THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever hoped something would happen but it didn’t? How did you feel?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 13:12. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
Deep inside our hearts everyone has hopes, things we want to have happen in order to make us happy. This is not a bad thing at all. God wants us to hope. He wants us to want things to happen. In fact, without hope we wouldn’t really have much reason to ever do anything. Why do we do what we do? Because we hope that it will lead to something good for us, or bring us joy.
Solomon says that when our hope is deferred (it doesn’t happen) it makes us heart sick. That means we feel sad, disappointed, or angry. Have you ever felt bad when you didn’t get what you hoped for? Me too. But when our desire is fulfilled it is like being back in the Garden of Eden with the Tree of Life for a little bit.
Of course the real tree of life is the cross of Jesus. The cross? Yes, Jesus Christ’s tree of suffering and death has become our Tree of Life. When we trust in Jesus’ death for us on the cross all our big hopes come true. Our hope for love, and for forgiveness. Our hope for a better world where everyone gets along with each other. Our hope for justice and peace.
Now when the things we hope for in this life don’t happen and we feel heart sick, we can turn to a greater hope, our hope in Jesus and in a life forever where all our good desires will come true.
Because of Jesus all our good and godly desires will come true.
With Jesus we don’t have to be heart sick, we can hope in him.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Listen to Living Hope by Phil Wickham together.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you are my living hope. Be my tree of life so that I don’t feel so sad and heart sick. Amen.
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