Surrogates for Hope

(Proverbs 13:12 KJV)  Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

As I was looking into this verse I noticed that there are many different words in Hebrew that are translated “hope” (8431).  I quickly counted five.  There may be more.  There are many nuances.  This word is only used six times and is not the most frequent.  It is kind of generic.  How often do we “get our hopes up” only to have them dashed when reality or life steps forward?  We have all been there.

The advice here seems to be that we should be careful what we put our hope in.  As I write we are entering the posturing period for presidential elections.  It is very easy to look at political candidates and feel the stirring of hope.  We have a friend who had a miscarriage.  The stirring was snuffed out.  School is beginning.  There are many things that can give us a glimmer of hope, an anticipation.  That is okay but we need to make sure that we don’t invest too much in those surrogates for the real thing.

So?  Your hope should be an assurance found in Jesus.  Everything else is just a bump in the road to eternity.