Hope Deferred.

Have you ever come across a Bible verse that seems to be your nemesis – a scripture that has the ability to wind you up to the point where you question whether it was put in the Bible by mistake?

Well, this may be a rather unholy thing to admit, but for many years, I had such a scripture. We find it in the book of Proverbs. It says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” During times of despair, when I had hoped for something and not seen results, but in fact, seemingly the very opposite, I would take my frustration to the Lord, and quote this verse.

“Lord, you know that hope deferred makes my heart sick, so why do you seem to dangle carrots, only to whisk them away just at the point where I feel I could reach out and grasp them?”

Can you relate? Are there things you’ve hoped for – even longed for, and yet they haven’t come to pass? Have there been times when your hopes have been shattered, and you’ve ended up crying out to God and simply asking why? Have you been praying for God to intervene miraculously in the life of someone you love, only to watch as things go from bad to worse, just at the very point you’re sure God is going to swoop in and save the day? Have you hoped for healing only to face tragedy?

The Lord showed me something recently which has turned my nemesis verse on its head, to the point where it is now one of my favourite Bible-verses. You see, the trouble with the Proverbs is that we often forget many of them come in pairs. WE read the first half, and neglect the second. This is exactly what I was doing with my verse on hope. Let’s read the whole thing. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13: 12.)

Thanks to Lysa Terkeurst’s excellent book It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way, I began thinking about the tree of life. It was in the garden of Eden, alongside the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When the first couple ate the forbidden fruit, they had to be expelled from the garden, because God didn’t want them eating from the tree of life and living forever in their fallen state. A separation had occurred between God and man. A huge sin barrier had been erected, and could only be broken down when God himself came into the world and bore our sins at Calvary.

So, now the price has been paid, we can once again share communion with our holy heavenly Father, as we come to him through the shed blood of Jesus. That means we can once again eat from the tree of life. We don’t have to face eternity without God. When we close our eyes on this earth, we will awaken in the glorious eternity he is preparing for us. What Adam and Eve lost has been reclaimed by Jesus.

So, can I safely say that in many ways, Jesus himself is our tree of life? I believe I can, because it is from him that our life flows. As Lysa TerKeurst puts it, we are living between two gardens – the perfection of Eden, and the perfection of heaven. We are living here, in this fallen world, where hopes will be deferred. WE are going to be disappointed, because this world is not our home. If we put our hope in anything down here, it may well be deferred. We will of course see wonderful miracles and amazing answers to prayer, but sometimes, we will also see sadness and despair. We will have to encounter death, disease, and disappointments of all kinds.

How can I ensure that my heart does not become sick due to hope deferred? I can do so by focusing more on the one to whom I am praying, rather than the prayers themselves. It is certainly good and right to hope, for Paul talks in 1Corrinthians 13 about faith hope and love. We should not be afraid to hope for fear of disappointment, but we should remember that the only one who can never disappoint is Jesus himself. If our longings are centred around him, then they will truly be fulfilled.

AT the end of Psalm 42, we find the Psalmist giving his soul a good old talking to. He asks it why it is downcast – why so disturbed within him? Then, he says: “Put your hope in God. For I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.” We can become so earthly focused, so bent on one thing – only one possible answer to our prayers. When that doesn’t happen, we are distraught, and we listen to the lie of the enemy telling us God has let us down. God has never, and will never, let us down. We have to remember that his plans are higher than our plans, and his ways higher than our ways.

So, if you are feeling disappointed today, then please take a moment to re-focus your mind, not on the things you were hoping for that haven’t yet come to pass as you’d like them to, but on the one who is your hope, and your very life. Share your disappointments with him, and then allow him to fill you to overflowing with himself, so your hope will be replenished, and focused back where it should be – on Jesus. If we long above all else for more of him, then our longings will be fulfilled, and our hopes will be re-directed to the things he has in store for us.

Oh, and one more thing. I told you I’d share my word for 2019; well, it is simply the word “Hope”, and I’m looking forward to learning all God has to teach me about it during the year ahead.