The name for Vision Run Publishing comes from the scripture verse Habakkuk 2:2 in the Old Testament. The story behind the name reminds me daily of how God answers our prayers when we least expect it.
I’d had a couple of friends tell me each day, for two days in a row, that I should be writing about my experiences. It’s funny looking back on it, but those suggestions struck me as a little too risky, too touchy-feely for putting on paper or screen. I’ve always loved writing, but I had what most would call a limiting belief that I wasn’t good enough to write “legitimately,” that is, to do real writing. I would stick to the safety of the advertising and marketing copywriting I was used to turning out. That wasn’t exactly illegitimate, I reasoned, and it was just fine.
At that time, I was nearly 40 years old and had recently had an encounter with God that made my faith come alive inside. Jesus was real to me for the first time in my life, in a tangible way I had never known before. It turned my world upside down.
I had friends and relatives that seemed to regularly experience two-way communication with the God of the universe, who had just recently made Himself known to me. I wanted that kind of intimacy and clarity. I was at a crossroads vocationally and unsure of what my next steps should be. “Talk loudly, God,” I would pray. “I’m new at this and still somewhat deaf spiritually. What do You want me to do?”
On the third day, after two consecutive days of my friends suggesting I write (which I had politely declined, telling them I wasn’t that kind of writer), I sat down in the big comfy chair in my bedroom to have my quiet time. I opened my Bible, and as if highlighted in bold type, my eyes fell immediately on Habakkuk 2:2, which says, “Then the Lord answered me and said: Write down the vision; Make it plain upon tablets, so that the one who reads it may run.”
It’s a good thing I was sitting down, or I might have dropped my Bible. I didn’t even know there was a book called Habakkuk. But there he was, inquiring diligently of the Lord and waiting for an answer. Just like me. Loud and clear, just as I’d requested, God seemed to be telling me to write. I still wasn’t sure exactly what to write, but I knew without a doubt after that morning that I was going to write. Legitimately, profusely, and for His glory.
By the time I started my own publishing services company several years later, the name was a natural. I started helping other authors edit, polish, design, and publish their books. Not all of the books we publish are “Christian” books, but most of the authors are. Many of them chuckle at the thought that God is using them to tell a particular story or share a bit of wisdom through books that seem to have been downloaded to them directly from heaven.
I asked God about that once. Why, Lord, when you’ve kindled in me a burning desire and blessed me with the accompanying talent for writing, do you keep downloading your messages to others, but nothing to me? I guess I was grumbling a little bit. It had been over ten years since that first dramatic message in the pages of Habakkuk. He directed me to the verse again: I said to write the vision, He gently reminded me. Not necessarily to have the vision. Again, I had my answer. I do love editing, as well as writing.
God has designed us to live in community, each doing and contributing their own part. For now, my part is to help others bring their visions of writing a book to life in a way that is polished, clear, and pleasing to them. Occasionally, I get to write on my own as well. And I’ve finally realized I’m pretty good at it too. Isn’t that just like God? He really does give us the desires of our hearts.