Hope Deferred
(Where is the God of My Salvation? Part 9)
By Mike Rule

I can almost hear the groans from some of you as you read the title of this week’s Reflection: “Oh no, not that series again. I thought he was over his whining!” Well, guess what? I thought I was too. J

This is an article that I have avoided writing for many months. In fact, it has been a point of disobedience for me. I have not wanted to face the depth of the pain I have inside -- the anger, and the bitterness that is attempting to drag me under.

This week’s article flows out of one simple verse that expresses our experience of the past six years:
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12 HNV)
The stress, pressure, anxiety and pain of our journey have brought me to the brink of mental, physical, and emotional illness. It is bad enough that I have to go through this, but seeing what it is doing to my family increases the pain exponentially. I have felt myself standing on the edge of a chasm of hopelessness and despond that scares me. I did not ask to be brought to this place; I have followed Him and this is where He has brought me. I can relate to the children of Israel who basically said, “God, You brought us here so we all could die! Let me go back to Egypt! At least we were safe there!” I cannot fault them for saying that. I understand.

Many brothers and sisters in Christ have had serious doubts about our path, but no one has had more doubt than I. Recently I was told it was time for us to move on, that the price we are paying is too great. But I keep coming back to one question: if we say that we are going to follow Jesus no matter the cost, why do we say that the price is too great when it costs us everything? There are no limits to laying down our lives. Death is death. It is the total loss of everything. Jesus said to take up the cross, lay down our lives, and follow. I don’t like the journey much. Knowing that the things that work death in me are the power points of His life really does not help any.

However, as I have pondered the verse mentioned above and seen my own sin-sick flesh as a result of my hopes being continuously dashed upon the rocks of despair, the Lord has shown me a few things that are encouraging. The Hebrew word we translate into “despair” is ‘maw-shak'. It comes from a word meaning to draw and is used in a great variety of applications (including to sow, to sound, to prolong, to develop, to march, to remove, to delay, to be tall, etc.). It literally means to draw along, draw out, continue, defer, extend, forbear, give, handle, make long, sow, scatter, and stretch out. What I found encouraging is that the passage refers specifically to sowing. In other words, hope deferred is a time of sowing. God is not simply putting us off. The implication is that something is being planted and will later spring forth into life.

In fact, that lines up perfectly with the rest of the verse. When Hope is delayed it is a time of sowing, but when that longing is fulfilled -- once that sowing is complete -- it will spring forth in Life. Jesus will be revealed in us!

If you are going through a period of deferred hope, be encouraged. You are not alone, and in due time you will reap a harvest. That is His promise to you today.

Verses for Reflection

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9 KJVR)

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12 HNV)

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: (Colossians 1:27 KJVR)