…Despite Evil, There is God.
If you have scrolled social media or watched the news in the last month, you may be feeling like evil is louder than good. I know I have gone through a spectrum of feelings while wrestling with God about all of the information being thrown at us. I felt this phrase drop into my spirit:
“despite prayer there is evil, but despite evil, there is God.”
At first, this seemed odd to me, because I know and have experienced the power of prayer, and it felt like the message was saying prayer didn’t work. I chewed on it for a little, and then I actually asked ChatGPT to dissect the sentence for me, and this is what it said:
Contrast: The first clause acknowledges an uncomfortable truth (evil persists despite prayer). The second clause shifts toward hope (God persists despite evil).
Theological tension:
First half: Human effort (prayer) is not enough to eliminate evil.
Second half: Divine presence (God) transcends evil.
Evil is persistent but not ultimate. God is portrayed as the ultimate reality.
This helped shed light on the mechanics and deeper meaning of the phrase. I have seen a lot of commotion regarding prayer coming from the world and attempting to discredit the power that is prayer. Upon deeper contemplation, this reminder that was felt in my spirit isn’t telling me that prayer doesn’t work; it’s highlighting the reality that we live in a fallen world where evil is among us. A world that seems like prayer might not be working, times where things we prayed with our whole heart did not come to pass, and the world turning to us asking why our prayers didn’t work, why our God would allow these things to happen. I’ve thrown these questions around more times than I’d like to admit, not because my faith is shaken, but because my flesh can’t rationalize the big picture that only God knows.
Habakkuk talks about these feelings of seeing violence, corruption, and injustice—evil seeming to win. He questions God, “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (1:2). He begged the questions we all have asked God a time or two. Faith doesn’t mean we don’t have questions; it means we know where Truth comes from and where to wait. There’s a space we enter when we aren’t seeing movement in the natural or even when our prayers don’t come to pass. In this space, we have to make a choice to stand on Truth.
The second chapter of Habakkuk takes us from a place of questioning to the space where faith comes alive—in the waiting. Verse 4 says, “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous will live by his faith.” In the times where evil is the most prevalent, where it feels like God isn’t doing anything and all we’re doing is waiting, that is where our faith is to shine. When everything can be explained and reasoned, there is no reason for the activation of faith.
Habakkuk goes on in the final 3rd chapter and reminds us that God is the same then, yesterday, and today. The end of the chapter describes all the things that aren’t, but Habakkuk chooses to say in verse 18, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” This is where our fear is silenced by faith and our worry is overcome by worship. Habakkuk isn’t completely removed of fear and reality, but instead his fear and uncertainty are turned into reverent awe, not despair. He knows that God is still in the waiting; He is still worthy to be praised despite what is happening around him. Faith is not the absence of fear, but the decision to trust God despite it.
So, while evil still exists despite our prayers, the hope comes in knowing Jesus has conquered evil. He’s not only in the winning, but in the waiting. Our prayers are not falling on deaf ears; our God sees and hears us. His plans for us will always be good, even when there is bad around us.