(Hope Deferred makes the heart sick…)

O: What do you do when your heart is sick? Or better still what do you do when your heart feels dis-eased. The word ease means freedom from pain or hurting. If you are dis-eased or un-eased this means you are NOT free from pain, rather you are in an unhealthy state of body or mind. 

The feeling is a signal that something isn’t quite right. The scripture is telling us that we need to examine our hope which is in fact, our expectation. Hope deferred is hope delayed but delay almost always feels like denial, like it is not going to happen. So most of the time when hope is ‘deferred’ it feels lost and this takes us to a place of despondency. Despondency is an informer in the same way that Faith is. They both inform how you move and the actions you take. Despondency tells you that there is no hope, and invites you to stay, and even wallow in your loss of hope. At this point, we need to change the information that is informing our hope. We need to change the game; leading our own expectations by revisiting what we believe and know through experience. By doing this we revive hope and bring our heart to a healthy state and this is important because out of our hearts spring the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23 – NKJV)

A: When despondency sets in, let’s change the focus from just what we are feeling to what we know and believe is possible. With God all things are possible. 

P: Even when my heart is sick, or when despondency sets in, Lord help me to believe.