Hope Deferred

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs 13:12

Do you ever get tired of hoping for something to happen or get impatient when you’re waiting for a prayer to be answered? Yeah, me too. Our key verse for today hits the nail on the head saying, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” I don’t know about you, but sometimes it feels like your heart can stay sick for a really long time while that tree of life you’re waiting for doesn’t even seem to have sprouted yet. 

But if I’ve learned anything when it comes to waiting and hoping, it’s that staying hopeful requires courage. 

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:12, “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” He is making the point here that hope and boldness, or courage, go hand in hand. It takes courage to be hopeful, and being hopeful fuels our courageousness. Because if we’re waiting for something, if we’re hoping for something we can’t see or that has happened yet, we have to have a bold faith and a strong trust in the Lord to fulfill our hopes according to His will and His plan for us. 

For you and me, that means it’s going to take courage for us to hope for something that seems so far away. It’s going to take courage to stay hopeful in the wake of heartbreak and disappointment. It’s going to take courage to hope for something that’s remained an unfulfilled desire for a really long time. And it’s going to take courage to hope for God to come through when you can’t see all He’s doing behind the scenes on your behalf. 

But if you really think about it, doesn’t giving up hope sound a heck of a lot worse than hope deferred?

So with that in mind, let’s pray that the Lord would give us the courage we need to stay hopeful. Let’s ask Him to give us the kind of faith that brings confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see. And let’s pray that He continues to remind us that those who hope in Him will not be disappointed (Isaiah 49:23.)

May we never grow tired of hoping.