There Is a Tree

“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” (Pr 13:12 AV)

One is not without the other.  There can be no desire that comes which brings a tree of life, unless there is deferred hope beforehand.  Unfortunately, deferred hope makes one emotionally sick.  The point of the proverb is not to warn us of deferred hope.  The point of the proverb is that when the desire comes, it will heal the emotionally sick.  This desire is assumed.  The desire may not even be what one expected, but there is a desire.  The desire is for health.  The desire is for the sickness to end.  We may not always know how this desire will come.  We may not even now what form the desire will take.  What we do know is the desire will come and it will be a tree of life.  The tree of life is a tree of healing.  The actual tree is now located in heaven (Rev. 22:2).  The fruit of this tree is meant to heal the hurting and make the hurting feel as though they are alive again.  I can tell you from first-hand experience, as the sage writes in this wonderful book, figuratively speaking, this tree is for the saint’s blessings in this life as well as the next.

There have been many sorrows throughout my life.  Some of which I felt I could never recover.  The death of someone close, whether a family member or friend, is particularly hard.  Such was the case for me in the not too distant past.  Within a year I had to say goodbye to two very close friends and my mother.  The one trait they all shared was, in their own way, they were trusted mentors.  One of the only two men I have ever felt was my pastor passed away.  He was my ‘go to’ guy when I needed advice.  He was one of only two pastors I have ever had that genuinely had my best interests at heart.  Then my mother passed away.  She was a special mentor to me.  My Mom had a way of giving advice but at the same time, not coming across as Mom the authority figure.  She was as much a friend as she was my mother.  Then my organist passed away.  She was the glue that kept me sane.  During difficult days of ministry, she was a rock of solid wisdom.  She loved her fellow church member more than they would ever realize.  But she also had a deep love for her pastor.  She could listen and advise with true impartiality with both the church and her pastor at the center of her heart.  It was beyond difficult to have to bury her.  We had to say goodbye to our beloved church family as the LORD moved us to a new work.  My wife had to have tests as her doctor suspected (praise the LORD she was wrong) cancer.  On top of that, in between all that, we became true empty nesters with one of our children leaving for the mission field.  He had the gall to take our grandchildren with him!  How dare he!

One hit after another and my hope became deferred.  We arrived at our new church emotionally spent and soul-sick.  It took the counsel and ear of a good friend just to keep my head above water.  Seeing only dark clouds and not tomorrow, we plodded through.  It was only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we were able to do anything for the LORD.  The thing is, through all that, the LORD gave us a desire.  Our new church began to immediately respond to her new leadership.  The budget increased thirty percent and the missions giving doubled.  The LORD was able to use us to restore a dilapidated and dated parsonage into a beautiful living domain.  We were able, by the grace of God, to add several new members without losing any we had.  We were able to build an office.  We were able to bring our church into the modern age with a website.  The LORD resurrected our soul-winning and in a year and a half, have covered about a quarter of our city.  Working the state fair, the LORD allowed us to hand out tracts.  All totaled, in less that two years, the LORD gave us the opportunity to hand out well over four thousand tracts.  These tracts went into the hands of those who received them.  This year, we are praying the LORD would supply a good non-CDL bus so that we can start up a bus ministry.  The LORD allowed us to take on three new missionaries with plans to take on three more.  In other words, even in our darkest hour when the heart was extremely sick, God gave the desire for healing in ways we had not anticipated.  Do I still miss my loved ones?  You bet.  Do I miss my children and grandchildren?  More than you will ever know!  But the LORD gave and still gives the desire of the heart that it might heal from what it has lost.  That is a promise!