Hope Is Inevitable

“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.” (Job 14:7-9 AV)

 Here is another excited utterance from Job.  He doesn’t realize just how helpful these words are.  What follows these words are words of hopelessness.  If Job had stopped and listened to what he had just said, he could have begun the healing process from all the loss he suffered.  He observes a tree that is hewn down.  If enough stump is left, the tree can recover and grow even mightier than it was before.  This is exactly what happened with Job.  The LORD blessed him ten times over.  When the trial was over and Satan was defeated, God blessed Job for his faithfulness and integrity even though he was under great stress.  Job is making the point that it doesn’t take much.  All it does is take a scent of water and not a deluge for the hewn tree to show signs of life.  If he would only believe his own words!  Hope is important.  Hope is necessary.  Hope is the source that pumps life into a dire situation.  Without hope, there is no point.  A willingness to look for, recognize, and internalize hope is the key.  There is hope, but we have to be willing to see it and hang on to it.

So, to give a little sunshine to my wife, I planted a hydrangea bush in the front yard.  The first one was a gift from one of our members.  This member had lost his mother and treated my wife as his adopted mom.  So, one Mother’s Day, he got her a hydrangea plant.  We were able to keep it alive for several years and I got the idea to plant it outside.  Little did I know it wasn’t meant to last a winter.  However, even outside it lasted for a few years.  Then I couldn’t resurrect it anymore.  It gave up the ghost.  Or, at the very least, it wasn’t going to grow into a bush.  It wasn’t meant to.  So, this past spring I bought a larger bush.  It was about a foot high and a little more than a foot wide.  This summer was a very dry one.  My poor bush didn’t do well.  I couldn’t keep it watered enough.  The ground was as hard a cement and any water I poured in the poor creature never made it deep enough.  However, being the ignorant gardener that I am, never mulched it.  I learned that mulch will protect your plants and help the ground retain water.  This fall I mulched that pathetic little bush.  That seemed to help quite a bit and the leaves were not burning out from direct sunlight nearly as easily.  Now we are getting prepared for winter.  Having dumped mulch on the bush, I will wait it out.  But I am certain this little guy is going to make it.  He has survived the first year of his life with someone who was never born with a green thumb and he just might overcome!  At least that is the hope.

As long as God is on the throne, there is always hope.  Never doubt that!  Just like my bush outside, as long as it's in the ground and as long as I water it from time to time, there is hope.  This reminds me of “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but [when] the desire cometh, [it is] a tree of life.” (Pr 13:12 AV)  Hope is a choice.  Just like faith.  The indications are always there.  God has never changed.  His love is never in doubt.  His wisdom and providence have never wavered.  We see circumstances differently.  We see them as something that happens to us.  In reality, circumstances are the manifestation of God’s plan for us and in that plan, He loves us, guides us, increases us, and will eventually call us home.  Hope is missing because the one who needs it is the one who defers it.  Meditate upon the person of God.  Look for His hand.  It is there.  Hope thou in God!