Proverbs 13:12 (KJV) "Hope deferreth maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life."
We start out in a relationship with Christ with extreme hope and expectancy that God will take care of everything which concerns our lives. Over time, however, it seems easy for us to lose that fervency we once had and our hope in Christ begins to slip. Maybe it's because our expectations weren't met in the time span we thought, or people involved in church have let us down, or we've just plain given up on God because we have failed or fallen down in our faith.
According to Strong’s Bible Dictionary, the word 'deferred' means to delay, draw out or become displaced. Our hope becomes delayed, drawn out - the things we hoped for haven't come to pass in our timetable;
Our hope becomes displaced - transferred to another place; our hope
becomes dependent upon our abilities, our jobs, our works, etc.
God’s promises are true, but His timetable is rarely ours. God never quits, but we do. Only God is able to fulfill 100% of our expectations. Humans will never be able to fulfill 100% of what's expected of them! If
our hope is placed in anyone or anything but God, we will be let down every time!
A displaced expectancy sets us up for disappointment. We tend to put high expectations on certain
people, certain situations, certain environments. These displaced expectations always leave
room for hurt. Such as, we have high
expectations of our relatives and friends.
Then when they don’t fulfill those expectations, we are wounded. Only God can fulfill our highest
expectations, but we must build those expectations upon His Word, His truth,
not on our selfish desires.
This scripture that speaks of the heart being sick is not speaking
of the blood pump, the organ that beats in our chest. It is speaking of the innermost part of our being,
this heart is the same meaning as the heart of a tree, the core. Our very core becomes sick. Dictionary meanings of the word 'sick' are, deeply distressed, upset, disgusted, revolted, weary, tired, pining, longing, in need of repairs, unable to produce - thoroughly weary, discouraged or bored.
Do you relate to any of
these definitions of 'sick' in your spiritual walk with God? If your answer is yes, then you're hope is deferred!
God desires to
impregnate us with a viable expectancy!
Satan wants to rob us of the ability to be reproductive!
God desires to jump
start our hope! Satan wants to keep our
hope dashed against the rocks of life!
God desires to heal our
disappointed expectations! Satan wants
to keep us in disappointment!
God desires to reproduce
His goodness through us! Satan wants to
reproduce his hopelessness through us!
Our hope must be built
on nothing less than Jesus Christ our Righteousness! Will we fail?
Yes! Will we fall down? Yes!
Did God know we would before He gave His Son as a ransom for our
sins? Yes! His decision to make a way for us was never based upon our abilities to 'be good enough'. He was well aware that we would 'never' be good enough, thus the need for the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ that would cover our shortcomings and failures.
I have told you these things so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I
have overcome the world. The words of Jesus in John 16:33
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