Eyes On The Future

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

There is a problem.  Then there is a solution.  There is that which we hope for which is delayed to the point we are discouraged.  Yet, the promise of its arrival and the consequent blessings from it is the answer to a sickened heart.  John Gill makes an application of this verse to the coming of Christ.  The longer we wait for it and the worse our world gets, the more discouraged we can become.  Our writer is refocusing the heart on the end goal rather than the absence of it.  He reminds the reader that when the object of our hope is a reality, it will be as the source of all life; the tree of life.  This is certainly the greatest of all applications.  However, this truth can be applied to all objects of hope.  Faith requires we see that object and live as though it is guaranteed.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  We understand the objects of our hope to be guaranteed and the only thing that keeps them from being a reality is time.  The objects are deferred.  They are delayed.  But, when the objects come, life as we know it will be far richer than we could ever imagine.

The older I get, the sweeter heaven becomes.  I am getting to the age where those whom I love are leaving for glory more frequently than not.  I cannot say I have more loved ones in glory than I do on earth.  At least not yet.  But the scale is beginning to noticeably tilt that way.  I can tell you one thing:  without the promise of heaven, I could not survive this life.  With all the sad goodbyes, I would not be able to process the deep loss that has come my way and the greater volume of loss I know is right around the corner.  Life goes by really fast.  Faster than I ever imagined.  Even though we know that eternity is an eventuality, when the prospect of it becomes far more real, we still approach it unprepared.  We visit the doctor’s office with the mindset that we can live forever.  Our age doesn’t occur to us.  The fact we have already lived the majority of it and one day in the future, we will permanently change residency.  My mind goes to the promises of scripture.  The presence of God is the greatest of all promises.  There is the end of our cursed human existence.  What a glory that will be.  But of late, I have been thinking of 1Thess 4:17.  When we are caught up with Christ, we shall ever be with Him and one another.  No more parting.  No more absences.  No more sad goodbyes.  The thought of eternal fellowship is what I think of a lot.

Hope deferred does indeed make the heart sick.  But it doesn’t need to stay that way.  Solomon’s statement there is a statement of fact.  Not of a certain eventuality.  Even though the object of our hope is deferred, our heart doesn’t have to be sick.  Faith is the answer.  Not faith insomuch as we agree the object will eventually come.  Rather, faith as though the object is already here when as yet it has not come.  This is the wisdom Solomon is trying to share.  That which we hope for is certain.  It is more certain than tomorrow’s sunrise.  It is more certain than the next breath we take.  The object of our hope is only a matter of time.  So, look through the looking glass of faith unto the true and perfect word of God.  Rest on the certainty of the presence of your Savior.  Rest in the truth that eternal joy is only a heartbeat away and sooner than you can notice, the portals of heaven will be above and the golden streets beneath.  The future will be here.  Don’t lose heart!