Musings of a Hopeful Branch

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

              But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”

                             Proverbs 13:12 NIV

“It’s not fair!” 

Every kid, everywhere in the world, in various languages and various settings.

If you’ve raised kids, taught kids, been around kids or even been a kid, you’ve heard or said the phrase above. And, you may have even said what my parents often said when I said that whiny phrase:

“Life’s not fair.”

It’s so true. We live in a fallen world where some people win and some people lose. Some people find success in life while others repeatedly fail. The adult form of this would go something like…

“Why does he have a successful ministry, while I keep plugging along and see little fruit?”

“Why does she have such a great house and car while I just struggle to get food on the table?”

“Why do they have kids, when we struggle to just have one?”

“Why do they all have spouses, and I’m nearly 30 and still can’t find a normal person to date?”

“Why are their kids doing so well and they all get along while mine is off God knows where and can’t even respond to a simple text?”

These are no joke and are painful longings that some people suffer in silence. But, obviously even the disgustingly wealthy, polygamous, prolific King and writer of Proverbs had insight into what it feels like to have “hope deferred.” (Hard to imagine, isn’t it?)

We were at a point in our ministry that we were seeing real fruit. God was working like we’d never seen before, then POOF! We’re off the mission field and living in limbo for months.

I love and pray for people who ache to have children and keep having the rug pulled out from under them, people who long to find a spouse, but still go home to an empty house, and those who struggle to rub two dimes together, worried that the “other shoe is going to drop” and they’ll be left poverty-stricken. This is a hard world we live in sometimes, isn’t it?

But, if you’re a follower of Jesus, even in the midst of hope deferred for these temporary things, you have an eternal hope in Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. In Him, there is NO darkness at all. In Him, you are held secure, lifted up, and you can find joy in your desolate, dry garden of sorrow.

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is John 15. Jesus was speaking to His disciples in a parable about fruit. I’m not the best gardener. As a matter of fact, I could kill a plastic flower. But, the Lord who created me is able to make me fruitful if I have only one thing. It’s not weed-killer, vitamin-enriched water or special soil, it’s Him.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

John 15:5,7-8 NIV

Jesus calls us not to build up treasures on earth, to get married, or to have a houseful of children. He calls us to remain in Him.

He said another time, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:33)

Also, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10 NIV)

When you remain in Christ, filled with His Spirit, you begin to have His eyes. You see blessings in the midst of discouragement, you see abundance when there is great lack, you find warm fellowship in a place where there were once strangers, you see how He has orchestrated events and relationships and showered you with lovingkindness when you thought He had forgotten you. How can I say this? Because I’ve lived it…not just the past three months, but over the past 30+ years of following Jesus.

I don’t have any answers for you who, like me, are suffering from “Deferred Hope Disease,” but I do know that in remaining in Him, longing for Him, seeking Him, we will always find what we’re looking for. Jesus IS life. Remove the dark weeds of resentment and doubt from your heart, and stay connected, oh dear one, to the Vine. He promises that you WILL produce fruit. Fruit that will last so much longer than anything else you’re longing for.