Hope Is Right There

Hope Is Right There

Have you ever wanted something that never seemed to come to pass? I think we have all been there. I have spent long hours over many days praying for some things.

There have been many times when that persistence paid off but there have also been disappointments. The Bible calls those times of patient waiting, “hope deferred.” Proverbs 13:12 tells us that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.”

It is painful to wait for something we are hoping for, but the Bible is loaded with examples of men and women who endured such pain. The good news is that God can answer those prayers for us. We grow stronger exercising our faith while we wait for God in tough times.

Hope deferred is Peter singing hymns while behind the bars of a Roman prison. It’s Daniel, trusting God after being thrown into a lion’s den. It’s Hannah praying to become a mother. It’s Ruth following Naomi to an unknown land. It’s Elijah running from Jezebel. It’s Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Hope deferred is every one of us. We all want God to answer our prayers. Sometimes, He wants us to wait because there is something beautiful in that waiting and longing. Habakkuk writes:

Habakkuk 3:17-18

“Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

There is a sweet satisfaction in leaning on God when we want something the most. We don’t always get what we want, but we get what we need the most. We get Him. Hope deferred draws us closer to God.

That is what prayer and hope are all about. He allows us to come closer and that is the blessing that we seek. The last half of Proverbs 13:12 says it all: “... desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”