“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:12
The writer of Proverbs declares that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (13:12). It’s hard to keep hope alive when a longing has gone unfulfilled for years and years. Our immediate yearnings can frustrate us—the young want to be older, the single want to be married, the unemployed want a job, the disadvantaged want more resources, and on and on it goes. Peace and contentment are easily lost in the desire for what is not yet available.
In Psalm 38, David tells the Lord, “All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes” (vv. 9-10). But later in the same psalm he makes a resolve that he “will wait for you, O LORD” (v. 15).
Can you identify with David’s deeply expressed emotions? Even in the face of life’s overwhelming challenges, it is possible to have hope restored as we wait upon the Lord. In those times He leads us into places of green pastures and still waters, restoring our soul.
In Psalm 38, David tells the Lord, “All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes” (vv. 9-10). But later in the same psalm he makes a resolve that he “will wait for you, O LORD” (v. 15).
Can you identify with David’s deeply expressed emotions? Even in the face of life’s overwhelming challenges, it is possible to have hope restored as we wait upon the Lord. In those times He leads us into places of green pastures and still waters, restoring our soul.
Scripture Focus
Romans 5:1-11
Insight
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope.” (Romans 15:13)
Bible In A Year
- 1 Chronicles 1
- Proverbs 24
- Revelation 1-2
