Let Hope Remain!!!
A popular saying is “if you haven’t got your health, you have nothing.” Well, I have a different opinion than that. I have had health issues since the day that I was born, but I cannot agree that I have nothing. In my experience, the more accurate saying is “if you haven’t got hope, you have nothing.”
The good news is that even if you don’t have hope right now, that can change. Tomorrow can be the first day of a new hope-filled future for you. Truthfully, hopelessness can be turned into hope, even quicker than that, if Jesus is the reason for your hope.
Another popular saying is that “Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.” Some people consider that to be true, while others don’t necessarily feel that way.
At this time of year, people are generally very busy with Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating, Christmas baking, etc. The trees, lights and elaborate evidence of Christmas can all be very captivating.
However, if you are longing for something – whether it be a healing in your body, mind or spirit, restoration in your finances, restoration of a relationship, or anything else in your life that needs a touch from God, that doesn’t go away. It may not have as much of your attention as other times, because there is so much festive activity. Sometimes though, special times like this Season, can make whatever causes your heart to ache…even worse. In any case, when Christmas has come and gone, your desire for that thing that is currently missing from your life, still remains.
So, when that happens…how should we respond?
Proverbs 13:12 (ESV) tells us, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
By definition, if something is deferred, it is delayed, or put off to a later time. Deferred doesn’t mean that something will never happen, it is just delayed from happening at this present time.
God’s timetable often differs from ours. That difference in His timing and ours can sometimes cause us to be disappointed or discouraged for a time.
When disappointment or discouragement comes our way, it is important for us to deal with it in such a way as is pleasing to our heavenly Father, and affirms our belief that “God has got this. He is still on the Throne.”
- Seek God’s Will for the situation, and pray for God’s Will to be done. If we are praying for something that is according to God’s Will, we need to stay in faith. God says to us in 1 John 5:14-15, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
- Stay in faith and stand firm. Always remember that God is faithful. His timing may be different than ours, but His love for us is never-ending, and His ability to provide for all of our needs is limitless.
- Be Patient. God is not being mean, and trying to harm us by making us wait for His answer to be revealed to us. There is a purpose for a season of waiting.James 1: 2-4 (ESV) says,”Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (Some versions say patience, instead of steadfastness)
- Keep reading the Bible faithfully. As we commit to absorbing as much of God’s truth and His promises, our perspective will become more like His, and our faith will grow.
- Speak words that agree with God’s promises. Proverbs 18:21 (ESV) reminds us that, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” When we speak words that line up with what God says, our faith increases, and becomes evident. People can see that we are living by faith, not by sight. Plus, our own sense of expectancy rises and our perception of our reality changes, and in God’s perfect timing, our faith and hope will lead us to the place of being able to see God’s Hand at work in our circumstances, more than we could before.
As we approach a new year, some people will make New Year’s Resolutions, and some won’t. Either way, God has nothing but good gifts for His Children.
Because of Him, we can live in expectation for the good things to come!
Because of Him, we can live in hope!
