Hope Deferred

Scripture

Hope deferred makes the heart sick; a wish come true is a tree of life.

~Proverbs 13:12, REB

Quote

There is a huge difference between loneliness and solitude. Solitude is a choice we make; loneliness is the feeling of being left out or forgotten.

~Charles L. Allen

I looked up some synonyms for ‘deferred’ and the best ones were postponed and delayed. The story which best illustrates deferred hope is found in John five. It is the story of the cripple man who laid by the pool of Bethesda. The pool had a thermal, probably heated water from an underground volcano and when the thermal erupted, it stirred the waters of the pool. The Jews believed this was the work of an angel and you could be healed if you got into the pool during the thermal eruption. This man had been coming to the pool for 38 years and trying to get in at the right time but someone always cut him off, broke line and got in before him. Thirty-eight years is a long time to keep hope alive but this man had done just that–he had not given up. In all those years, no one had helped this man into the pool; they simply took advantage of his disability and cut in front of him.

Life is filled with disappointments: things in life don’t always run smoothly, there are some mean curves, steep hills and deep potholes. This man had been coming to the pool for 38 years and evidently, he came everyday because this was the sabbath. This means that he had been disappointed 13,870 times yet he kept coming. I know most of you know our situation and the disappointment involved. Someone asks me a few weeks ago, “What will you do if it happens again?” I didn’t know exactly what to tell them then but now I do, “I will go back to the pool one more time. I can’t give up and let hope die.” Folks we have to maintain hope: without hope we are hopeless and are victims of despair. The good news for me is that I don’t have 38 more years; that would make me 108 and I prefer a promotion instead.

Anyway, you get the point: don’t let your hope die. You do not want to outlive hope. Let me remind you that Jesus saw this man’s condition. No one else had taken notice but Jesus did; plus Jesus was exactly what the man needed, not a dirty pool of water where thousands had found relief, if you get my drift. Pools, people and undertakers will let us down but Jesus will never forsake us. Wow! What a Savior.

I told Big Mama she could have anything she wanted, that my credit card would cover and she only wanted to ride up to Ethridge and visit the Amish farms, which we did and it was a perfect day: not hot and didn’t rain until we got home. We did get a gully washer shortly after getting home. We did see a lot of horses and buggies and one farmer working in the field. We’ll go back in about three weeks and get some molasses.

At the supper table, Holly said, “I wish we were Amish; a slower pace would be nice.” We decided the slower pace was good but no electricity, curtains, washer and dryer, A/C and TV were not that enticing. I could handle no TV but I want those electric lights, computers and A/C. I am like Chloe, I got to have A/C if at all possible.

Amish Spray Rig
Field of Tobacco…I guess the Amish Smoke
Shocked Corn

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