Hope deferred and hope revived.

There is a verse in the scriptures which states the following...

"HOPE DEFERRED MAKES THE HEART SICK"

How many of us are aware that the christian life works through faith. Faith is your God ordained connection to heaven. Faith is the channel through which saving grace comes. Miracles come through faith. Answers to prayer and healing come through faith. In fact the bible even testifies that Jesus himself could not do many miracles in one particular place 'because of their unbelief.' Faith is an essential component of the christian life but consider this......
.....It is eminently possible that what we hoped for can become the source of our discontent and discouragement. The very thing we believe for becomes the very thing which leaves us low. Why? The answer is in the verse at the top. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. When our prayers are not soon answered we find our faith flagging, our hopes fading and our strength to hold onto the promises of God slipping. There is something, however, that acts as an effective cure for this malady and it comes in an understanding of how faith really works.

Here is the key..."Faith without works is dead"

Understand something here. When God speaks His word into your life it is a living thing. It is something which heaven already considers a done deal but for that word to live within you requires faith. If your faith {or hope is deferred} it leads to a sickness of the heart called unbelief. Make no doubt about it unbelief is a moral sickness. It is a disease that attacks so many of us but is curable. We must understand how healthy faith works. If faith without works is dead then faith WITH works is alive and kicking. Real faith is seen in your actions not your words. If God speaks to you and you believe it then it is your responsibility to take it by faith. The evidence of this is that you do or live according to what God has told you. Often the word of God doesn't come to pass in your life until this kind of faith is present. Just look at the list of the heroes of faith in the book of Hebrews in the bible. Time and again their faith is seen in what they did.

If you have faith but don't do anything with it is may wither and die but if you exercise it and apply it your faith will have a reason to live, a purpose and an assignment. It is when our hope/faith is deferred/or put on the shelf that it becomes unwell and our hearts become sick. {This is a rather different take in this verse that the one I originally accepted but I believe this has a lot of truth to it. There is something I have noticed among believers. Those who regularly apply their faith are strong in faith and those that don't often are not. Have you ever heard the following comment. "Oh I wish I had YOUR faith"? Let me make one thing clear...YOU DO! God has given to every believer the PERFECT measure of faith. You have enough faith to fulfill all of what God has called you to do in this life. God's responsibility is to supply you with the capacity to believe. Our responsibility is to apply it.

I heard a man once say, "Well if God wanted us to have revival He would just send it" Sounds logical. I mean if God wanted my hair to be combed He would comb it for me! The idea that we passively do noting waiting for the sovereign will of God {whatever it is} is hugely dubious at best and leads to the fossilisation of the church at worst. Make no mistake about it. The church is built by God's power, not ours but it is built THROUGH our faith and that faith is seen IN WHAT WE DO. In other words God works as we work.

Many in the protestant churches are suffering from what I call 'Martin Luther itis' They have it drummed into them that everything is by grace through faith and not by works that if anyone starts to stress effort, doing anything or work they react negatively. You might want to read Ephesians chapter two verses 8 and 9 and then verse ten. {Many stop at verse 9} There you will find that God has ordained works for you to do. That's the mark of real faith. God works through faith. God's power/grace works through faith. It's not a passive faith but an active faith that God is looking for. Abraham offered up Isaac and THEN God revealed the ram for the sacrifice. It's a simple principle. What you use will flourish. What you neglect will shrivel and die.
If you believe God will bless you with a job don't just sit there waiting for it to happen. Step out in faith and see what God will do. Many of us wait for God who is waiting for us. Remember, faith is the evidence of things not seen. You dont see the answer to prayer yet but faith has EVIDENCE. In other words I can see your faith before I see the answer to prayer.

So if you are struggling to hold onto faith in any area of your life, if you are struggling to believe God for what He promised you in the past, ask your self some simple questions.

Does my faith feel like its fading, put on hold or deferred?
Is my heart starting to become weighed down with discouragement?
Do I act as if the promise of God is a done deal?

It's amazing how often our level of faith is connected with our level of action. Put your money where you mouth is, is a common phrase. Put your works where your faith is would be a good one to remember as well. If you do that you will likely find your hope, not deferred but revived and invigorated and far from making your heart sick with discouragement, your heart will become a centre of health and well being because faith lives and grows within you and that is the definition of a healthy heart.

So make a decision not to defer your faith, to leave it on the shelf but to apply it, live it out and invest in what God has told you is true. Far from making your heart sick you will find your faith growing in leaps and bounds. Your hope will revive and you will see what God can do.

shalom...steve