Want to go up? Write it down!

An eighty-year-old couple was worried because they kept forgetting things all the time. The doctor assured them that there was nothing seriously wrong except old age. He suggested they carry a notebook and write things down so they wouldn't forget.

Several days later, the older man got up to go to the kitchen. His wife said, "Dear, get me a bowl of ice cream while you're up." "Okay." Then she said, "...and put some chocolate syrup on it and a few cherries on it, too." Finally, she added, "You had better write all this down." "I won't forget,” said the man.

Twenty minutes later, he came back into the room and handed her a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. She glared at him. "I told you to write it down! I knew you would forget!" "What did I forget?" He asked. She replied, "My toast."

Think of algebra to those of you who are dissatisfied with old age and would like to go back to your youth. Enough said.

Today, let’s explore the subject of vision. Vision is a compelling picture of a preferable future that motivates or person or a group of people to perform. The prophet Habakkuk in the Bible knew the process of vision because God revealed it to him at a discouraging time in his life and Israel’s life. Let’s glean from ancient wisdom what Habakkuk learned, and we can glean too.

“And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming - it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time.” Habakkuk 2:2-3. 

That’s practical and easily applied if you are willing to do the second step of the process. First, see the vision. Then write down the vision for us or others, and then start to implement the idea to move it from revelations to reality. Let’s summarize. See the vision, write the vision and make it clear, tell the vision, wait for the proper time to start, and start to implement it. 

Most are good at the ‘tell-a-vision’ part but not very good at the ‘do-a-vision’ part. Why? We never write the vision down. The idea stays in the thought world, never becoming real and tangible in the real world. The idea turned into scrambled eggs and bacon without toast rather than ice cream with chocolate and cherries. It wasn’t clear. Sound familiar? 

Where does the successful completion of a creative enterprise start? It's in the 'write a vision and make it clear' part. Writing the vision turns an idea into something people can read, see it on paper in writing, and start to understand. Writing a vision down is necessary for communicating it to yourself and others.

Think of how many good ideas are lost in ‘idea-land.' You can move from 'dream' to 'done' just by having a notepad next to your bed each night. But, if you are like me, you get frustrated when you try to remember the fantastic idea you had in the middle of the night. I've lost more ideas than a centipede has legs because I was going to put that notepad next to my bed but didn’t. Greg Meyer says, “If I had a dollar for every million-dollar idea I’ve had, I’d be rich.” Sound familiar?

Also, writing the idea down enables you to consider the cost and guide you in making the vision a reality. Jesus says in Luke 14:28-30, “Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it?” If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you, saying, ‘He started something he couldn't finish.'”

Author Peter Lowe encourages us not to 'spend time living...but to invest time living.' Directional thinkers invest time in their goals and visions and plan their time around their dreams and visions. Most directional people aren't driven. They are wise. Where did they start? They wrote down the vision. Then the idea became a product. There is no such thing as a million-dollar idea - only million-dollar executions. Implementation becomes possible when communication starts. Where does communication start? When you write it down and make it straightforward so others may run with it.

One time I was in London, England, speaking at a large conference with prominent speakers. I guess I was one of them. I was seated next to Cindy Jacobs, a prophetic person who hears from God. During another speaker's presentation, she kept on whispering to me out of the side of her mouth, “Write the book. Write the book. Write the book." That was a confirmation of what I already knew. God wanted me to write a book entitled, Church@Community. Today, that book is a reality, along with nine other books I have written. Why? I “wrote the book.”   

Do you want to go up? Then write it down! And that will get you more than toast! If you don’t write it down, your idea or vision IS toast.