Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12
This verse talks about two seasons of our life: a season of waiting and a season of fulfilment.
Inevitably all of us go through both these seasons in life.
All of us go through periods of waiting in our life. We keep hoping for the best things to come our way, although sometimes nothing seems to happen.
Not everyone waits for the same thing. Some of us wait for a long time to find a life partner, some to bear a child, some to get a job, some to buy a house, some to get a promotion… and we also wait for little things like at the hospital for doctor’s appointment...
Whatever the reason for the wait may be, King Solomon here says the season of waiting is not easy. In fact, he says it makes our hearts sick.
Again…nobody likes to wait. Waiting isn’t fun. It isn’t enjoyable. It’s hard. It’s discouraging, it’s confusing, it’s testing, it’s challenging.
But as Christians, we have a purpose behind our waiting. Maybe you don’t understand the purpose or you may even wonder what purpose is going to be there in this waiting, but God has a purpose.
And just as waiting is real, fulfilment is also real. King Solomon doesn’t stop the verse with Hope deferred makes the heart sick: Rather the verse continues but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
As people who have hope in Jesus Christ, the period of waiting should not make our hearts sick. Why does God give this waiting period? What does He want us to do during the waiting period? There are three important things you and I need to understand or do during our periods of waiting.
1. God is preparing you for His purposes
During your waiting period, God is working on you. He is also working on your circumstance. He prepares you and your circumstances for the future He has planned for you.
Moses was 80 years old when he led the people of Israel out of Egypt. His first 40 years were spend in the palace and the next 40 years in the wilderness (A total contrast!). Why didn’t God call Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt when he was 40 years old? By then, it was clear of Moses’ zeal for the Hebrews and his willingness to defend them. And Moses was clear of His calling. Why did God wait until he was 80?
There was a purpose. During those 40 years that Moses was in the wilderness, God was working on his character. At 40, Moses was young and energetic. However, his character was not refined. He was an angry man. He saw an Egyptian and a Hebrew man fighting and he killed the Egyptian. (Oh my God!) He saw two Israelites fighting, and he went to be their judge but was rejected.
Imagine if that same angry Moses had led the people out of Egypt. He probably would have killed half the stiff-necked Israelites himself!
So, it was important for God to work on his character. During those 40 years in the wilderness, Moses was becoming more and more humble. He was getting ready for God’s greatest call for his life. Rather, God was preparing Moses for a great task.
And you know how the angry Moses was later described in the Bible. Numbers 12:3 says, Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.
Look at the life of Joseph. He had a dream and a vision about his future from God. But everything that was happening in his life was completely opposite.
Imagine what would have been in Joseph’s mind when he first got the vision. He would have thought a day would come when God would exalt him in the land of Canaan and all his brothers would come down and bow before him. But God had a totally different plan. God wanted to exalt Joseph not in the land of Canaan but in the land of Egypt, so he can save the entire Egyptians and his own household from famine.
In order for that plan to be fulfilled, it was necessary that Joseph be sold, had to wait in prison until the day appointed by God. The prison experience helped Joseph to get closer to God. The prison experience was as necessary as God was preparing him for something far greater.
Or look at the life of David. David was anointed by Jessi when he was very young. But he did not immediately become king. He had to wait until he was 30 to become the king.
Do you know why? God was preparing David. David was a shepherd, not a warrior. Even when he fought with Goliath, he used a sling and stone. He used his faith to defeat Goliath. Nowhere later David used a sling and stone to fight his enemies. Because by the time He became king, he was a trained warrior. God used the period of waiting to prepare him to be the next King of Israel.
Ps 18:34 - He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
We live in a generation that wants everything now. Quick delivery. Wish today, order now, get it now. Unfortunately, God’s promises do not work that way. There is a process involved.
During the waiting seasons, God prepares you for the task that he has called you for. He works on your skills, your abilities, and your character. God gives you opportunities to develop. The faster you cooperate, the shorter your waiting time.
Are you waiting? Cheer up. God is working on you and your circumstances for something big. Something that you cannot imagine. Be certain, our good Father has good plans concerning you.
Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
2. Be faithful during your waiting seasons
This is the season of life when most people are tempted to take shortcuts. You want to see your dream come into reality, and sometimes can’t wait. But remember, God is looking at your attitude during the waiting season.
Sarah tried to take a shortcut in order to fulfil God’s promise. She brought Hagar into the picture and messed up with God’s plan.
I am impressed at David’s attitude during his waiting period. Although the next anointed king, he was still shepherding his father’s flock. And he was faithful in his work.
1 Samuel 17:34,35 - But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by it’s hair, struck it and killed it.
Wow! David needn’t have risked his life to save the sheep. Anyways no one appreciated his work. His father did not regard him. His brothers did not value his job. But David was faithful when no one was watching him. That is really important.
Proverbs 28:20 says A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.
Don’t murmur against God in your waiting period. Speak words of faith. God promised the land of Canaan to the Israelites but they constantly kept murmuring against God. What was the result? They did not obtain the promise. Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb…and Joshua…for they have wholly followed the LORD. (Numbers 32:11-12)
Ask God for patience if you are getting impatient.
What is important is that God is with you even during the periods of waiting. When Joseph was waiting in the prison, not knowing anything about the future, not knowing when his situation would change, God was with him.
Genesis 39:21 (NLT) - “But the Lord was with Joseph in prison and showed him His faithful love.”
Genesis 39:23 (NLT) - “The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.”
Someone said like this, “It may be difficult to wait on the Lord…but it’s worse to wish you had.”
3. Focus on God and not on the thing you are waiting for
Sometimes we are too desperate to get some things in life that our focus shifts from God to that longing/desire. Let me give you an example. If you are desiring a promotion or a house, you are constantly thinking only about that so that becomes your idol. That thing begins to take the place of God. Our desire or longing should not become our idol.
On the contrary, if your focus is on God, what will happen.? God will take control of your desires. Sometimes, God will make us realise that our desires are not His plans for us. He has bigger plans for us.
Isaiah 55:8,9 - “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Only when your focus is on God, you will understand God’s mind for you. You will realise that God has the best things stored up for you.
Matthew 6:33 - But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
