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by Nathan Buck

I remember a few years ago counseling a married couple who had started attending where we pastored. Their marriage was unraveling because of hurts, fears, and unresolved anger that had piled up from long before they were married. We knew they had been seeing a professional counselor, so in an effort to see what we could do, we asked how that went.

The wife looked at me and my wife and said, "Well, it was good at first; we felt like the counselor really cared about us and was willing to help us. But then he kept wanting us to talk about the past. That stuff is painful, and makes it hard for us to be with each other. We wanted him to help us now and fix our marriage, not dredge up the past."

Our hearts sank as we realized the barriers they had built against their own health. By refusing to deal with the past, they were refusing to change their present, and ensuring their pain and baggage would rip their future apart. Not surprisingly, they disengaged from counseling with us too.

In order for any good to come out of a desperate situation, there is often a painful process of purging. Like our bodies fighting against disease, the wound or infection must be dealt with first before healing and health can resume.

Read Habakkuk 3:3-10. For context, be sure to read the previous weeks' blog posts. In this section Habakkuk continues to recount the events of the past when God rescued His people and dealt with their rebellion. It's interesting to me that Habakkuk asks if God was angry with the rivers and the sea as he poetically recounts how God chastised Egypt and even His own people. Maybe this is just a poetic device or artistic portrayal, but it seems as if Habakkuk is asking about the collateral damage in the midst of God's work. While this is not the full focus of the passage, it's worth considering for a moment.

Where is God purging infection, rebellion, selfishness, etc. from you? Are you willing to let God do whatever is necessary to bring you to health? Will you trust that what you may consider collateral damage may be part of the process God uses to heal you and others?

I encourage you, don't do what that married couple did and avoid the healing process. Dig in and let God have total access.

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