HOPE DEFERRED.
There is nothing worsethan a postponement. That is unless, of course, you were not looking forward to it to begin with – like school or the dentist. In that case, there is nothing betterthan a postponement. However, when it comes to hope, there is nothingworsethan a postponement.
We all want hope. We all desire hope. And we all have to wait on hope for come. In fact, hope ONLY takes place in the waiting.Once what we’re waiting on finally arrives our hope is realized. But until its arrival hope feels like a postponement. We are stuck paying into a hope deferral program.
PROVERBS 13:12 tells us,“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” The longer we wait for hope to come our condition worsens; the more bitter of a person we become, the more negative of a perspective we have, the more harshly words come from our mouth. All because hope has been deferred. What we are waiting on, according to this proverb, is for a longing to be fulfilled.
Sometimes we can want something so badly it hurts. Too often though, our desires have an attention deficient disorder. In the waiting room for one desire, another desire comes along and hijacks it. We simply go from one desire to the next without every truly being fulfilled. It is no wonder then that we are stressed out, overworked, depressed, and so unwilling to commit too much of anything.
After readingProverbs 13:12, I also read from Luke 14:33. It tells us the true longing we have and how to have that longingfulfilled. “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” The longing for hope is a longing for Jesus, our living hope (1 Peter 1:3). The only way to experience this hope is to give up (BIG GULP…) everything. It is to commit to having only one desire, Jesus.
It is not hard to imagine giving up something for Jesus. It is just hard to imagine giving up everythingfor Jesus. The only way to experience a longing fulfilled is to invest everything we have and everything we are into a desire. If this were the practice most of our desires would have never been entertained in the first place – much too high of price. Instead, we would ensure the desire we have is worth the cost of everything.
The desire for Jesus is worth the cost of everything. When we desire Jesus, Jesus will give us “the desire of our hearts” (Psalm 37:4).When we desire Jesus, Jesus becomes a tree of life, producing fruit in our lives. When we desire Jesus, Jesus fulfills everything longing of our heart with his living, resurrecting hope.
The question is not do you or I desire Jesus. The question is, “Will I give up everything to pursue that desire?”Jesus, make us a church and a people that give up everything to purse you. May you forever be our longing fulfilled. Amen.
Pursuing Jesus with you,
Pastor Jonathan, Sara & Emerson