Enduring Hope: Trusting God When the Future Is UncertainSample

Hope Deferred

Read: Proverbs 13:12

SOAP: Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a longing fulfilled is like a tree of life.

Into the Text

This verse about hope is descriptive, not prescriptive. It describes what happens when we have hope—desire accompanied by the expectation of something good—and how we respond when our hope is deferred or fulfilled.

If our hope is deferred, we feel pain. Our hearts can feel sick. We can experience physical pain as well as emotional pain. Our world can feel shattered. Our faith in God’s goodness can falter. We can be left with hundreds of unanswered questions.

When our hope is deferred, when what we desired or longed for or counted on does not come to pass, it does make our hearts sick. But this doesn’t mean that we were wrong to have hope. Our desire for something good, our hope for healing, restoration, or provision, is good and normal. When our expectation is not met, we need to give ourselves space to feel those emotions and be honest with God about where we are. But just because this may be the outcome does not mean we should never hope.

If our hope is fulfilled, we find joy and life! When the good things we expected come to pass, we can overflow with life and peace. Our world can change. Our faith in God’s goodness can be strengthened. We can finally see the answers to many of our questions.

The longings God fulfills for us on this earth are meant to remind us of the ultimate fulfillment of all our desires. In Christ, all our hope is fulfilled, all of our desires are met, and all the good things we expect will come to pass. When God fulfills our hope, it points us to the promise of Christ’s return. It reminds us that He is good and that He will one day redeem us from all suffering.

Hope, no matter the outcome, is a gift from God, meant to point us to Christ. When our hope is deferred, we can cling to the hope we have in Christ, the one hope that will never be deferred. When our longings are met, we can rejoice and look forward to the ultimate fulfillment of our hope that is coming in Christ’s return. Don’t give up! Whatever the outcome, God is still the same.