Hope Deferred

By |Published On: August 27, 2018|Categories: 4-Minute Radio Program|

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and that’s a pretty insightful verse from Proverbs 13. It describes life as it is, doesn’t it? Because how many times have you gotten your hopes up and then—I don’t know something ambushes everything and it all comes crashing down. Makes your heart sick, doesn’t it? You just feel awful. Well, that was the way I felt shortly after I got out of the hospital from the diving accident in which I became paralyzed. I wanted the use of my hands and legs back! Once I got home, I prayed and prayed that God would miraculously heal my body. And I really believed He would. I mean I needed faith, so I was calling friends up on the telephone, telling them to watch out for me, because soon I knew I would be walking and I’d come skipping up their driveway! Surprise! Months passed, and after all the prayers, all the anointing with oil, all the confession of sin and one healing service after another, it was clear that my healing was not meant to be. And my hopes were dashed! It was then I stumbled across Proverbs 13:12 and boy did that verse resonate. Hope deferred does make the heart sick.

But wait a minute. Stop! Read the verse again. It does not say hope crushed makes the heart sick; it says hope deferred. For some reason back many years ago, I somehow missed that word “deferred.” Because you see, we all know that often the Lord does say “No” to some of our requests for good and godly things. But is that to say our hope for that good thing is dashed forever? For that matter, is there any purpose to the ongoing wish that we might yet receive those good things for which we hope? Is there any redeemable value to the wistfulness of reflecting on unfulfilled longings? Well, I think there is. Why so do I think that? Because the word “deferred” is very different from the word “denied”. God is not about to, in the end, deny me a request that is good and godly. And as a child of God I am quite sure that I could not possibly have a good or Godly hope or a Christ-honoring desire that I will not find, in some way, completely and eternally fulfilled in heaven.

In other words, friend, my hope for the healing of my body has been postponed; it has been deferred. And someday, I am going to see that hope fulfilled. One day I will have my body back in working order and more. Better yet, a far greater body than the one I lost in that diving accident. And yes, my heart now on earth may be mildly disappointed; but in a way, this heart sickness is really kind of a home-sickness for heaven. My disappointment is really only a disappointment with earth – because it is earth that can’t satisfy; earth can never keep its promises. But hope will find its fulfillment in Heaven! Heaven, where the tree of life is planted and where all of our desires and longings, great and small alike, will finally be fulfilled in our eternal joy as we bask in the presence of Jesus.

Friend, I am sure you’ve experienced the heartbreak of a godly hope; a God-honoring hope dashed to pieces. And today take a minute to read Proverbs 13:12. In fact, have a whole booklet about Proverbs I’d like to send you. It’s a wonderful pamphlet that will help show you the richest of treasures in this poetic book of the Bible. It’s yours today for the asking. Just go to joniradio.org and ask for your gift, a free copy of Proverbs. And remember godly hopes deferred will one day find their fulfillment in heaven.

© Joni and Friends

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