Is Hope Deferred Making Your Heart Sick?
I had the day off today which meant one thing… day date time (with God)! For most of the day, I was thinking about hope. Talking with God about hope. Crying out to God about hope.
Often I think about faith. Not sure I think about hope nearly as much. But today I ‘randomly’ remembered that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.”
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12)
And was both like “You see, God, this is straight from the Bible” aha and “Wait let me study this again and see what God is saying.”
It’s so comforting to know God understands us isn’t it? He knows that hoping and waiting isn’t easy. But no matter our situations, he’s already given us the greatest, most satisfying reason to hope.
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7)
When I was younger (high school, I think) I used to really like this Socrates quote “All I know is that I know nothing” to show that I knew there’d always be more to learn. But I realise now that that’s not exactly true. While there will always be more to learn, we can already know the most important thing of all.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
So, yes, hope deferred can make the heart sick. Some days, we might really feel sick. But let’s remember that whatever we’re hoping for isn’t more important than Jesus. There is no gift greater than Jesus. And Jesus isn’t a maybe thing. He came (Luke 2), died for our sins (John 19:30, Romans 5:8), sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty (Romans 8:34), and will return once again (Hebrews 9:28).
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. (Hebrews 11:1)
Lord, help me, help us all keep your majesty in the centre - of our eyes, our hearts, our lives. Life tries to throw us many distractions but you are more powerful than them all. Help us to fix our eyes on you. Help us to know that we know that we know that we will only ever be truly satisfied by you. Help us to honour and love you well. ❤️
