Hope Deferred - Dan Hitz

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
    but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:12 NIV

All of us at one point or another will experience the crushing that Proverbs 13:12 refers to. It may be the dashed hope of a lost loved one repenting and returning to Christ, unanswered cries for physical healing, or the unfulfilled hope for freedom from painful thoughts that we just can’t seem to shake. We know Jesus could swoop in and change our situation in an instant. But He doesn’t. For whatever reason. Our hopes are deferred. It ain’t happennen… At least for now.

What is our response during those tough seasons? Can we sincerely rest in the Lord, and trust that He is working in our hearts even if we don’t understand why He isn’t moving the way we think He should? Do we get ticked off at Him? Are we like the man who seemingly waits in vain at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years, not even sure why he’s still there? Can we trust that in spite of the unanswered prayers… the deferred hope… for whatever we are longing for, the Lord is doing something deeper in our hearts that is much more important that the thing we are immediately focused on. Most of the time He doesn’t share the details. Sometimes, years down the road, we realize what He was doing in while we were in the wilderness. Sometimes we never figure it out. No matter the case, He is faithful. He does care about you and has your best interested at heart. May our hearts remain open to Him, even when we don’t understand Him.

I’m in a season now where the Lord is beginning to revive lost hope. There was a desire and vision that I truly believe the Lord placed in my heart. It was precious to me. It was also dashed to pieces. Very small pieces. Not only was hope deferred, it was lost. My heart was sick. In some ways, it is still healing. And now, I see the Lord beginning to set things in order to step once again into that vision. At times I find myself excited that He is resurrecting things. Other times, I find myself afraid to hope again. I don’t want my hopes dashed. I don’t want to run ahead of Him, pull a Moses, and spend 40 years wandering the wilderness. I don’t want to pull an Abraham and create an Ishmael. But I do want the Lord to do whatever it is that He wants to do in my heart and my life.

If you’re like me, you may sense a pain in your heart when you see others stepping into their vision. Part of you is happy for them, yet part of you still feels the sting. You may wonder why it isn’t you. Try to remember during those times that you are seeing their excitement. You aren’t seeing the years of deferred hope and painful losses that they likely experienced while they were waiting to be in the place they are now. If you know them well enough to ask them, they may be able to share some of those details with you. In time, they may even be able to share some of the deeper things the Lord was doing in their hearts during their time of waiting.

If you’re in a long, drawn-out season of waiting, I hope you can take some time to sit quietly with the Lord and focus on Him rather than the things you wish He would do. Admit any bitterness you may have. Ask Him to show you some of the deeper things He is doing in your heart. Ask Him to help you focus on some of the good things He is doing in your life right now. If you can’t come up with anything good, ask Him to comfort your heart and help you accept the situation you are in now. That doesn’t mean that you pretend a bad situation is good. It means that you ask God for the grace to endure your situation while He shows you how to navigate through it. Remember, He loves you. He is working on something much deeper and much more important in your heart than the thing you are immediately focused on. That’s a difficult concept to grasp. It takes much grace. But it is true.

In 2006 I wrote an article called “Hope Deferred. Hope Displaced”. Through the years, it has been one of the most read articles in our archives. It might help you. You can find the article by clicking here.

The Fiery Dart of Condemnation

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

Romans 8:1-2 NLT

One of the enemy’s biggest weapons against you is condemnation. Condemnation robs you of your faith in Jesus Christ to complete the work that He began in you. Rather than inspiring you to continue resisting sin, condemnation pushes you to resign yourself to sin. It tells you that you might as well keep on sinning, since you can’t seem to get victory anyway. Condemnation also robs you of your confidence in the words and spiritual goals the Lord has given to you. “How can I dare believe that the Lord will use me for His purposes after all I’ve done… after all I keep on struggling with?”

Sin breeds condemnation. The remedy for sin is repentance. Jesus Christ gave His life to pay the penalty of our sins, and He rose from the dead to empower us to overcome our sin. If He is your Savior, He lives in you. Jesus has already provided everything you need for repentance and cleansing. 1 John 1:8-9 NLT reads, “8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” Yes, we have sinned, but confession and repentance is the process whereby we are cleansed from our sin and the weaknesses in our heart. It is a process. The process must be a lifestyle.

If the Lord has spoken to your heart and called you to a special place in the Kingdom, no doubt the enemy has spoken words of accusation and discouragement to you again and again. He did it to Nehemiah and the Israelites as they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. In Nehemiah, Chapters 4-6, Sanballat and Tobiah hurled accusations and threats to try to discourage the workers from completing the task that the Lord had given them. They even used legal threats to try to get them to stop. The good news is that Nehemiah encouraged the Israelites to trust in the Lord, ignore the enemy’s threats, and keep on building. It wasn’t easy, but they completed the task the Lord gave them. The walls of Jerusalem were successfully rebuilt.

As you continue to walk towards the vision – the calling – the Lord has given you, remember repentance. As you allow the Lord to cleanse your heart, He will empower you to overcome “the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12.1 NIV) and fulfill the task He has give you. Remember the words of Isaiah 54:17 NLT, “But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!”