“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
I think it’s significant that the Bible assigns hope a place right up there with faith and love. It lets me know that God thinks hope is important, that it is a very necessary element to my success in life.
I’ve had a unique opportunity at my place of employment over the past few years. Funny, until the very moment I’m writing these words, I haven’t quite looked at the events that have befallen my professional life as an opportunity. It started back in 1998 with a promised pay raise—a substantial raise. Then, when everyone’s hopes were high, the raise didn’t materialize. Not that it wasn’t given at all—it just wasn’t given to a very small group of which I happened to be one. The reason was arbitrary: as simple as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The result was an exaggerated sense of devaluation.
My point is this: like it or not, the psychological impact of this little scenario was profound. I watched expectations melt away. The bright future people had envisioned seemed to crumble and fall through their fingers. So extreme was this perception that some people abandoned 10- or 20-year investments in their careers. They simply quit. Many who stayed grew jaded, some even bitter. We became a textbook example of Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick…”
People need hope. We need to expect to see our desires fulfilled. It gives us a reason to get up in the morning. When our hope gets damaged, we stop daring to let ourselves desire. That, my friends, is a very great tragedy because life without passion is not life at all, in my humble opinion. I think that’s where too many of us are living: in the netherland of “hope deferred”. And according to the Word, we’re sick of heart.
I want to be whole of heart, strong in heart and spirit. The Bible teaches that even when I’ve had a setback, or a few, I have to open myself up to hope again. I have to dare to cherish once again my deepest desires with the expectation they will be fulfilled. How do I manage this? The only way I know is to encourage myself with the truth. What truth? That my Redeemer lives. That I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That He has promised me the desires of my heart. That I have never, ever seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging. That the heavens and the earth will be removed before His covenant of mercy departs from me. Even from me!
I have learned one thing with age, one thing that makes getting older a little easier to take: Hope deferred is not hope denied. Though the things I desire are delayed, though my dreams are a little tardy—by my estimate—in coming home to roost, they will surely come. They must. Because the whole of Proverbs 13:12 goes like this, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when—not if—when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” I plan to eat from that tree of life, in this flesh and forever. And until I feast on that sweet meal, faith will be the substance in my mouth. I can wait. The best things are always worth waiting for.