Keith Battle - It Is Written - Part 1

I’m starting a new series today; it’s called «It Is Written.» It’s a series about the power of writing your vision, and I want to take you to Habakkuk chapter 2 in the Old Testament, the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. Now, if you have your own Bible, it’s okay to go to the table of contents. Don’t act like you know where Habakkuk is; just go to the front and look for the page number. It’s all good. If you have a digital copy, you may join me.

Now, in Habakkuk chapter 2, our amazing production team will ensure that every verse comes on the screen for you, but if you want to look along at your own device or Bible, you may do that at this time. If you are here with us and are physically able to stand without pain or incident, then I ask you to stand as I read this passage from the Word of God.

We live in a day and age where people talk about what they stand for, saying, «I stand on that,» and «I’m ten toes down on that.» I think that’s really cool; it’s good to have things you stand on. But when you come to church, we stand on the Word, the eternal Word of God. I stand by that, and I stand up for it. God, I stand on Your Word; I stand for Your Word; I stand up for it. So I’m going to read the first three verses of Habakkuk chapter 2, and I’m reading it from the English Standard Version. Let’s go there, where it says in verse 1:

«I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what he will say to me.»

I like that he says, «I’m gonna look out; I want to see what God’s gonna say to me.» Oh, that’s good! Does anybody want to say, «I want to see what God’s gonna say to me?» I don’t just have my ears open; God, my eyes are open, my heart is open, my mind is open—I’m ready to see what He will say to me and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

Verse 2: «And the Lord answered me: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.»

Verse 3: «For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end; it will not lie. If it seems slow, just elbow somebody real quick when I say, 'Wait for it.' It will surely come; it will not delay.» Amen, you may be seated.

I want to make six observations from this passage today as it relates to writing our visions in our lives, comparing it to how Habakkuk was instructed to write the vision in his life. The first observation is about the context through which vision is received. Vision doesn’t just show up anywhere; it shows up in a sacred space. Here’s my first observation: The environment in which vision is received is while we are seeking God in solitude. It is important that you understand that vision is a sacred thing; it’s not just a vehicle that God uses to align our lives and our work with His plan for us.

If you look at Habakkuk’s life, he gives us clues on how he received vision—not just how he received it from God, but where he got it. He says, «I was on my post.» In verse 1, he states, «I was on my watch post; I stood there, I stood at attention, waiting to see what He would say.» Look at the effort he made; he stationed himself on the tower. He got into his spot, his prayer tower, his prayer ground, his quiet place. He was standing there; he stationed himself there. Look at how intentional he was about getting into a position to hear from God.

I’m just saying: Vision always comes to a person in a place. Somebody say «a place.» It is crucial to understand how significant it is that we identify places where we commune with God. Everybody has a place—you have a place where you go to smoke cigars, a place where you go