Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

Psychologists will tell you that this verse is spot-on. Various mental/emotional disorders can be traced to just this sort of thing. The Japanese here, rather than saying “hope” in the first part, says “expectancy.” The two are closely interconnected. Often we hope for something but don’t really expect it. Rather than the kind of hope mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:13, that is simply desire, because it is divorced from faith. Japanese has two terms for hope, but they are often used simply to mean desire, rather like the English usage of “I hope so,” meaning, “That’s what I want.” Biblical hope is much stronger than that. I think we dilute the meaning of the word because we are afraid of being disappointed. That’s why it is vitally important on what we base our hope. The old hymn is precisely correct: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” The best way to avoid the “heart sickness” this verse talks about is indeed to stand on “Christ, the solid Rock.” This isn’t a short-term hope, this is hope for eternity, so seeming delays in this life can’t shake us.

I have certainly had plenty of disappointments over the years, but I have found that the best, indeed the only real remedy is to release my circumstances to God and actively choose to trust Him. I have seen people turn away from Christ, even, because of misinterpretations of Biblical promises. Many people cling to “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household,” (Acts 16:31) thinking it guarantees the salvation of everyone in their family, when actually it says that if the members of your household believe, they too will be saved. I have had people give up on God over precisely this issue, when a parent died without acknowledging Christ. That is heartbreaking indeed, on several levels. As a pastor I need to be careful that I express the promises of God in context, not holding back what He has said but not adding things to “sweeten the pot” from a humanistic perspective. At best, that produces false conversions. Too many people jump on the promises and ignore the conditions, and I must not encourage that. Doing so only promotes “heart sickness” of all sorts.

Father, help me be firmly rooted in Your Word, standing on Christ alone and abiding in Him. May I lead people to that sort of faith, not to a froth that depends on circumstances. I pray for my brother who recently suffered his mother’s death without ever having heard a confession of faith. That’s very common in Japan. I pray that You would comfort him indeed, as only Your Holy Spirit can, so that he will be strengthened rather than shaken, to work more tirelessly for the salvation of his wife and children. Thank You. Praise God!