从迷惘到信靠
祷告蒙应允的痛苦
经文
哈巴谷书一6-11
6我必兴起迦勒底人，就是那残忍暴躁之民，通行遍地，占据那不属自己的住处。
7他威武可畏，判断和势力都任意发出。
8他的马比豹更快，比晚上的豺狼更猛。马兵踊跃争先，都从远方而来；他们飞跑如鹰抓食，
9都为行强暴而来，定住脸面向前，将掳掠的人聚集，多如尘沙。
10他们讥诮君王，笑话首领，嗤笑一切保障，筑垒攻取。
11他以自己的势力为神，像风猛然扫过，显为有罪。
信息分享
当耶和华神宣告祂准备使用邪恶和残暴的迦勒底人修剪祂的百姓，令他们谦卑下来时，哈巴谷感到无比的震惊。迦勒底人是来自南方巴比伦的部落，他们是恐怖分子，喜欢劫掠和折磨敌人。请听听神在今天的经文怎样描述迦勒底的军队：「……他威武可畏，判断和势力都任意发出。他的马比豹更快，比晚上的豺狼更猛……他们飞跑如鹰抓食」（7-8节）。
哈巴谷的祷告得到神的回应了，但却不是他所期望的，导致先知比以前更加迷惘。首先，神是隔了很长时间才回应他，而当神回应他的时候，答案却比沉默更难以接受。常常有人对我说：「有甚么比得不到回应的祷告更痛苦？」我经常会回答说：「得到回应的祷告也会带来痛苦。」
哈巴谷心里清楚知道自己期盼神做些甚么，那就是洁净以色列国，带来复兴。但当神回答说祂准备使用邪恶残暴的迦勒底人来惩罚他们时，先知感到困惑了。这在基督徒生命中不是不常有的经验──得到我们不期望得到的回答。奥古斯丁（Augustine）向神祈求光明克服他面对的黑暗时，神给了他亮光──但是那光首先揭示的是奥古斯丁的不洁和肉欲。我们祷告的时候是有点冒险，因为神往往会告诉我们一些我们可能不想知道的事情。
「得到不是我们想要的答案并不足为奇」
进深研究
拿一1-四11
1. 为甚么约拿不满？
2. 他期望甚么？
祈祷
我的父、我的神啊，求您帮助我明白，若您以我不期望的方式回应我的祷告，是因为您希望将最好的赐给我。求您帮助我不单明白，也能接受。奉耶稣的名求。阿们。
From Confusion to Confidence
The pain of answered prayer
Bible reading:
Habakkuk 1:6-11
6 I am raising up the Babylonians,[a] that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9 they all come intent on violence. Their hordes[b] advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand.
10 They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them.
11 Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—guilty people, whose own strength is their god."
Message
Then the Lord announced that He was about to use the evil and cruel Chaldeans to prune His people and to bring them to heel, Habakkuk was astounded. The Chaldeans, a tribe from southern Babylonia, were terrorists who loved to plunder and torture their enemies. Listen to God's description of the Chaldean armies in the passage we are looking at today: "...they are a law to themselves and promote their own honour. Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves...They fly like a vulture swooping to devour..." (vv.7-8).
Habakkuk had his prayer answered, but not in the way he expected. The prophet is now more confused than ever. First, God took an exceptionally long time to answer him, and when He did, the answer He gave was more difficult to receive than the silence. People have often said to me: "What can be greater than the pain of unanswered prayer?" I usually respond: "the pain of answered prayer."
Habakkuk was quite clear in his mind what he wanted God to do - chastise the nation of Israel and send revival. But when God replied that He was going to use the evil and cruel Chaldean army to punish them, the prophet was nonplussed. This is not an uncommon experience in the Christian life - getting an answer we do not expect. When Augustine pleaded with God for light to overcome the dark problems he faced, God gave him light - but the first thing it revealed was Augustine's unchastity and sensuality. We take certain risks when we pray, for God sometimes tells us things we might not want to know.
"It is not uncommon to get an answer we do not expect"
Prayer
My Father and my God, help me to understand that when my prayers are answered in ways that I do not expect, it is because You desire my highest good. And help me not simply to understand it - but accept it. In Jesus' Name. Amen
Further study
Jonah 1:1-4:11
1. Why was Jonah disgruntled?
2. What was he expecting?
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