Hope Deferred to Desire Fulfilled - Place, Plant, Pluck, & Purpose

I'm back!  Not with anything too profound to share but just to be back.  Christmas was busy, and my hubby and I were both sick.  Finally got out of the house yesterday! Yippee!  Of course, all of this doesn't change Who Jesus is!  He's still the same as He always has been.  He never changes.  He's always faithful, always loving, always compassionate, always discipling, always working, always forgiving, always merciful, always strong, and always present!

Although I really want to be like Him, I can't say that I'm very consistent in any of these categories.  The reality of life gets me down sometimes.  Your right - as a born-again, Spirit-filled, blood-bought, freedom-wrought daughter of the Most High - I should not let life get me down.  Yet, I do.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick. You've heard this, right?  If not, check it out - Proverbs 13:12.  It's not some new-fangled psychological finding or an old wives tale.  It's the Word of God.  It's true; it's real; it doesn't change, and it's always relevant!

Well,  I have been at this stage - hope deferred - for quite some time in a couple of big areas in my life.  I mean double-digit years in this stage.  The place where you begin to doubt all of the promises and all of the words.  You know, doing all the right stuff: tithing, praying, studying, worshiping, giving, following, leading, obeying, and all the other -ing's you can imagine.  Following the big-name preachers' teachings, the little-name preachers' teachings, listening to what all the people who are doing it right tell you your doing wrong and how to do it right.  You know, all that kind of stuff.

Yet, no matter how much we do nothing ever changes.  I have, however, come to some sound scriptural understanding of this hope deferred stage of my life.

• Having done all the crisis demands, to stand firmly in your place.

Where's our place?  It's in the heavenly sphere, jointly seated with Christ Jesus, above all rule, all power, and all dominion of the world and the enemy.  It's in Him; we dwell and live in him.  It's in the secret place of the Most High God.  It's that place where we trust Him no matter what.  We believe that He is faithful, that He attends to His Word to perform it, and that He is not a liar.

So, when we have done all we can do, we remain in faith and abide in him, no matter what it looks like!

• To everything there is a season...a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted.

So much of what happens in life is related to seed time and harvest time, planting and plucking, sowing and reaping.  And as hard as it is, no one knows the timing of these seasons but the Lord.

There are many factors that contribute to the amount of time between sowing and reaping.  Some of them are controlled by us.  Some of them are controlled by God.  You can plant corn and expect harvest anywhere from 60-120 days depending on whether it is sweet corn or field corn, non-GMO, GMO, particular hybrid, etc., etc.  Unlike corn which comes with the estimated days till harvest on the package, the seeds we sow into the Kingdom of God do not come in a package neatly printed with the fairly precise days till harvest.

Sometimes when I listen to ministers preach on seed time and harvest, they make it sound like if you will just do this then your results will be this in almost no time flat.  Also, if you aren't seeing these kind of results then you must be doing something wrong.  You know what I mean?  I'm not saying there aren't times when people aren't following the principles of the Word.  Yet, there are times when people do follow the principles and walk in obedience, but harvest hasn't come yet.

• For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required.

Each one of us have been created in Christ Jesus for particular purposes and plans.  It's our choice as to whether or not we will follow His plans and purposes for our lives or our own.  If we choose to follow His, it's imperative that we understand that He is in control.  In addition, we must not compare and contrast ourselves or our lives with others or others lives.  There is not one among us who has been given the exact same calling or work to accomplish as another.  Yet, no matter our task, we must work it with everything we've got.

Furthermore, when it seems harvest will never come, the Word is not true, and/or you just must not be good enough, understand that endurance, steadfastness, and patience are working in us to make us perfect.  God knows what we need to produce the character that is required of us to perform the work that God has for us.  All the saints before us inherited the promises by faith and the practice of patient endurance and waiting.  We shall do the same!

But when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

Scriptures for reference and study:  Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; Proverbs 13:12; Psalm 18:30; Psalm 119:140; Mark 13:31; Ephesians 6:13; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 1:20-21; John 15:4; Psalm 91:1; Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,11,17; Luke 12:48; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 12:2-8; Colossians 3:23; Luke 12:42-48; James 1:3-4; Romans 5:3-4; Hebrews 6:12; Proverbs 13:12