Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
(Proverbs 13:12) Several years ago, the following ad was printed in the Lost and Found section of a newspaper termed, "Classifieds": "LOST: MY WILL TO LIVE. If you find it, please return it to me." The verse above, Proverbs 13:12, is speaks of both HOPE DELAYED, HOPE OBTAINED. HOPE DELAYED: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." Years ago, a small town in Maine was chosen as a proposed site of a hydroelectric plant. Since a dam would be built across the river, the town would be submerged. When the project was approved, the people were given several months’ notice to relocate. During the time before the dam was built, an interesting thing developed. All improvements stopped, no repairs were made on buildings, roads, or sidewalks. Slowly the town became shabbier and shabbier. Long before the dam was completed and the waters came, the town was uncared for and abandoned – even though the people had not yet moved. One citizen explained, "Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present." Norman Cousins said, "Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." HOPE OBTAINED: "But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." Hebrews 6:19 describes hope as "an anchor of the soul.” Someone stated, "God makes a promise. Faith believes it. Hope anticipates it. Patience quietly awaits it." Through the prophet Habakkuk, God reassures, “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. " (2:3). Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, "In the turmoil of life without, and black despair within, it is always possible to turn aside and wait on God. He will always turn up." The English city of Coventry was made famous by the devastation it suffered in a Nazi air raid. Only the tower remained of the city's great Cathedral. One morning, an inscription was found at the base of the tower, written there by an unknown person during the night. It was the familiar passage from Haggai 2:9, "’The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Remember, "Nourish hope. Hope is the flame that rekindles our fire, and casts out darkness." Where in your life today do you need the hope of Jesus Christ? Comments are closed.
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