanswered. Maybe you've found yourself wondering if God sees what you're walking through at all.

That is where Habakkuk found himself.

At the beginning of the book, the prophet cried out because of the injustice he saw in Judah. When God finally answered, the answer only created a bigger problem. God revealed that He was raising up Babylon—a nation even more wicked than Judah—to accomplish His purposes. Suddenly Habakkuk's question shifted from "God, why aren't You doing anything?" to "God, how can You use them?"

Beneath those questions was a deeper concern, one many of us have wrestled with ourselves:

"God, do You see this?"

Chapter 2 contains God's response. Interestingly, God doesn't give Habakkuk a detailed timeline. He doesn't explain every step of His plan. Instead, He reveals His character.

Through five woes pronounced against Babylon, God reveals that He sees every act of greed, every abuse of power, every expression of pride, every injustice, and every false object of worship. Nothing has escaped His notice. Nothing has slipped through the cracks. Nothing will avoid His justice.

But this isn't the first time Scripture reveals God this way.

Long before Habakkuk stood on his watchtower, another person found herself asking whether God saw her circumstances.

Hagar had been used, mistreated, and cast aside. Pregnant and alone, she fled into the wilderness carrying wounds that no one seemed willing to acknowledge. From her perspective, she had become invisible—a servant forgotten by those who held power over her life. She found herself alone in the desert, uncertain of her future and wondering where she belonged.

Yet in the middle of that wilderness, God met her.

Not Abraham.

Not Sarah.

Hagar.

The angel of the Lord found her, spoke to her, comforted her, and reminded her that she was not forgotten. In response, Hagar declared something remarkable:

"So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, 'You are a God of seeing,' for she said, 'Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.'" (Genesis 16:13, ESV)

The Hebrew name she gives Him is El Roi—"The God Who Sees."

Not merely the God who sees circumstances.

The God who sees people.

The God who sees wounds.

The God who sees injustice.

The God who sees those who feel forgotten.

The God who sees those who are still waiting.

That is the same God Habakkuk encounters.

And it is the same God we encounter today.

But there’s a nugget we will miss if we don’t look more closely at Habakkuk 2. You see, Babylon would not fall for another seventy years. Most of the people hearing Habakkuk's prophecy would never live to see its fulfillment. God was not giving them immediate resolution. He was giving them something better.

He was teaching them who He is.

I've found myself returning to that truth often over the last year and a half. There have been moments in our family's journey when I've wanted answers from God. I've wanted clarity. I've wanted to understand why certain doors closed, why certain opportunities disappeared, or why some prayers seemed to linger unanswered.

Instead of explanations, God has often given something else.

A deeper revelation of Himself.

The more I've walked through uncertain seasons, the more I've realized that peace doesn't come from understanding everything God is doing. Peace comes from knowing the One who is doing it.

Habakkuk learned that.

Hagar learned that.

And we are invited to learn it too.

The chapter ends with one of the most powerful statements in the entire book:

"But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." (Habakkuk 2:20, ESV)

In other words, God is still on His throne. He still sees. He still cares. He is still working. He is still worthy of trust.

And because of that, we can be still.

The God who saw Hagar in the wilderness is the God who spoke to Habakkuk on the watchtower.

And He is the same God who sees you today.