The word afraid strikes terror in us. It is a human dilemma to be afraid. Fear comes in many forms and is brought on by something that we see or hear—such as, the fire alarm going off at one a.m. in our building. This happened most recently for us. This time it was a false alarm. Never-the-less it was fearful with its loud blaring horn.
This is not the kind of fear that Habakkuk is expressing in verse two. As he meditated on God’s work in human affairs, the prophet was overcome with an awe-inspiring sense of the greatness of the Lord. Herein, he views the mighty acts of God: “The Exodus-miracles by the Red Sea-the conquest of the land. His eyes are opened to the power and greatness of the Almighty God.” He grasps and beholds God’s all-encompassing ability to deliver His people through reviewing the past. His fear is respectful of who God is through his acts on the part of God’s people.
Do we hear the words Habakkuk cries out, “Revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath remember mercy.”
Can you imagine the cries of God’s people in the day of Jesus birth? The faithful ones agonizing for the Messiah, the promised One, longing for His coming. We are so much like them, in our day, with pressures on every side, as we cry out, “Revive your work in the midst of the years…”
On that night so long ago a baby’s cry was heard, as He took His first breath, drawing in the air of this earthly life. A cry of a baby in response to the cry of, “Revive, your work in the midst of the years.” He was and is the answer to our cry today.
As with the appearance of the angel to Mary, he allays her alarm at his appearance with, “Be not afraid…!” Her response was, indeed, fear, then deep reverence. How sweet it is when God speaks to us, by His Word or by an angel, to allay our fears with the purpose of drawing us into a closer relationship with Him as we reflect upon the great deeds that He has performed in our lives. Answers to prayer are great and small. The greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ, whom God gave as a sacrificial offering to all of mankind, that we might find forgiveness of sin.
Norma Lee Hyde
Norma Lee Hyde has been a member of the Trinity Church of the Nazarene for 11 years. She has three living children: Bud, ReeAnn, and Mary, and one daughter in heaven, Becky. Four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. Some of the highlights of her life have been to be a council member for the Los Angeles District’s missionary outreach, to have served as an assistant to the executive secretary of the Los Angeles District Church of the Nazarene, as well as secretary with the Loyola Village Elementary School in Westchester, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. She and her husband have been in ministry for over fifty years with The Church of the Nazarene. She enjoys writing, the art form of watercolor. Jesus Christ is the foundation of her very being. That of her being in Him and what she has become in and through Him. Her lifetime loves are her husband Garth and her four children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and love of God’s family.
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