Even If

Book Reviews

Feb 22

Even If: A Study of Habakkuk
By: Kristin Schmucker, The Daily Grace Co.

“Instead of being angry that things weren’t going the way he wanted, Habakkuk had learned to walk by faith and not by sight. And the book of Habakkuk reminds us to do the same. It calls us to stop saying, ‘What if?’ and start saying, ‘Even if.’ Even if the worst possible thing happens in our lives, we have the Lord and in Him we have all that we need. This is the hope of Habakkuk.”

Habakkuk is a short, oft-forgotten book in the Old Testament, save for the final few verses:

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (3:17-18)

I appreciated this study that brought context to the book and the entirety of what the prophet Habakkuk faced.

Similar to Job, Habakkuk questions why God allows evil and suffering, why he doesn’t enact justice. He is trying to reconcile what he sees and feels with what he knows to be true about God. Can we still trust Him?

The Northern tribes of Israel have already fallen to Assyria a century prior, and now God is telling Habakkuk that the Southern tribes would be invaded by Babylon because the people were turning away from God.

But I love how God responds to Habakkuk when Habakkuk says, ‘How long are you going to watch all of this destruction and do nothing??’

“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” (1:5)

And he was. The political rise and fall of many nations was impossible to imagine yet orchestrated by God in order to bring about his plan for his people, whom he preserved through it all.

God is still doing a work in our day that we wouldn’t believe if he told us. We, like Job and Habakkuk, first ask for explanations and answers, yet no answer is truly satisfactory. What both of these books of the Bible teach us is that it’s not answers that satisfy, but God himself.

We study who God is, what his heart and his character is and when we experience suffering and see what seems to be unrestrained evil, we hold on to our Lord because we can trust him and he is at work. He only reveals so much to us, but it is enough.

I took away 5 themes through what Schmucker parses out for us in her study:

God is listening
God is working
God is sovereign
God is trustworthy
God is victorious

Habakkuk is such a valuable book to study. It’s short but rich with truths we need every day. We are no strangers to suffering and confusion as to what God is allowing in our world. This study will realign your faith in the person of God:

“At some point in our lives we will need to reconcile our theology and our experience. We will have to wrestle with the evil in the world when we serve a good God. This is exactly what Habakkuk is about. And in those moments when we don’t understand where God is or what He is doing, we will be tempted to change our theology to align with what is happening in the world. And in those moments we must stand strong on the truth of the Word of God and the goodness of his character. In those moments we must not interpret God’s Word through the lens of our circumstances, but we must interpret our circumstances through the lens of God’s Word. And ultimately it is in those moments that we must trust the sovereign hand of God that is working in ways that we cannot see.”

I’m a big fan of The Daily Grace Co. studies. Their statement of faith can be found here.

This particular study is only 3 weeks with 5 days of homework— a page or two of reading and 3 questions per day. Each week concludes with a 6-question reflection that asks us to reflect on what we learned about God, mankind, how it relates to the gospel, how we should respond and what action steps we can take as a result of what we read.

I also like how The Daily Grace Co. incorporates Scripture memory into their studies. Over the three weeks you will memorize the last few verses as quoted above.

I completed this study with a small group of women. We had good discussions but, for us, the questions were a little repetitive or vague and we mostly led our own discussion with what resonated with us. I wish the questions would have been a little more specific or discussion generating. Depending on your group, you may need to prepare a little extra to keep conversation going.

As with all of their studies, the book is beautifully designed— the color scheme, photographs, layout— and has nice glossy thick magazine-type pages. (Note: some pens may smear on the glossy pages)

See pictures below for a sneak peek!

Purchase on Amazon*

Pro Tip: I have learned since taking advantage of the aforementioned sale that The Daily Grace Co. actually has sales quite often. Their prices are pretty good. Most of the studies during sales are between $5-10 dollars and cover specific topics or just go through a certain book of the Bible. You can browse here. (FYI- I don’t receive any kickback for any purchases you make)

Another Note: If you would like to study this topic of suffering in relation to Job, check out Eric Ortlund’s book: Suffering Wisely and Well: The Grief of Job and the Grace of God.