“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
I was sick the week before last. I was down for about three days. During that time, Sara would ask me if I had taken vitamins and if I was drinking enough water to stay hydrated. She also encouraged me to listen to worship music and get outside and pray.
But I didn't feel like doing any of that. Eventually, I did those things but not the first day and a half. I mostly just slept and watched youtube. Have you ever been there? I was sick in my body, I knew there were things I could do to recover quicker, but I didn't feel like doing them.
The same is true when your heart is sick.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life. — Proverbs 13:12
What does it mean to be heart sick?
Hope: confident expectation of good things
Deferred: delayed or drawn out
Sick: weak, tired, grieved, wounded
When the good things you're expecting are drawn out and delayed, you become tired and weak in your heart. If you don't guard your heart in those times, you could end up with a wound and become too weak to feel like putting in the effort to believe again.
What is the significance of the heart in this process? According to scripture, the heart is the seat of your being. It's where you believe. It's where you trust God. It's where spiritual thinking takes place. It's where God pours His light and love into you. Whatever your heart believes will be established in your life. The heart is where obedience begins. The heart is where you see and hear God. The functions and capacities of the heart go on and on.
If your heart is sick (weak, tired, grieved, wounded), you're not going to feel like doing any of the things that the heart can do. When the confident expectation of healing, transformation, provision, wisdom, or guidance seems delayed, your heart will get tired, and you won't feel like doing the things you need to do to believe and receive from God.
Of course, you do not earn anything from God through effort, and God does not give you the things He's promised to you because you obey Him, but it does take faith to receive from Him. God has already given you everything that pertains to life and godliness. All His promises are yes and amen in Christ. He wants to give you exceedingly, abundantly above all you can ask or imagine, according to the power that works in you (Ephesians 3:20).
Grace is that power that works in you. But if your heart is worn out and you don't feel like believing, then you will most likely not receive the things that are already yours spiritually in Christ into this life.
So you need peace as a guard around your heart, so grace can have time to work and bring about the things God is doing in your life. Peace is like Vitamin C for the body, it helps your natural immune system work better, so you heal quicker and more completely. Grace and peace work together.
Hebrews 13:9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. NKJV
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
When you're heart sick, when you're discouraged, and God's promises seem far away, take the time to experience the peace you have with God and allow your faith to connect to His grace. Once you allow grace to work again, you will recover and walk out of your heart sickness.
I go into more detail in the sermon, I pray it encourages you to allow peace to guard your heart so God's grace can work in your life.
Clint and Sara Byars - Forward Ministries
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