Hope Deferred – Promises Fulfilled…Are You Still Expecting?
Written by: Jean Bundas
There is nothing worse when you are pregnant then having people look at you and declare, “Are you still here (pregnant)?” You put on a fake smile, nod your head and try to exit the room before you punch them out, or say something you may regret later.
As the body of Christ, many of us are feeling the “birth pangs,” but we are still waiting for God’s promises in our lives to be fulfilled. God has spoken things over our lives, but we have yet to see it take place. It is easy to feel like we have become stuck and are no longer making any progress. We start to give up hope because the process is taking so long and we stop preparing because we feel like it’s never going to happen.
When Ed and I were waiting for our first child to be born, I started having mild contractions. We rushed around to gather our things and headed to the hospital, only to be sent home again. It wasn’t time yet. We spent the whole day walking around, timing each contraction. All of our attention was caught up in waiting for our baby to be born.
After a whole day of this and not seeing any progress, we gave up and went to bed. We had no idea when that baby was going to make her appearance, and frankly, as a pregnant woman, I wondered if that baby would ever come out.
I was woken up out of a dead sleep about 5:00 a.m. by a very painful and intense contraction. “This is it,” I thought to myself, and tried to wake Ed up. “Are you sure,” he mumbled, “we should wait to make sure.” After getting our hopes up last time, only to be disappointed, he wasn’t quite ready to jump out of bed and rush to the hospital. Five minutes later, another very intense contraction came. It was time, our “suddenly” had arrived. We jumped in the car and headed to the hospital. Three hours later, our daughter entered into the world.
In Genesis 17:1 & 17:15-18 We read the story of Abraham and Sarah. God spoke a promise to Abraham that they would have a child. Abraham didn’t see how that could ever happen. They were old! Sarah couldn’t have children. Abraham laughed at the thought of him being the father of many nations. Sarah and Abraham even tried to bring about the blessing in their own way through Sarah’s handmaiden. Sarah and Abraham gave up hope.
So often, we do not recognize what God is doing because it isn’t happening the way we “have it all planned out.” When a couple is expecting, they often wonder what their child will look like. How silly it would be though if the couple convinced themselves that their child would have blond hair and blue eyes, and if it didn’t, well then, it must not be theirs. We can’t put God in a box either, or try to work things out for Him.
How many times has God spoken a promise to us and we have doubted or laughed, or even tried to make it happen in our own way?
When our youngest daughter was pregnant with their daughter, she began to have labor pains. Even though she was far enough along that everything could have been okay, it wasn’t time yet. The doctor’s rehydrated her, and the labor pains went away. Do you think Julie gave up at that point? She may have felt like, “Geez will it ever be time for this baby to come out?” But deep in her heart, she knew it wasn’t quite time yet and that in God’s timing, the baby would come forth. We need to trust God and not become impatient or give up hope.
Proverbs 13:12 tells us that: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
I once heard a story about a lady in China who was pregnant for longer than nine months. (China Cry) God had given her a promise that her baby would not be born in communist China. She held on to that promise and did not give up! God honored that promise to her, even though it was way past her due date when she finally made it out of China.
Several years ago, God spoke a promise over me that I would have favor at my job. Every time it seemed like things were going to change, it would fall through. I was a secretary at a remote location and in the flesh, my options were very limited. The leadership in Human Resources told me “it will never happen, you will never get a promotion.” At times, I would become very discouraged and feel like giving up. God is not limited by man though! He brought that promotion about, as well as a couple more after that. I am now an Executive Staff Analyst, supporting an Executive Director!
Even though things don’t always come about in our timing, or look the way we think they are going to look, nothing is impossible with God if we are diligent and do not give up.
Hebrews 11:6 “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.”
Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
