Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 (NKJV)
I had just bought a new electric guitar and had been practicing and showing improvement in my playing. I was excited about becoming a better guitar player, and then I got a painful skin ulcer right over the area of my lower stomach where the guitar rested while playing, making it impossible to play my new guitar any longer.
Sometimes our hopes get deferred, derailed, set back, and this leaves us frustrated and disappointed.
Illness, disease, loss of job, loss of husband or wife, perhaps the death of a family member or friend--disappointment comes in many forms. And each disappointment can leave us disillusioned and depressed, and can quench our hopes and dreams.
We need to find a way through our disappointments and hopes that get deferred or even crushed. We need a Lord to give us strength and carry us through when we cannot even carry on another day.
Disillusion and disappointment can be temporary or ongoing, they can end our hopes, and can bring us to our knees. When we fall to our knees we need to look up, pray, and ask the Lord to restore our hope, perhaps give us a new hope, a new path, and a new empowerment so we can recover our courage. We need to get up off of our knees, and continue to carry on with restored hope, renewed passion, all made possible because we are keeping our eyes on Jesus.
Prayer: Dear Lord, life frequently shoots down our hopes, but as long as we have You, and Your hand is upon us, we can find new hope and courage to carry on no matter what comes our way. Amen.
Karlton Douglas
Copyright 2016
Karlton - I could relate to your frustration about having to put away (hopefully not forever) your guitar. For the first years of my vestibular dysfunction, I could still play my guitar. It was especially a joy to play it and sing with my students in our classroom. One by one some of my abilities that allowed joys have had to be surrendered because the neurological effects of them, set me into vertigo attacks. Playing my guitar was one such joy. The vibrations, visual tracking and who knows what else hit hard. But to remember the joys and having had them is a blessing which I choose to hold onto even if there is some sadness in the letting go. God's blessings far outnumber what has been surrendered.
ReplyDeleteLynn, I would love to have been able to hear you play guitar and sing! It is hard to lay aside things we could once do, or even to permanently give them up. Hopefully the Lord opens new doors and aspirations to get us motivated again with something new.
ReplyDeleteGod does bless us in spite of our afflictions. I pray He blesses you with new and awesome things in your life.
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
God Bless You!
Karlton