So, in Habakkuk’s first complaint to God, he is saying that Judah (Southern Israel) is due punishment for her sin and depravity.  And I love how God essentially tells Habakkuk, “Yeah, I know...and that punishment is coming!”  He tells him that Babylon is overtaking Judah.  But I love the last thing he tells him in this first exchange, in v11

“...whose own might is their god.”

In the intro, I commented that I read a commentary that said that a takeaway from this book of the Bible is that Babylon’s sin is illustrative of every country’s sin, and even every person’s sin.  This gets right at that point - that, our tendency is to call ourselves self-sufficient, to deem ourselves “self-made”, and to assume a sense of autonomy in time, as we become more wise and more successful.  Since this is our natural, sin-fueled tendency, we must be careful to guard ourselves against ourselves.

In what ways am I working to hold this tendency towards self-sufficiency in check in my own life?

As I think about that comment about Babylon illustrating our own tendency and sin nature, I also think about their expansion across the known world.  Their insatiable desire to conquest and take over every country in site also bears resemblance to our nature.  I tend to always reach for bigger, better, etc.  Contentment is something that some people are blessed with...but I share this struggle with Babylon.

So, in addition to this question of self-sufficiency, another one would be, “In what ways am I reminding myself to be and training myself in becoming content?”

One area of my spiritual life where I tend to really be more naturally inclined is this...reading, studying, thinking, and listening to God’s word.  But, I think that the solution (or at least a big part of it) to these issues of self-sufficiency and contentment rests in the other aspect of a strong spiritual discipline where I am far more lacking - prayer.

Prayer.  It is the time when we reach out to God, we declare Him worthy of our praise, we reflect on His provision for our lives, and we communicate our need for Him.  I am going to venture to say that my contentment and my tendency towards self-sufficiency has a direct correlation with my prayer life.

So, for today, I am committing to a great time of prayer as I close out my devotional.  If just for today, I will training myself to this kind of prayer and reflection.  Perhaps in introducing this kind of time of reflection into my morning ritual on a more regular basis I can curb my tendency to be like Babylon in my own life.