DEFERRED- PUT OFF UNTIL A LATER TIME, postponed. We hear the word “deferred” and our heart sinks. But wait! It doesn’t mean never, just postponed until a more convenient time. When an airline flight is postponed, it is because there is something wrong at that time. There may be a storm, a problem with the plane or with the pilot. That flight is still going to its destination, just at another more perfect time.
See, God is all about the timing of things. God has a season for everything. Think back on your life and the times at which the Lord didn’t give you something. Most of us can say, “PraIse God, I wasn’t ready back then”. Imagine right now if the Lord would have given you that “thing” right when you asked for it. Would you have been able to handle it? What were your life’s circumstances? How mature in the faith were you? Maybe you still were giving yourself over to the flesh? As much as we do not want to admit it; the timing was not right. Was David ready to be king when he was first anointed? Was Joseph ready to be second in command over Egypt as a young boy? Jesus called the twelve at the appropriate time. Saul became Paul in the ripest season to share the gospel.
God can see the whole picture and everything before and after. We only see in part and typically only the part we want to see. Paul tells us, “we are saved by HOPE, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man sees, why does he hope for it?” (Romans 8:24-25) In English, the word “hope” implies contingency. But Biblical “hope” is not a “hope-so hope”, but a “know-so hope”. Hope is sure. Hope says, “my prayer has only been deferred until a more convenient and perfect time”.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12
He is the God of all hope. Cling to Him. He will answer everything in its time. Hold on to the Word of God. Hold on to His promises. He is good and He is faithful to do what He said He would do in its season.
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