Hope Deferred

Article written by Brother Bledsoe

Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12 (KJV)

When you were a child, did you ever want something so bad that you just knew that when Christmas morning came around you would find it under the tree?

Or maybe your mother took you to see the real Santa Claus and you took him a list as long as your arm. Then when you started opening your gifts, nothing you unwrapped was what you had hoped for; you got clothes instead. Your parents bought what you needed and not what you wanted.

My dad, growing up in the great depression, said that sometime they would get an apple or an or orange and usually a pair of shoes which they never wore in the summertime because they needed good shoes in the cold of winter.

One year when they got a banana, they didn’t know what to do with it; they had never seen one before. They didn’t know whether to eat the peel or the inside. It didn’t take them long to figure it out. Most of the time, because they were so poor, they had no hope at Christmastime or any other time.

Maybe Tomorrow…

Do you have hope in God? Do you have a hope that someday your health will be better? Maybe the next doctor will figure out what is making you sick and will be able to fix it? Or the next place you apply for a job you will be hired? Or, you will be able to afford a dependable car? Or, and the list goes on and on and on. Maybe, because you prayed and asked the Lord to help you with something, and it didn’t happen or it hasn’t happened yet, you gave up on God and quit praying altogether.

You are not alone; your hope has been delayed and you have become sick at heart. Perhaps it is time for you to, once again pull on your combat boots, get up, get out and say to yourself like the Psalmist, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? and why are you disquieted in me? Hope again in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His presence.” What do you think friend? Is it time for you to change your way of thinking and believe again? Just asking.

Pastor Jim Bledose - Prayer ministry and weekly devotion author at Life Church in Phoenix
Brother Bledsoe
Prayer Ministry | Weekly Devotion
Share This Article

Subscribe to receive Weekly Devotion straight to your inbox.

Keep Reading

Weekly Devotion

Don’t Throw Water On That Fire!

Having pastored for more than forty years I have seen many ways that people put a wet blanket on the fire of the Spirit. The first and most obvious is unbelief which shows up in many ways; such as skepticism, stubbornness, pride, and sin in the life through unrepentance, etc.

Read More »

Beans And Taters

Think about it, how many mealtimes do you remember that you had to miss because there was no food in the house? I can’t remember any. Our meals might have consisted of beans and taters but we still had food on the table.

Read More »

Are You Following Another Rut?

My dad used to tell me stories of when he was young. He told me, when he would drive in the roads (they were not paved highways) that ruts would be so deep that he would take his hands off of the steering wheel and the old car would drive itself down the way in the ruts. It must have been the earliest version of the self-driving car. But I digress—again.

Read More »

More Articles >>

Post Categories

stay informed!

Event updates are sent out weekly on Monday mornings.

* indicates required

Subscribe To Receive Life Church News & Articles

* indicates required
Please select which articles you would like to receive. You may choose more than one!