"Write the vision and make it plain" Hab 2:2

It's the second day into the New Year of 2011 and I woke this morning with a challenge. What is my vision? What is my husband's vision? What exactly is a vision? I googled "vision" and I was directed to everything from eye care to names of computers. I found that corporations cast visions as well as churches. My personal favorite dictionary is the Noah Webster 1828 rendition and his definition of vision is:

1. The act of seeing external objects; actual sight. Faith here is turned into vision there. 2. The faculty of seeing; sight. Vision is far more perfect and acute in some animals than in man. 3. Something imagined to be seen, though not real; a phantom; a specter. No dreams, but visions strange. 4. In Scripture, a revelation from God; an appearance or exhibition of something supernaturally presented to the minds of the prophets, by which they were informed of future events. Such were the visions of Isaiah, of Amos, of Ezekiel, &c. 5. Something imaginary; the production of fancy. 6. Any thing which is the object of sight.

His definitiion of a visionary is: "One who forms impracticable schemes; one who is confident of success in a project which others perceive to be idle and fanciful."

I particularly like Mr. Webster's statement "faith here is turned into vision there." He also mentions that they are ideas that are from God and dropped into the minds of men. His example were the prophets of the Old Testament. It's the "declaring those things that are not as though they already were" Rom 4:17.

I believe the definition of a vision is different for everyone. The vision is as unique as a fingerprint or snow flake.

Why do we need a "vision"? I have a sense that the yearning for one is innate in all of us. In Proverbs 29:18 (The Message) states "If people can't see what God is doing,
they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
they are most blessed."

In Habakkuk 2:2,3 God is speaking to the prophet and says to him "

^2-3And then God answered: "Write this.
Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters
so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness
pointing to what's coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
And it doesn't lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
It's on its way. It will come right on time."

I love that part that it says "it aches for the coming--it can hardly wait." It takes me back to childhood when I could hardly wait for my birthday or Christmas. I believe those are early beginnings of vision in training. Unfortunately as we grow older and start to experience disappointments in life we begin to become fearful of forecasting a vision. My husband used to say that he had no expectations because if he isn't expecting than he can't be disappointed. When I shared with him the scripture where David says, "in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation", he began to see that God wants us to expect Him to answer. Isn't that the essence of Faith?

In Habakkuk, the prophet describes his vision as "the burden which the prophet...saw" (1:1) It was the very thing that drove him to his knees, he lived it, ate it, it was the very essence of his being. He was driven to a point of despair as he would cry out to God and ask when there would be divine justice. God pointed him to an appointed time that if He would just wait it would all become clear. In my devotion today the author states "Before God blesses you with a plan of action, He will burden you with the problem you've been called to help solve." For Habakkuk it was the injustice and lawlessness that he saw all around him. For Chris and I we are burdened for hurting marriages and families torn apart by divorce. In my devotion the questions are asked, What's your all-consuming desire? What are you passionate about? What has God called and gifted you to do?

The Apostle Paul's burning desire was to reach the world for Christ. His enemies put him in jail and Paul turned it into his own personal writer's retreat and wrote 13 epistles. Those writings would end up changing more lives after he left the world than he could have ever hoped to touch while he was here.

So here we are, new beginnings in that it is the start of a new year. Do you have a vision? Have you kept it before you as you have run the race of life? Or has it been dashed to bits by the storms of life and left lifeless on the beach of disappointment? I have to admit that for Chris and I we have not gone untouched by the economic downturn that has affected so many. The vision that God gave us so many years ago to provide a place where couples can go to "recharge their batteries." To spend quality time, that encourages candid and open communication with each other. A place to rekindle the friendship and passion, to revisit the things that they have in common. Those qualities they at first admired in each other and were evident when they first met. A place that brings them back to their "First Love." This vision has for the most part been laid aside as we individually and as a couple licked our wounds and questioned if indeed this was a vision from God.

 There are 2 important things about vision-1) it must come from God.  There is a huge difference between setting our own goals and having a God-given vision.  The difference is that when your vision is from God "it will surely come".  God has a wonderful way of putting it all together without us having to orchestrate things.  He will provide the open doors and resources at just the right time.  God is faithful in that He will reveal to you your destiny and give you an opportunity to fulfill it.  Make no mistake though it is possible to postpone it by resisting it.  We can also choose to give our life to other things and thereby possibly missing it all together.  The second thing about vision is that it will be connected to a certain field. For Joseph his dream or vision started in a field of wheat.  Where has God called you? Medicine, education, finance, real estate, you name it.  Wherever it is our calling is to be a blessing to others.  Ask yourself this question "What would I be willing to withstand Satan over, in order to accomplish it?" What is God saying to you?  What is He saying to me?  Truly it is never to late to "find" your vision and follow it!"