Waiting in Hope
Romans 15:13~“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)
It’s hard to overflow in hope much less be filled with joy and peace when you’ve been waiting for what feels like a lifespan.
We read in Proverbs 13:12 that hope deferred can make our heart sick. Let’s face it, once discouragement and despair set in, it’s too easy to lose our hope. If God is the “God of HOPE” how do we handle deferred hope?
Here’s the dictionary definition for deferred [adjective]:
1. Postponed or delayed. "deferred gratification; deferred military draft."
2. Withheld until a future date. "deferred benefits; a deferred payment."
3. Pertaining to delay of an action.
I think the waiting would certainly be easier to handle if we understood what was happening in the interim. For example: You had a beautiful vacation planned with your family and it gets canceled. You are told to rebook your trip at a later time, but every time you try to schedule your dream vacation you’re told to try again later. Frustration and disappointment don’t even begin to describe what you’re feeling!
But suppose the reasons for the delay are explained. Like, there's a greater blessing in waiting because your hotel is being remodeled into a luxury resort. Or the reason is for your safety because there’s been an outbreak of E. coli and dysentery that puts your family at risk.
Understanding WHY helps make the waiting more “tolerable”. We don’t always get our why question answered, but I’ve discovered some priceless nuggets buried in God’s Word that reveals what God is doing within us as we wait.
Isaiah 40:31 is a well-known verse that shows the end results of our waiting.
“Those who wait on the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will…”
• Change and renew their strength and power • Soar like eagles
• Run their races without growing tired or weary • Won’t faint nor give up
The Hebrew word for wait in this verse describes more than just passively waiting on God. It means: to tie, twist, bind, or entwine [to make a rope].
The Passion Translation really embodies this definition:
“But those who entwine their hearts with Yahweh will experience divine strength. They will rise up on soaring wings and fly like eagles, run their races without growing weary, and walk through life without giving up.”
In the waiting, God is twisting a rope and binding our hearts to His like an anchor. An anchor isn’t just for boats/ships; It’s described as any device used to bind one part to another, or to hold something firmly in place.
Hebrews 6:19~ 'We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold,' (TPT)
Hope isn’t something we have to muster up in times of crisis, hope has already been established for us ahead of time and offered to us. We just have to “seize” what is being offered and trust God to take it from there.
Hebrews 6:18b~ “And now we have run into His heart to hide ourselves in His faithfulness. This is where we find His strength and comfort, for He empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time—an unshakable hope!” TPT
SO WHAT IS YOUR HOPE ANCHORED TO?
Knowing what God is doing during our waiting times, can I dare to say… there can be NO ROOM OR PLACE GIVEN any longer FOR HOPE THAT SEEMS DELAYED, POSTPONED OR DEFERRED. Not when the TRUTH is: God is actively using this time to anchor you to Himself!
Stay tuned for part 2 in our HOPE SERIES…
It’s hard to overflow in hope much less be filled with joy and peace when you’ve been waiting for what feels like a lifespan.
- Waiting for answers to your prayers
- Waiting for circumstances to change
- Waiting for promises to be fulfilled
- Waiting for your children to come back to the Lord
- Waiting for healing
- Waiting for a relationship to be restored
- Waiting for direction
- Waiting for wisdom or just plain waiting for God to say anything!
We read in Proverbs 13:12 that hope deferred can make our heart sick. Let’s face it, once discouragement and despair set in, it’s too easy to lose our hope. If God is the “God of HOPE” how do we handle deferred hope?
Here’s the dictionary definition for deferred [adjective]:
1. Postponed or delayed. "deferred gratification; deferred military draft."
2. Withheld until a future date. "deferred benefits; a deferred payment."
3. Pertaining to delay of an action.
I think the waiting would certainly be easier to handle if we understood what was happening in the interim. For example: You had a beautiful vacation planned with your family and it gets canceled. You are told to rebook your trip at a later time, but every time you try to schedule your dream vacation you’re told to try again later. Frustration and disappointment don’t even begin to describe what you’re feeling!
But suppose the reasons for the delay are explained. Like, there's a greater blessing in waiting because your hotel is being remodeled into a luxury resort. Or the reason is for your safety because there’s been an outbreak of E. coli and dysentery that puts your family at risk.
Understanding WHY helps make the waiting more “tolerable”. We don’t always get our why question answered, but I’ve discovered some priceless nuggets buried in God’s Word that reveals what God is doing within us as we wait.
Isaiah 40:31 is a well-known verse that shows the end results of our waiting.
“Those who wait on the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will…”
• Change and renew their strength and power • Soar like eagles
• Run their races without growing tired or weary • Won’t faint nor give up
The Hebrew word for wait in this verse describes more than just passively waiting on God. It means: to tie, twist, bind, or entwine [to make a rope].
The Passion Translation really embodies this definition:
“But those who entwine their hearts with Yahweh will experience divine strength. They will rise up on soaring wings and fly like eagles, run their races without growing weary, and walk through life without giving up.”
In the waiting, God is twisting a rope and binding our hearts to His like an anchor. An anchor isn’t just for boats/ships; It’s described as any device used to bind one part to another, or to hold something firmly in place.
Hebrews 6:19~ 'We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold,' (TPT)
Hope isn’t something we have to muster up in times of crisis, hope has already been established for us ahead of time and offered to us. We just have to “seize” what is being offered and trust God to take it from there.
Hebrews 6:18b~ “And now we have run into His heart to hide ourselves in His faithfulness. This is where we find His strength and comfort, for He empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time—an unshakable hope!” TPT
SO WHAT IS YOUR HOPE ANCHORED TO?
Knowing what God is doing during our waiting times, can I dare to say… there can be NO ROOM OR PLACE GIVEN any longer FOR HOPE THAT SEEMS DELAYED, POSTPONED OR DEFERRED. Not when the TRUTH is: God is actively using this time to anchor you to Himself!
Stay tuned for part 2 in our HOPE SERIES…
1 Comment
I’ve held out hope for so long for rapid response work for so many dreams that I’ve had in my heart that it seems like there’s no end in sight to the hope deferred. Isaiah 40:31 is such a great reminder of the end result. I just keep asking the Lord to give me joy in the waiting. I’ll be lying if I said it hasn’t been hard and I haven’t thought about giving up hope many times but I know my God is a god of breakthrough.