* Unrelenting Disappointment

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

This week, I heard an evangelist make a simple, but profound statement. He said, "Hope is the soil (or seedbed) where faith can grow." It seemed very simple in delivery, but it pierced my soul. And the more I've thought about it, the more profound it becomes to me. For without hope, what happens to our faith?

In the day-to-day grind of things, life often becomes routine for lots of people. Automatic. Wake up, go to work, come home/run errands, eat, then whatever your nighttime schedule may be - go the gym, pay bills, watch TV, kids do homework or go to sports practice - then go to bed. Get up in the morning and start over.

For others, it's wishing they had a job to go to, worrying about the house, wondering what they'll eat or feed the kids or how they'll pay the bills, then go to bed. And they get up in the morning and it starts over.

For some, it's living with daily pain - physical, emotional, spiritual - until it's all they can do just to get through the day until it's time to go to bed. Then they get up in the morning and it starts over.

And for most, there comes a time when hope seems to dry up and blow away, scattered to the four winds along with whatever dreams they had. The Message interprets hope deferred as unrelenting disappointment. It's depressing just reading that, isn't it? It is a subtle weapon of the enemy of our souls! Without hope, there are no dreams. No faith for the desires of our heart that God has promised to give to those who delight in Him (Psalm 37:4).

We must look to God and seek His presence in our daily lives! If we relegate Him to the back burner of our lives behind everything else (or anything else), we aid the enemy in stealing our hope.

Paul tells us in 1st Timothy 1:1, This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope. And again in chapter 4:10, This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.

If you live in a world of unrelenting disappointment and you're heartsick, come to the Jesus for He is Jehovah Rapha, God our Healer.

Prayer:

Father,
            You are our Savior, our Healer, the One who gives us hope. You are our Peace, our Shelter. Our Rock and Strong Tower. Your banner over us is love! Lord, we want to be in Your presence where there is life. Our hearts declare Your Word, “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen