Mensa Otabil - Wait for the Vision to Speak
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Each one of us has had to deal with delayed expectations. You want something to happen; you look forward to it, and you are very eager, but it’s not happening. At certain points, each one of us wonders, «What do I do when the thing I’m really expecting is not happening? How do I deal with that?»
Well, the Scriptures encourage us in Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 3: «For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end, it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come; it will not tarry.» When God gives us a promise, we are usually very expectant and eager to see that reality. God spoke to the Prophet Habakkuk because He had just given him a message, and He tells Habakkuk, «By the way, if you don’t see this happening immediately, don’t get discouraged. The vision I’ve shown you is for an appointed time.»
A delayed vision is not a denied vision. A delayed expectation is not a denied expectation. Just because something hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t happen. When you are waiting for something to occur, you must possess your soul. You need to learn to still look up to the Lord. So, when the Lord gives you a promise or an idea, and you start your life with great expectations but it’s not happening, don’t throw up your hands in the air, give up, and say, «Well, you know, I thought it was going to happen; it will not happen.»
There are times when you have to face reality, and that is when the vision originally wasn’t from God. However, if it is truly from God, then you have to wait for it. If it tarries, if it is delayed, if it is slow, wait for it. The passage says that in the end, the vision will speak. There may be delays in a vision, but it will speak. What does it mean when the Bible says the vision will speak? Speaking means manifestation, as speaking is a manifestation of a thought. The word I’m speaking now used to be in my head as an idea, and now I have spoken it; I have manifested it.
In the same way, God says if I give you a thought in the spirit, in your mind, a vision, it will speak; it will manifest. One of these days, it’s going to leave the unseen world and be pronounced, becoming a reality for each one of you who is nursing an expectation from God that is delayed. I just want to encourage you: if it is of God, it will happen; and if it is of God and it delays, wait for it. It may take a day; it may take a year; it may take ten years. God gave Abraham a promise, and it took him 25 years to see it in reality.
I’m not saying it’s going to take 25 years; all I’m saying is, if the vision terries, wait for it. Just as your thoughts eventually become your words, your vision will also become your reality. The vision will speak, so wait and allow God to perfect His work in you and manifest what He has been doing all this time. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.