“Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.” Habakkuk 2:2
I get this sense that many of us have a vision written on our hearts that have never been read.
I think sometimes we are afraid to look because we fear not being enough for it. The thought of writing out our dreams in plain sight can be terrifying. What is written, we have to see. What is written, we have to face. What is written, we have to be accountable to and what if we don’t live up to it? What if we never see it come to pass? Sometimes it is just easier not to look at all – not to believe. Instead of putting on our running shoes, we’ve wrap ourselves in the comforting blanket of doubt and secured our spot on the couch of disbelief.
The old adage, “Cat got your tongue” popped in my mind as I was studying the verse in Habakkuk above and I realized that there are words and messages written on our hearts just waiting to be released. I believe God is asking us to take a stand and be heard. He is asking us to read the vision he has written on our hearts and run with it. But something keeps our eyes darting away, afraid to see what he is calling us to do.
Whether or not we possess a uniquely created vision is not in question. It is a promise in God’s word that we can stand on. He calls us “His masterpiece” perfectly created “for the good things he planned for us long ago” to do (Eph. 2:10). The vision is there, whether or not we will run with it, is up to us. It is a question we must all ask ourselves. Have I been too afraid to discover the passion that lies within, because I fear what that passion will ask of me?
When studying the original meaning of the word run, used in the Habakkuk passage above, it conveys a sense of urgency – like God is trying to spur us on to get moving with the vision in our heart. I was convicted of this very thought the other day as I listened to Steven Furtick’s sermon, “Don’t Blow it”. He was explaining that we don’t have time to waste and that we get stuck telling ourselves “One day when” and then twenty years passes and we find we never got around to it.
I don’t want that to be my legacy. I want to run my race and not be afraid to write out and make plain the vision God has written on my heart! I don’t want fear to stop me from sharing the gift God has placed with in me and I don’t want fear to stop you either.
What is keeping you from running with the passion burning inside you? I admit it. At times I want to run from the vision in my heart too. But recently I experienced something even more debilitating. I was paralyzed. Past failures were haunting me and it made me afraid to try again.
But, luckily, there is God who refuses to quit pursuing us and he handed me a rope out of the muck I found myself in. I know deep down, that I am a fighter and this fight is worth fighting. His message is worth it. His Truth is worth it and worthy to be shared. So, I refuse to quit. I refuse to let fear stop me from running my race because if I do there is a cost far greater than failure. This message in my heart that God has hand-crafted solely for me to share with his world will never be heard.
We have to count the cost of never reading and running with the vision written on our heart. Will you dared to read it? For he who reads it, will be asked to run with it! Ask God today to give you the courage to read the vision he has written on your heart. Let him lay it out before you in plain sight so that you may take hold of it and run with it, letting nothing hold you back!!!
When God wrote the vision on you heart, he also placed within you everything you needed to fulfill it!
Be Blessed ~ Be a Light!