And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.
Habakkuk 2:2
In the early 1980s, Jim Carrey was an unknown actor struggling to be successful. To stay motivated he wrote a check for $10 million to himself for “acting services rendered,” and dated it for 1994. He carried this promise in his wallet for daily inspiration. In 1994, Carrey learned he would reap exactly $10 million for his role in the movie Dumb and Dumber. Today, Carrey is one of America’s top movie stars, and he credits his constant visualization with helping him achieve his goal.
I do not consider having a vision as the same as the popular megachurch theological position of positive thinking. Positive thinking contends that if you just change your attitude, if you just think positive thoughts, if you just dwell on it, whatever you desire will be fulfilled. The emphasis is more on thinking than doing. To have a vision is to have a perception of the future and then strive to accomplish it.
Habakkuk’s vision, recorded as our scriptural verse this day, has always inspired me. In this passage God instructs Habakkuk to document the vision given to him. The act of writing down the vision serves multiple purposes: it clarifies God’s message, provides a tangible reference that allows others to understand and act upon it. Making the vision “plain” is crucial; it ensures that it can easily be comprehended by anyone who reads it, thus enabling swift action based on the insight revealed. Furthermore, the command “so he may run who reads it” implies urgency. A clear vision compels action; it inspires individuals to move forward with enthusiasm and determination.
Helen Keller in her senior year at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was asked what she was going to do after graduation in June 1904. She responded by writing the article My Future As I See It, a portion of which reads:
People often ask me what my future is as I see it. I do not intend to follow the example of the peasant girl in La Fontaine, who pictured such a bright future that in her enthusiasm she spilled her milk. Nor am I like the small boys who vie with each other in predicting what they will do when they grow up, and promise to be policemen, doctors, firemen, and soldiers.
I used to have all sorts of unrealizable ambitions. Indeed, the only one that has never troubled me is the ambition to be President of the United States. I suppose in youth we are all, as a matter of course, song-birds. The only question of importance which we have to decide is what kind of song-bird we shall be. As we grow older we smile at the eager soarings of our childhood. But I hope we shall never cease to dream out our world, to people it with gods strong of hand and great of soul.
The only real ambitions spring from the circumstances in which our lives are set. But I have discovered that the material with which we work is everywhere and in abundance. Our worst foes are not belligerent circumstances, but wavering spirits. The field in which I may work is narrow, but it stretches before me limitless. I am like the philosopher whose garden was small but reached up to the stars. The occupations I can engage in are few, but into each one I can throw my whole strength.
The vision that you have for your future must align with God’s purpose for humanity. Committing our work to the Lord involves seeking His guidance and wisdom in all endeavors. When we place our plans before God, we acknowledge His authority and trust that He will direct our paths.
When our visions are rooted in God’s purpose for Creation, we can move forward with assurance, knowing that He will ensure their fruition. This principle encourages believers to develop a vision that reflects God’s heart, enabling us to impact the world positively through our actions and aspirations.
Edward Bleier, from 1986 to 2000, was president of a Warner Bros. division that developed basic cable networks such as Nickelodeon, MTV, and The Movie Channel. He was credited with achieving record-breaking sales of vintage movies and older television series, shown in reruns, surpassing the revenue those productions had earned when first released. He was an innovator who foresaw industry-changing technologies and the need for fresh content to serve the emerging cable television market. At Warner Bros. Television he gained a reputation for imaginative but also practical strategic thinking that helped usher in a new television era. Bleier based his success on this mantra, “My instinct was always to look ahead, not back.”