Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs. 13:12 NIV). Hope is defined as ‘a feeling of expectation and a desire for a particular thing to happen’ (Oxford online dictionary). Hope is an expectation of something; it is closely related to and tied with faith, which is; ‘the complete trust or belief in something or someone’. It follows then, that faith and hope are not only closely related they must work together. The writer of Hebrews tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). And that those who come to God must trust and believe explicitly in him. As we saw from the Joseph story, Joseph trusted God and hoped for better day. For Joseph, the process was a long and arduous one, which took about twenty years to complete. His heart must have been sick as he went from being the favourite of twelve sons, to being sold as a slave and left in a God forsaken prison accused of raping his employers wife. This did not deter his faith in God though and after two years of living in that desperate gaol, his opportunity came and his gift brought him before the most powerful man on the earth at the time, Pharaoh the king of Egypt.

What would have happen if he had lost hope and gave in to the pride of life and the lust of the eyes that the world craves for? What would have happened to God’s people if Joseph had succumbed to the advances of Mrs Potipher and went into her bed?

Moses declared that it is better to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (Heb. 11:25).

Since hope deferred makes the heart sick, today make your heart glad by hoping and trusting in a God who fulfils his promises. Read Psalm 42:5.