A dear young friend posted a comment on Facebook recently stating that she had lost all hope and trust. Wow! That’s a tough place to be in. I posted a comment under her gloomy declaration to let her know that no one can take your hope away, but you can give it away. Only you can give hope or trust away and only you can take them back. And, that you have to take your hope back before you can take your trust back.
Thinking that my reply might have seemed a bit trite, I thought I should put a little more thought into the subject, for her sake as well as my own. If some of you are struggling with hope or trust issues, then perhaps this might benefit you as well.
The scriptures tell us that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when desire comes, it is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12. Nothing can make your heart (read soul) sicker than hope that has slipped through your fingers, or hope gone sour while waiting long and hard for expectation to be realized.
The above verse says that it is “hope deferred” that makes the heart sick. How do we “defer” our hope? The word defer means: to submit to the opinion, wishes, or decision of another. I think, then, that we can infer that we can become heartsick when we submit our hope to the opinion, wishes or decision of anything or anyone other than God. After all, we are clearly told over and over that we are to hope in God, and God alone – that this kind of hope will not disappoint us (Romans 5:5). Check out September 9th’s blog for more on “Dealing with Disappointment”.
So, what are some of the ways that we can defer our hope to things other that God? For starters, stop looking at dead things. Before Jesus revealed Himself to Mary at the Garden tomb after His resurrection, an angel had asked her this question, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Luke 24:5. We waste so much time looking at dead things that we often end up putting our hope in those dead things. That misplaced hope will surely disappoint us. What do I mean by dead things? Anything that has no eternal value, anything that you know is going to burn at the end of the age, anything that is perishable is a dead thing. Don’t linger long over regrets – they will sap your spiritual strength and weaken your hope. You will never find life while looking at death. I won’t attempt to further define what constitutes “dead” for you, only you can do that. Let the Word of God be your guide.
Be certain of this, misplaced hope or trust will always wreck havoc with your soul. I seriously doubt that many of us ever really completely lose hope, we just forget where we put it. We take our cares and concerns to God, we lay them at His feet, then we go on our merry way, looking here and there for the fulfillment of all our hopes and dreams. King David tells us 25 times in the book of Psalms alone to “put your hope in God”. A number of times he speaks to his own soul and commands it to put it’s trust in God. Your soul, the seat of your emotions, will need to be reminded on a regular basis to keep it’s hope rooted and grounded in the only source of true and lasting fulfillment.
Run back to the throne dear children of God, for He alone can bring His plans and purposes to pass in your life. Oh, and by the way, you have a promise that He will do just that:
“Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.” Isaiah 46:11
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
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