What do you hope for?

Proverbs 13:12 says, “hope deferred makes the heart sick.”  I have been thinking a lot about hope lately. I really think we need to be careful in this area. If you are like me, you may find yourself hoping for things fairly easily. When some of our hopes and dreams do not pan out the way we want, we can easlily become dissilusioned, depressed and frustrated.

It’s only natural to hope for things, or to put our hopes and dreams on things that we wish for.

This verse in Proverbs is not telling you and I not to hope in anything. It is simply stating a fact of life – hope that is delayed eventually makes the heart sick. Many of us literally get sick inside because of the anxiety and stress brought on by hope that is dissappointing us, or letting is down. We wanted to make the football team, but we were passed up. We hoped to get promoted, but instead we were overlooked. We hoped to get married in our college years, but instead we cruised on through college with nothing but our degree… No ring, no spouse.

I think it is natural to hope, but it is better to keep our hopes and dreams in God. One of the ways I do that is to constantly give my hopes and dreams to God and to be willing to never experience them if that is God’s plan. That way, if things don’t work out the way I hope, I am okay and can accept God’s direction and move forward with confidence.

On the other hand, sometimes we need to keep pursuing a God-inspired hope and to not give up until God tells us to.

If you are sick because of a hope about something that is not panning out the way you want, give it up to God. Otherwise your heart will stay sick.