Have you ever read a verse during a particular season and felt it spoke exactly to what you needed, only to reread it in a later season and find it applicable in a different way?
That’s the beauty of God’s Word. It’s living and active (Hebrews 4:12). It’s breathed out by an all-knowing God (2 Timothy 3:16), and our understanding of it is led by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10–13). Because of this, God can speak to us differently through the same passage of Scripture at different times. This does not mean the truth of the Bible changes — for we know God does not change (Malachi 3:6) and therefore neither does His Word (Isaiah 40:8) — but it means our experiences and maturity allow us to glean different aspects of the same verse.
The book of Habakkuk is one of those passages for me. At some point as a teenager I came across this book and a few particular verses stood out to me. The translation I read growing up was the New Believer’s Bible (NLT, 1996). I wrote the words of Habakkuk 2:3 on my mirror to read every day: “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.” Nearly 20 years removed from that phase of life, I cannot recall exactly what plans I was waiting on the Lord to fulfill. It probably had to do with navigating teenage friendships and making decisions on post-high school plans. But I do remember clinging to the words “slowly, steadily, surely” and finding great peace in knowing God had a plan and His timing was better than mine.
I recently revisited an unfinished Bible study on the book of Habakkuk that I began in 2020. Reading some of my previous answers, I can see I had a better understanding of the book and what was taking place in the story than I did as a teenager, and even still six years later I have an even better understanding. Through sermons and study tools I have learned the plot and have developed a greater appreciation for the words of the prophet Habakkuk. He couldn’t see the whole picture and didn’t understand what God was doing. From his vantage point, life seemed unfair and it seemed like evil was triumphing. Habakkuk cries out to God, raising a complaint against his circumstances, and awaits God’s response (2:1).
Verse three is part of God’s response to him. The ESV translates it as: “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end — it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it, it will surely come; it will not delay.” God reassures Habakkuk, even though he can’t see it, that His plans and timing will prevail.
My life circumstances and hopeful plans have changed drastically from age 15 to 30 to 35. And yet, this verse still speaks to me. And while I am not waiting on the Lord’s judgement on a nation in the way Habakkuk was, the essence of the verse has spoken into my various life stages. The verse calmed my teenage anxiety and early adult uncertainties with the truth that “slowly, steadily, surely” God’s plans for my life would unfold exactly how He ordained them. They would not delay.
Habakkuk concludes the book with a proclamation of trust, regardless of what he can or cannot see. May these verses remind us of God’s sovereignty in saving us and ordering our lives, even when we can’t see what He’s doing.
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. God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Habakkuk 3:17–19
Written by Randi Walle