Laying The Stakes (Habakkuk 2:1-3)

Write the Vision: Moving from Inspiration to Incarnation

There's something powerful about the moment before construction begins. You drive past an empty lot and see nothing but wooden stakes, strings stretched across the ground, and spray paint marking invisible boundaries. To the untrained eye, it looks like nothing is happening. But those who understand the building process know the truth: this is when the most critical decisions are being made.

Those stakes aren't random. They're deliberate. They mark exactly where walls will rise, where foundations will be poured, where a structure will stand for years to come. Once those stakes are set, everything else must follow their lead. You can't pour concrete wherever you feel like it. You can't raise walls wherever seems convenient. The stakes decide the future shape of the building.

This is precisely where many of us find ourselves in life—not in the finishing phase, not in the decorating phase, but in the alignment phase. And here's a truth worth remembering: alignment always comes before acceleration.

The Problem with Living on Vibes Instead of Vision

The prophet Habakkuk understood something profound about receiving direction from God. In the midst of confusion and frustration, God gave him clear instructions: "Write the vision and make it plain upon tablets, so he who runs may read it."

Notice the specificity. God didn't say, "Think about the vision." God didn't say, "Keep it in your mind." God said write it down—in big block letters, clear enough that someone running past can read it and understand it.

Too many of us have been living off vibes instead of vision. We move when we feel motivated and stop when we get tired. We shift direction when something feels uncomfortable. But vision doesn't operate that way. Vision requires something to be set, something to be marked, something to return to when emotions inevitably change.

The difference between inspiration and incarnation is documentation. A dream that stays in your head remains a fantasy. A vision that gets written down becomes a blueprint. And a blueprint becomes a building.

When God's Methods Don't Make Sense

Habakkuk had real questions for God. He looked at the chaos around him—injustice, violence, corruption—and asked the question we've all asked: "How long, God? How long will you allow this?"

God's response was startling: "I'm raising up the Babylonians to deal with this situation."

Wait. What? The Babylonians were fierce, ruthless, violent. They spread fear and terror. This was God's solution?

Here's what we must understand: God is fully aware of everything happening. God is not distant, not scared, not hiding, not caught off guard. When we pray, we're not putting God on notice as if God missed what's going on. God knows. God sees. God is working—even when the methods don't make sense to us.

Sometimes God has to learn us. A hard head makes a soft behind, as the old folks say. If you play with fire, you will eventually get burned. Sometimes God allows us to experience the consequences of our choices not because God is cruel, but because God is committed to our growth.

The plans God has for us are plans to prosper us, not to harm us, to give us hope and a future. But here's the catch: God knows those plans, and God doesn't always reveal them because we couldn't handle them. We want the destination without the journey. We want the promise without the preparation. We want the blessing without the building.

How to Receive Vision from God

Habakkuk's response to his confusion teaches us three essential practices for receiving vision from God:

First, separate for solitude. Habakkuk said, "I will climb to the watchtower." This was a deliberate act. He removed himself from the noise, the grumbling, the confusion. Sometimes we complain to so many different people that we never create space to hear God's voice. We're on multiple platforms during the week, recycling the same problems, waiting to hear different suggestions, but never giving God time to speak.

Second, steady yourself and stay. Habakkuk didn't just climb the tower—he stationed himself there. He said, "I will wait to see what God says." This is crucial. Many of us go through the ritual of prayer. We bow our heads, cross our arms, lay prostrate long enough to get it off our chests. But we don't actually stay long enough to hear God's response. We clap back at God and then hang up the phone, as if slamming the door ends the conversation.

Third, seek until God says. Habakkuk scanned the horizon, expecting God to answer. He positioned himself to receive. When you're waiting for God to release vision, you must engage your spiritual disciplines—fasting, prayer, devotion, meditation, solitude. You need to know not only God's voice but also where God's voice speaks to you. For some, it's in the quiet of the morning. For others, it's in the shower, or while watching something seemingly unrelated, or in the middle of an ordinary task.

Moses was tending sheep—doing something completely mundane, something that didn't require much mental capacity—when he saw a burning bush. It was only after Moses turned toward the bush that God spoke. What chaos in the midst of your calm is God using to get your attention?

The Stakes Mark What Will Eventually Manifest

Here's what makes vision work so challenging: the writing of the vision and the running of the vision are two different stages, often done by two different people.

Some of us are vision writers. Some of us are vision runners. The problem arises when runners try to write while running—it leads to illegibility, to rough drafts, to confusion. And when writers refuse to release the vision to runners, nothing moves forward.

God told Habakkuk: "Write this. The vision message is a witness pointing to what's coming. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it. It will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed."

This seems contradictory, doesn't it? If we have to wait for it, isn't it already delayed?

But here's the revelation: waiting is on our time. God's timing operates differently. When God shows up, God has never been late. The woman with the issue of blood thought God was delayed, but the moment she touched Jesus' garment, immediately the fountain of her blood dried up. The man at the pool of Bethesda waited thirty-eight years, but the day Jesus showed up, he picked up his bed and walked.

God is giving us the favor of time—time to get everything in place, time to build our infrastructure, time to strengthen our capacity so that when the promise comes, we don't fail under its weight.

Don't Let Delay Distract You from Your Destiny

The stakes are being laid right now. This is preparation season. This is alignment season. This is the time to write the vision, make it plain, and get everything in order.

God has never not shown up. God has never not fought your battle. God has never not made a way out of no way. God has never not been there for you. God has never lost a battle or lost a patient. God has never failed to keep you, to see you, to walk with you, to talk with you.

So don't give up. Don't let the delay make you think God won't come through. Just because God hasn't yet doesn't mean God won't.

The vision is clear. The stakes are being laid. And everything God promised is on its way—right on time.

Write it down. Make it plain. And watch God do exactly what God said.