May 13

May 13 - Today from Proverbs 13 we look at verse 12
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

'Hope' is more than a wish; it is a desire accompanied by expectation. Whatever the object of hope might be, there are accompanying indicators that raise the expectations of the one who hopes. I love the definition of faith in the KJV text of Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hope is not substantial. What makes hope real for people are the substantial indicators which point to fulfillment of that hope. The Blessed Hope of every believer is the return of Jesus Christ to consummate God's eternal plan, to execute eternal justice, and to take us to our eternal home. There is nothing substantial in that hope because it has never before been done and it is beyond our comprehension. So, God gave us a gift called faith. Faith is substantial. It comes from hearing God and that can be confirmed through His written word (Romans 10:17). Hebrews 11 goes on to give many examples from the Old Testament of common everyday people, just like you and I, who heard God and who believed God's Word (unchanging), even above their circumstances (which are always temporary and subject to change - 2 Cor. 4:18).
Mockers and fools do not view faith to be substantial because they do not believe God. They build hope from much more unreliable indicators. Hope deferred is a result of placing too much confidence in those unreliable indicators. The heart becomes sick when the object of hope has been elevated to a place of very high value, and then that hope vanishes. Mockers and fools are not the only victims of hope deferred; believers can also fall into this heart-sick trap. We can be lured into misplacing our values, and then building up our hopes on those values. Our expectations are tied into an expected performance of temporal things. In the recent past, many believers became heart-sick when they watched their life savings substantially diminished in the stock market. Bull markets are always temporary. Money itself is only temporary. Even it will fail in the day of wrath. Proverbs 10:15 says, "The wealth of the rich is their fortified city." It appears that those who live in a wealthy society or culture place their wealth as a pretty high indicator of their hope for a safe and secure future. They are setting themselves up for some heart-sickness. Money isn't the only substantial indicator of hopes that are subject to be deferred. It is just one of the most common. Check out a person's values and you will soon discover the threat to their hopes.
On the other hand, when one sets their desires in the proper place, and those longings are fulfilled, life happens. It may be misplaced hope that brings heart-sickness, but there is a cure. Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way the truth and the life." Anything connected with life is connected with Jesus. If one seeks to find healing from the tree of life, then one must place their desires in Christ. He promises that if you seek, you will find (Luke 11:9). When your heart is seeking fellowship with Him simply to know Him, and that longing to know Him is fulfilled, all of the heart-sickness that was choking your life will disappear. You will have indeed found the healing which comes from the tree of life.
When you read the gospel accounts of Jesus' life, you will see Him encounter many heart-sick people. Their hopes were dashed and they had very little life left to which they could hang on to. And then they met the Giver of Life. They found a substance called faith - faith in this One who is the essence of life. Their hearts were cured, and they found a new passion. A passion to follow the One who held eternity. He is the same today as He was yesterday. He stills beckons us to come to Him when we are heart-sick. He still calls us to study His Word and listen for His voice - for from it will arise faith, and faith is the substance of things hoped for.
In Him we have everything and yet we continue to look outside of Him for things on which we can build our hope. Wisdom seeks to build all hope in Him and to be careful where passions are placed.