Scripture:
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12
Observation:
When something that we hope for doesn’t come to pass, we become sickened at heart, we are disappointed. Disappointment is a sickness of the heart because it can surely lead to depression, discouragement, a negative attitude, and despair. It can easily take our focus off God and put it on to the situation. But we are not promised a life without hope. On the contrary, we are given the promise of God’s plan for a hope and a future for our lives. When disappointments come our way, we have to choose to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. He does have a plan and we can trust in Him and His plan.
Application:
Keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus helps me to rest assured and to be still in His presence, even in the disappointments. Just recently, my husband’s plans to purchase a home ended up in a tangled web of letdowns. What he hoped for, what he anticipated was not the reality. It was very easy to slip into despair after all the emotions that was ramped up within the family. Yet, the Lord brought great wisdom and fore sight into what His plans are. Although they didn’t include the plans our flesh had established for the moment, I am reminded of Psalm 37:4… delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart… and that totally confirms the second part of the scripture for me… when the desire is fulfilled…. It doesn’t say if…. It says when! God has a plan! A plan for a hope and a future. I don’t know the plan, but I trust in Him. I don’t know when it will happen, but I trust in Him. The hope might be deferred, but it will come to pass, just as the Lord has promised. And it will be His plan, not ours! How cool is that! How will I be different today because of what I have just read? I will rejoice that everything is in His hands.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for your words of wisdom. Thank you that you have taught me today to deal with disappointments in a manner that glorifies your name. And that is to keep my eyes focused on you! To trust in your plans for me, not in my plans for myself. Thank you that you know the desires of my heart. Thank you that I find more and more ways to delight in you every single day. You are ever present and ever near. Thank you that hope is never gone, it may just be deferred. Thank you that during the times it is deferred, that I hold on to you and I learn all that you have for me during that season. In your mighty name I pray… amen
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1 comment:
Thank you for that. My daughter, Amara was diagnosed with Tourettes Syndrome almost four years ago. We have prayed and believed God would heal her but when it gets really tough and her tics start to be so bad she cries, I start to doubt God showed me this scripture recently. I googled it and then I got your site. Thank you for helping me understand this scripture better. I have people tell me if I would just pray and believe more then she would be healed. They don't know how much I believe and how much I pray. So sad that my greatest adversaries seem to be my brothers and sisters in Christ. My precious God sees all that she is going through and he cares. I don't understand the why's of it all but I do know the character of God. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you again for writing this! Here is my e mail.... letsglowproductions@yahoo.com
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