Has Hope Deferred Made Your Heart Sick?
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I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I just wanted to hide.
Nothing was visibly going wrong. Everything seemed okay at work. Everything seemed okay in my friendships. And I wasn’t married yet, so I didn’t have any romantic relationships to worry about.
But I was moping around. Unmotivated, apathetic. I wanted to stay at home and hide all the time. If I had had access to one, I would have loved to have crawled into a cave and not come out.
I wanted to keep the world away. I couldn’t face anybody.
I don’t remember how long this went on. All I remember is how disengaged from life I felt.
I just didn’t want to have anything to do with … well, anything.
Then one morning, going about my regular routine, I hit a proverbial wall. I had gotten ready for work and was ready to walk out the door … when I just. couldn’t. anymore.
I remember the exact spot. I fell to my knees on the floor at the end of my bed and cried out to God–words I hadn’t even known I was thinking just welling up out of my spirit:
“Father, please. Give me my hope back. Fill me with hope again.”
It was a short prayer. A desperate prayer.
But quickly, it was an answered prayer.
Nothing dramatic happened on the outside in that moment that would have accounted for how God answered. Nobody called to encourage me. Nothing great just suddenly happened that just made all my dreams come true. Nothing like that.
But as I rested there a moment, on my face in a fetal position before God, hiding from the world–
–He answered.
It was like a heavy dew or maybe even a gentle rain, spiritually speaking. All of a sudden, I simply felt hope seeping into my soul.
Into my heart. Into the fibre of my being.
Hope. Sweet, precious hope.
It made all the difference in the world.
Some of you who are reading this today may have lost your hope, just like I had. And all you want is to get your hope back.
If that’s you, beloved, I want you to know that no outward change will restore your hope. Hope is a spiritual substance; a gift from God. It’s something that only He can give … but He IS Hope, and He wants to refill you with hope right now.
And the good news is:
- You don’t have to wait for your relationships to get better to have hope.
- You don’t have to wait for your finances to get better to have hope.
- You don’t even have to wait until you always think perfectly, act perfectly, or have perfect faith in order to have hope.
Nope. None of those things are the determiners of hope. Hope comes from Jesus.
Without hope, our heart becomes sick. Proverbs 13:12 says:
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12 ESV).
But when we HAVE hope, we can hang in there and stand strong until our Father does, in fact, change our circumstances.
So do you want to get your hope back today?
If so, stop right where you are. Present your need to Papa God in prayer. Ask Him to fill you with hope again, and help you to stand and wait for whatever answer to prayer you need in faith.
Even if the thing for which you’ve been praying–the dream for which you’ve been waiting–still takes awhile to arrive, Papa God wants to fill you with HOPE right now.
Beloved, no longer does your heart need to be sick. No longer do you need to wait in despair or discouragement. No longer do you need to hide from the world.
Ask Father God today to fill you with His hope, and He will. His hope will make all the difference in the world.
Does this message encourage your heart today? If so, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
It is encouraging. God knows what we need even when we don’t. I pray He blesses with what He sees fit as we fast for the Bridegroom.
He sure does. And yes, He has ways of blessing us even beyond our prayer list!
What a wonderful God we have????♥️
This is for me Jaime because just this morning that dreadful feeling of despair came again. I have been experiencing that for a while. It was only last week I realised that it was despair. There are things that I have been praying and believing for many years which have not manifested into the natural realm as yet. Somehow despair hits me the hardest on the beginning of the week. I continue to believe that my situation will change soon.
I prayed for you, June. I agree with you for the change in your situation you desire. That Papa God, Abba Father, would bring you onward and upward and pour out His Spirit of Hope and comfort on you today, in Jesus’ name.
Sick heart here in need of friends and family and a husband. I’m so alone.
Thanks for this message, it really inspired me. It made me want to have hope again because it seemed like I was losing it slowly. Im glad that it’s coming back.
I’m so glad the Lord is giving you your hope back too, Alia. May His hope soak through your pores in a renewing, refreshing rain of His Spirit and power today.
I have some unanswered prayers that are weighing me down but I will put on a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Please agree with me.
I prayed for you, sister. May Papa God bring you signs of land and show you how He’s working on your requests.
Love it! Signs of land…I need it desperately. I do wonder deeply about the 2nd part of the scripture – “but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” How do you keep from hopelessness when prayers go unanswered for 15, 20 years? Some may turn from God, but I turn on myself, telling myself it must be my fault, I’m doing something wrong, I am unblessable. Then I turn to self sufficiency and bare down on “fixing” things, which in the end, I cannot do. Prayers and insight appreciated 🙂
It describes me a lot in some situations. But sometimes (like right now) it’s hard to have hope.
Ask the Lord for it, brother.
How are you doing on your list that we talked about?
I prayed to forgive every single person on my list. Things are okay forgiveness wise, it’s just that I’m impatient that things happen quickly, it’s hard to wait on God and accept things go His ways and not our ways. I know it has to be His time and not mine but sometimes I would like that things would go quicker.
Very glad to hear that. 🙂 You did great! Are you noticing a difference?
Yeah I don’t really care about what happened with those people anymore.
Very cool.
I just emailed you about the other thing we’ve been discussing. 🙂
My sisters? Except A Miracles Any Day Now.
Yes! I am expecting Papa to move every day. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us ALL THE DAYS of our lives! <3 Thank You, Abba Father!
Thank you so much for that wonderful encouragement…i’m so blessed
I pray the Lord would restore your hope today in every way you need Him to, Kesa.
I pray that God, the Source of hope, will FILL US COMPLETELY with joy and peace because we trust in Him. Then we will OVERFLOW with CONFIDENT HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit. (from Romans 15:13 emphasis mine)
Singing…You are my Hope, Hope like no other, Hope like no other, reaches to me…in the fulness of Your Grace, in the power of Your name, You lift me up, You lift me up!
Amen and amen and amen!
Thank you for this powerful word Jamie. Been a long time im waiting for my desires and dreams to come to pass at times its so easy to give up when things dont come to pass , but hope help me to not quit and wait for his season.God bless.
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Yes, this does encourage my heart. I’m without a job now and I am patiently waiting and tryin to keep my faith. I know something is coming but the wait can make you weary sometimes.
Kahn J.
Thank you Jamie for this wonderful reminder to call on God for our needs. Hope is something I need daily and I forget to seek Him and find the hope only he can give. God bless you. ??
I am dealing with depression and anxiety. I am trying to stay positive and pray to God. I need more hope.
Tina, I know how that feels. I had that (not diagnosed though) last year. My friend suggested reading John 10 over and over, as well as Psalm 23. That advice was much appreciated, and it helped me. The Lord bless you, keep you, and give you peace
I had lost hope and even had got stressed, I kept on asking God to revive me, and casting the spirit of stress God helped me and I am fine now. I have told myself that I have to wait for God’s time for all that I have praying for from God. Thank you for sharing this with us. May God Bless you it is always nice to know that you are not alone.
I appreciate your words of encouragement, but still have this grief and hopeless feeling weighing down on me day after day and can’t shake it, not sure what else to do but continue to ask the Lord what is this and why He doesn’t remove it, some times as you know its unbarable!!!
This was a word and a prayer for me thankyou jamie
I’ve been waiting for 23 years. “For what?” you ask. For Father to heal me from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia and all the effects of the disease process. Enlarged heart, diabetes, obesity, non functioning adrenal glands, damaged kidneys, asthma, and the list goes on. Herniated discs and pinched nerves on upper and lower back cause daily pain. RA affects every organ. I know that in the spirit, these are spirits attacking my body through open doors. Working on those doors.
Hope comes and goes, but I’m clinging to Dads robe daily.
I follow In His Presence daily as I spend a lot of time in bed. I also worship Him daily as I pray in bed. I believe and hope only in Him who fearfully and wonderfully created me.
Remember me in prayer please. I am so grateful to Father for this incredible ministry.