Today I am in Bellingham after a refreshing weekend of driving, hiking, and spending time with friends in my college down, a place that still feels like home. I am at my favorite coffee place, on Boulevard Park and reading through Habakkuk 2, one of my favorite Old Testament passages. He begins by relating that he “will take [his] watch post and station [himself] on the tower, and look out to see what [God] will say to [him], and what I will answer concerning my complaint”. I love his intentionality, waiting on the Lord, expecting His guidance and direction. How easily I forget to do this, instead wallowing in my disappointments and unfulfilled wishes, forgetting that I can “come boldly unto His throne of grace (Hebrews). Habakkuk is bold and honest. He trusts God and calls Him to his character in obedient patience and prayer.
The second and third verses, ones that have repeatedly jumped out to me, were of equal impact today. The lord answers Habakkuk by telling him to “write the vision; make it plain on the tablets…” and today I was caught by the thought, when was the last time I did that? Boldly, wrote out to God my dreams, humbly telling my father what was on my heart? So I did that, and then continued to verse three—
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Wow. Yes, my dreams need refining, I need patience, and I doubt their fulfillment will look much like my ideas on paper today. But I don’t need to be ashamed of them, to write them, to share them with The One who made me. I need to have patience, the things I desire that are In his will are going to happen. He wills and works for His good pleasure, as I work out my salvation with fear and trembling, without grumbling or questioning, as a light to this world (Phil. 2:12-15). Today I needed the reminder that I can share my heart and dreams as offerings to Him, entrusting them to Him because my life is apart of His story.
The sermon today, on Nehemiah, was a great beginning to his reminder. Pastor Darren Young called us to remember to see what is in our hands—where we’re placed in life, our gifts, influence, where we’re broken. The follow up to those things will mean trusting God in the face of fear as we sacrifice for the vision because comfort is like quicksand and fear is a catalyst. I need to trust that His vision, and the glimpses on my heart today, are in His sovereign hands. He is working, the vision is hastening, as I looked at my list, I was amazed that at least half of it was on its way to being fulfilled in ways I can see today; and encouraged that the rest will come in His time, in His way whether fulfilled or replaced through refining, I cannot miss it. He is working, refining me in patience.
I can take heart, the vision is hastening. Just like hiking this weekend, I may not be able to see the trail, to know when I’ll reach the destination, but yet I keep moving, trekking in the confusion, knowing that clarity will come as I trust and obey in what I can see.
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