Hope Deferred
I Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
Morning! May this new day be a blessing in every way! Today let’s focus on being hopeful, having hope, or needing hope! Many times the obstacles of life jump out suddenly and without warning. No matter what they are, we need to be hopeful in positive outcomes. But we also need to be happy in knowing that our needs may not come when we want them to! All prayers are not answered immediately and definitely not exactly how we asked! Our hope should be in the fact that God hears us, receives us, meditates with us, then He decides how the answer can benefit the most. Just like the bank can defer a payment and place it at the end of the payment cycle; God may defer your answer until He knows you are absolutely ready for the outcome. Many times our needs are deferred because there may be one of those needs more necessary than the one we put first. God will always know your needs and His timing is everything. Hope can make our faith stronger. We need to keep a feeling of expectation and desires for a certain thing to happen but; we must keep a feeling of trust in that it will happen. This is what hope is! It is necessary that we defer things sometimes to allow growth in other things. Having faith and trust in God gives us the ability to understand that having hope deferred will lead to hope accomplished! So today keep being hopeful, keep trusting in the process! The outcome will be worth the wait!
Scriptures:
Read: Romans 8:24, Psalms 42:5, Romans 12:12, Proverbs 13:12, I Peter 3:15, Jeremiah 17:17, Psalms 146:5, Psalms 23, Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 40:31, Micah 7:7, Romans 5:1-5, Romans 15:4-5,13, I Corinthians 13:13, I Peter 1:3, Isaiah 41:10, I Peter 5:10, I Thessalonians 1:3, Colossians 1:5,10-11,27, Ephesians 1:17-18, Galatians 6:7-10, Psalms 33:8-9, 20-22, Psalms 130:3-7
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for deferring my hope at times so I can be increased in faith. Thank you for knowing my needs long before I know there is a need. Help us Lord to wait on you. Be with us daily as we may have something deferred. Help us Lord to accept that good things do come to those who wait on the Lord and His instructions! Amen.