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. – Habakkuk 1:5

The prophet Habakkuk was given an astonishing message from God, recorded in chapter 1, verse 5: “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.” This divine command challenges our natural inclination toward nostalgia, that sentimental longing for “the good old days.” We often cling to past methods, past glories, or past seasons of blessing, mistakenly believing that the future must look exactly like the past for God to be present. But this verse tells us to look and wonder at what is happening now. God’s word to ancient Israel, a people frequently looking back to the powerful covenant days of Moses or David, is the same to us: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19). Our focus on what was can tragically blind us to the unbelievable work that is already springing up right now.

The text requires active engagement: “Look among the nations and see.” This is a spiritual command to shift our gaze from history to the horizon. We are not meant to be static, but to be observers of the divine reality unfolding around us. When the disciples stood gazing up into the sky after Christ’s ascension, they were gently redirected to the mission ahead (Acts 1:11). Similarly, the Bible offers a stark warning about the danger of looking back in longing: Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt simply because she could not resist gazing at the comfort and familiarity she was being called to abandon (Genesis 19:26). Moving past nostalgia is not about disrespecting history; it is about refusing to let the past become a prison. The Apostle Paul embraced this forward-looking posture, urging us, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

The final promise of Habakkuk 1:5 is where the true power lies: “For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” God’s most significant and astounding works are reserved for the present generation, for your day. If we are constantly wishing for the revival of a previous era or the comforts of a former season, we will miss the new, sometimes unsettling, ways the Holy Spirit is moving and innovating in our lives, our communities, and our world. This work may require us to step outside of our comfort zones, embrace new technologies, or serve people we previously ignored. When we choose to accept this present-tense reality, we step into the promise of a life transformed: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Let us release the hold of the past and step forward with faith and wonder into the unbelievable work God is doing right now.