Proverbs 13:12

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

When what you hoped for doesn’t come to pass…it makes the heart sick

ILL: Always wanted a 4-wheeler, long before I got one, one year I just knew my dad was going to get a 4-wheeler for me.

He didn’t. But one of my neighbor friends did!

No one likes waiting. It feels good to get what we want.

But when our expectations are delayed for a long time, we can experience disappointment, disillusionment, and loss of hope.

In some cases, prolonged waiting for what we eagerly desire can become such an affliction to us that it differs little from a lingering sickness.

This scenario is the exact meaning of Solomon’s words “hope deferred maketh the heart sick.”

The term deferred in the passage means “to put off” or “drag out,” as in a long, drawn-out process.

Hope deferred can look like many things: a prayer of salvation for a loved one that continues unanswered year after year, an agonizing job search filled with endless interviews and rejections, a long-term battle with cancer, or a heartbreaking string of miscarriages.

As we eagerly hope for something important, and it keeps being postponed, the longing we feel can make our heart sick.

The word heart in the passage embodies not only the mental or emotional core but the whole inward person.

If something “makes the heart sick,” it causes despair and affliction.

When hope is crushed, the heart is crushed.

ILL: We have been looking forward to Tino coming home for a few months now. We had this hope that we could come home. What if at the last minute, he wasn’t able to make. it.

Hope deferred can lead to depression, anxiety, and actual physical sickness.

When we wait for a good thing for so long that the desire and expectation turns to hopelessness, we can become spiritually dried up and vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks.

ILL: Dating, longing and waiting to be with Abbi...

The second part of Proverbs 13:12 gives the antithesis of hope deferred: “but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.”

The tree of life represents the renewal of life.

When our hopes and desires are fulfilled, we are refreshed.

When our prayers are answered, we are encouraged.

When we obtain the good thing that we desire, we undergo a reviving of the soul.

Solomon reiterates the sentiment in Proverbs 13:19: “The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul:”

Dashed hopes sicken the heart, and the higher the expectations, the greater the frustration.

While getting what we desire can be an excellent thing, we must not allow the pursuit of fulfillment to become a temptation to sin.

Waiting is an opportunity to trust God and allow Him to work in our hearts and strengthen our character:

“Romans 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

Romans 5:1-4 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

We ought to see these long stretches as opportunities to turn to God and depend on Him in our weakness

Psalm 62:1, 5 1 To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. ... 5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

(Psalm 62:1, 5; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10). Our unfulfilled desires and deferred hopes can lead us to rich encounters with our Savior: “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD” (Lamentations 3:25–26; see also Romans 5:5). The Lord alone is the true fulfillment of our longings. When hope deferred makes your heart sick, look to Jesus Christ: “And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you” (Psalm 39:7, NLT). When we place our hope in Christ alone, we won’t be disappointed, for He is “a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls” (Hebrews 6:19, NLT).