Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12
A friend prayed this proverb for me when major life plans were dashed. I had thought the Lord was guiding me to move to another city to work with a Christian organization there. Conveniently, in that city lived a man whom I was sure the Lord had told me I would marry. But in the space of a week, I knew that neither would happen – neither would I work there nor marry that wonderful man.
My friend realized that I had seriously misheard the Lord, but she didn’t pass judgment on me. Rather she ministered to me through this proverb, for she saw that what my heart hoped for – marriage and being involved in an organization I loved – was now not coming true. And if I let my deferred hope fester within, my heart could become sick with sadness and disappointment.
She prayed with me, and helped me to release some of the pain and disbelief to God. I started to understand that I needed to mature in my listening; to test what I was hearing not only against the Bible but with trusted prayer partners.
It’s interesting that Solomon in this proverb simply observes the effects of hope deferred and longing fulfilled. He’s not pointing fingers at causes or behaviors that may have brought about the hope deferred. Sometimes merely stating the situation can bring healing and clarity – as with my friend who saw what was happening in my heart but didn’t tear me down for the mess I’d made.
Through my painful experience, I learned to give the Lord my dreams and plans. I became more rooted in his word and more mature in discerning his voice. And eventually my longings fulfilled became a tree of life.
Prayer: Root us in your word, Lord, that we might drink of your nourishment and feed on your good food.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5–6)
We might be tempted to think that this famous proverb is a prophecy. That is, if we put our trust in God, he will make everything work out – according to what we think is best. But the obvious fallacy there is that God is God and we are not. In contrast, when we trust fully in God, we bow to him with our plans, our hopes, our dreams, our futures. We seek his wisdom rather than our own.
And yet, amazingly, the Lord invites us to collaborate with him. He’s ahead of us, making our paths straight, but he’s also alongside us, as we join our hand in his. Throughout the day we can be engaged in a conversation with him, seeking his will and wisdom. When we are tempted to fly off the handle at our colleague, our child, or our neighbor, we can heed that quiet voice inside us as the Holy Spirit urges us to respond to their harsh words with kindness. Or we can enjoy the spark of inspiration as we create a tasty new dish, an insightful poem, or when we realize we know just what to say to a hurting friend.
And as we trust in God, he’s also behind us, as in Isaiah 30:21: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.’” The Lord wants to guide us, but he also wants us to use the initiative and creativity that he’s given to us. And so when we turn to the left or the right, we’ll hear his affirming voice saying that we’re walking his way.
How can you submit to and trust in the Lord today?
Prayer: Lord God, we might know that proverb word for word in our heads. Please make it come alive to us today in our every thought, word and deed.
Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. (Psalm 112:6–7)
You may not be surprised to learn that I read a lot of books. I’m drawn especially to those real-life testimonies of triumph over tragedy, where the author overcomes – with God – heartache, sickness, pain, and death of a loved one. With tears streaming down my face, I read of their challenges and am heartened by their courage and trust in God.
But it’s easier to read another’s story in a book than to live an unwelcomed “new normal.” The heart-stopping moment when the phone rings and you sense that the voice on the other line has bad news can be paralyzing and fear-inducing. When I was nineteen, one of my closest friends was killed in a car accident. Grief overtook me, and I questioned how the Lord could have allowed a young woman with such promise to die. It was the first time I had to face an altered reality, where something that wasn’t supposed to happen did.
I couldn’t echo the psalmist that I had no fear of bad news. In fact, just six months later another friend (although not as close to me) died of a brain aneurysm, and seven months later my beloved grandfather died. My faith was shaken, but all the rocking landed me in the everlasting arms of God. Through the months and years after, I explored the big questions of why God allows such suffering and pain. Seeking the answers helped me to develop a steadfast heart, as the psalmist says, of one who trusts the Lord. I began to see the crucial difference between God allowing something to happen and the Lord causing it. Of course I won’t fully understand the reasons why this side of heaven, but I began to know from deep within that the One whom I trusted was indeed trustworthy.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, sometimes our hearts are here and there and certainly not fixed on you. Help us in the bad and the good times to trust in your goodness.
At the start of a new year, after what was for many a difficult 2016, I thought it appropriate to look at some passages from the Bible on hoping and trusting in God. What has struck me time and time again is just how much God wants us to look to him as our life’s foundation. We might be tempted to trust in other people such as our family or our friends, money, status, work, or ourselves. But the Lord wants us to relinquish the throne and instead look to him for guidance, meaning, sustenance, and life.
As we move from the Old Testament to the New, we see themes emerge. Trusting the triune God can be challenging because he is unseen – yet real. But as we look to him, our faith grows when we see how he answers our prayers. We begin to realize that the foundation of our life is built on the hope of his promise of a life everlasting. But as especially the letters of Paul reveal, a component to hope in our world is suffering. The world is not now as God made it, and thus we will face pain, mistreatment, testing, trials and death. But as we look to God and seek his strength through his indwelling Holy Spirit, he will strengthen our hope and resolve. And even in the midst of suffering, he will give us joy.
A gratitude journal can be a practical way of bringing to mind the mercies of God, which are new every morning. Throughout the day, we could write down one, two, three or more things for which we give thanks. The crunch of the snow under our feet. Tea with a friend. A hot water bottle to warm our toes. The smile of a stranger. As we name these little things, they will over time turn into a big thing, as Ann Voskamp found as she committed to making a list of one thousand reasons she was thankful (see One Thousand Gifts).
As we become mindful of God’s mercy and moving in our lives, we will begin to trust in him even more. The snowball will gather more snow. May we look expectantly to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to bestow on us his true riches.
And now, over to our first devotional in this series.
Photo: Tito & Eva Marie Balangue, flickr
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? …But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me. (Psalm 13:1–6)
When we feel that God is silent, we can find it difficult and disheartening to keep the conversation going with him. We might decide it’s easier to curl up under the duvet and ignore him, or lose ourselves in our work, our kids, our volunteering, our leisure pursuits. Or if we’re really hurting, we may turn to addictive behaviour – eating, shopping, gossiping – to mask the pain.
But look what King David does in this psalm. It’s only six verses long, and he spends the first two-thirds saying, basically, “Hey God – are you there? I’m here talking to you and you don’t answer! My enemies are winning and you’re silent!” But he suddenly changes his tone, saying that he’s going to trust in God forever. And not only that, but that he’s even going to rejoice and praise God, for the Lord has been good to him.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t so easily make the jump from asking God where he is to affirming my trust in him. I more readily let my feelings rule my thoughts, and either keep up the whinge-fest or shut down the conversation all together. But here I’m reminded of “stop thoughts.” We can train ourselves to cease our complaining and ask God through his Holy Spirit to change our feelings. We can remind ourselves of a favorite verse; perhaps even a modification of Psalm 13:6: “The Lord has been good to me.” We might still feel rotten, but as we remind ourselves of God’s loving attributes and how he’s created us for himself, we might see our emotions catch up and change. Even as putting a smile on our face can actually make us feel joy, so too can affirming God’s truth help us reorient ourselves emotionally.
Prayer: Father God, I’m sorry when I let emotions get the best of me. Please help me change, that I might reflect your goodness and love.
