Hope Deferred
Submitted by Frank Williams
June 2, 2025
Pr 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
Faith and Hope are inseparably linked together in Scripture. Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith believes in the promises of God, and the heart has a sure hope that they will be fulfilled—in God’s time.
The history of many Bible patriarchs is the story of hope deferred. Deferred hope is not dead hope, though it may “make the heart sick.” It is merely delayed.
Jacob’s story is an example. When he fled from his brother Esau, the Lord appeared to him at Bethel and promised to bring him back to Canaan and fulfill the promises he had made to Abraham.
Ge 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
After many years, Jacob returned to Canaan but only for a time. When famine broke out, Jacob left Canaan again and went down to Egypt. Before Jacob’s departure, the Lord assured him that his offspring would become a great nation in Egypt.
Ge 46:3-4 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: 4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
Hundreds of years later, Jacob returned to Canaan in a coffin. Before his death, Jacob had made Joseph swear to bury him in the Land of Promise (Gen. 50:5). Jacob’s request expressed a hope that was born of faith, not just a longing for home.
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Faith and hope are long-range visions that sees God’s promises as fact before they become part of our experience. Faith is the key to hope. Faith is not wishful thinking or pie-in-the-sky sentimentality. It does not eliminate longing, but it does redirect it.
Faith is what reality looks like to those who view it through the lens of Biblical Truth.
Consider – It is possible to be different and still be right.
