How to Overcome Hope Deferred

When we grow weary of waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled, we experience hope deferred, meaning hope that is “delayed or postponed.” It can appear that what we hope for will never come, leading to a sense of hopelessness. In these places of confusion and heart sickness, we are vulnerable to spiritual oppression and making wrong agreements.

If you’ve grown weary in waiting, you’re not alone; in fact, you’re in good company. As we explore God’s purposes in waiting and cling to Him as our greatest hope, we can overcome feelings of hope deferred and press on towards the joy set before us. 

Israel’s Unbreakable Hope and Your Spiritual Heritage 

When we receive a promise from Jesus, it’s a moment of great joy and expectation. It releases new vision, motivation, and a sense of incredible hope. Yet the fulfillment of that promise often comes in a timetable we do not expect.

Throughout Israel’s history, God spoke words of promise that came to pass years, even generations, later. Some promises remain to be fulfilled to this day, showing God’s chosen people have been waiting for thousands of years for the fulfillment of all He has spoken.

Israel’s national anthem, Ha Tikva, “The Hope,” declares, 

“As long as within our hearts the Jewish soul sings, 

As long as forward to the East to Zion, looks the eye –

Our hope is not yet lost, it is two thousand years old,

To be a free people in our land, the land of Zion and Jerusalem.”

As One New Man Believers, we have been grafted into Israel’s story, into her hope that is thousands of years old. Through war, betrayal, trauma, and incredible evil committed against them, the Jewish people hold to a resilient hope anchored and sustained by their God. 

He promised to replant them in their land with all His heart and with all His soul (Jeremiah 32:41), and He did. He promises to make Israel’s vindication shine like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch (Isaiah 62:1), and He will. 

This painful yet glorious waiting is part of your spiritual heritage. God will continue in His faithfulness to Israel, and He will continue in His faithfulness to you. Let’s look at ways to embrace God’s holy work in seasons of waiting.

Battling Hope Deferred | God’s Purpose in Waiting  

We combat the lies of the enemy when we experience hope deferred as we trust God’s purposes and intention in our wait. It’s part of His plan, and He doesn’t waste anything. Waiting can be sacrificial (for the sake of others), refining for your character, and it reveals your heart.

How Waiting Is Sacrificial 

Our actions and decisions are not isolated. Our lives touch other lives every day, and our story is bigger than us. Israel’s waiting, in many ways, is for the sake of the nations, allowing time for the remnant to be grafted into God’s story of redemption. He is not slow to fulfill His promise, but patient, not wanting anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). Israel’s story isn’t just about Israel! 

The same is true of us. Our story and breakthroughs from God are also for the sake of others– our family, friends, and even people we don’t know and might never meet this side of Heaven. We can’t see the full picture yet. 

We don’t know how our stories will intersect with another–how the timing of our moving forward or receiving something will also impact God’s work in another person’s life. Yet He sees all the pieces and is moving in His perfect timing! 

How Waiting Refines Your Character

When we have to wait, we grow in patience, perseverance, and gratitude. In a world of entitlement, same-day delivery, and instant gratification, we don’t have to “wait” for much of anything. Yet character growth requires waiting. We learn to more deeply value what we’re waiting for when we experience what it’s like to be without it. Waiting tests our faith and invites us to grow in trust.

• Do you still believe God is good even when you don’t understand His plan?
• Are you willing to surrender your expectations?
• Do you trust that God has your best interests in mind?
• Do you believe He’s working, even when you can’t see it?

When our hope is deferred, the enemy whispers lies about God’s character, tempting us to believe He’s lied to us or abandoned us. We battle back by declaring scripture about who God is and inviting Him into our questions, rather than turning away from Him. God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19), and He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). 

The discomfort of waiting often unearths memories, past agreements, fears, and other areas Jesus wants to address for our continued healing. Don’t run from it–invite Him into what’s surfacing, trusting He is refining and restoring you in your true identity.

How Waiting Reveals Your Heart

God speaks to us in many ways, including through our desires. He put desires in our hearts to lead us to Himself. Yet often, we hold to what God has promised us more than we hold to Him. We think our hope is in God, but really, it’s in the relationship, business opportunity, breakthrough, child, or even healing we’re hoping He’ll provide. 

These are all good things, but a shaky foundation on which to place your greatest hope. If you’re struggling with hope deferred, consider:

• Has my hope been misplaced?
• Is my hope in an outcome, person, timeline, or God Himself?
• Am I most hoping in who God is to me, or in what He can do for me? 

Sometimes God speaks to us, yet we interpret it according to our own understanding of what it means, who it includes, and how it will come to be. This can result in much confusion and suffering, ripe ground for the enemy to sow seeds of discord, distrust, and discouragement. In these moments, we shore up our hearts from making agreements with the enemy by:

• Inviting God into our heartache with honesty, rather than turning away from Him
• Loving Jesus even in the midst of our disappointment and pain
• Declaring we need Him, more than we need understanding or answers 

This is holy heartwork. Waiting reveals our hidden idolatries, and often our heartaches are God’s mercies in disguise. He saves us from ourselves and spares us greater pain as He shows us time and again He is our heart’s deepest desire, our only true salvation. As we lay even His promises back on the altar, we reveal who we’re truly seeking: Him. This is the beginning of true transformation and security that can only be found in Jesus.

Godly Endurance and Scriptures to Declare

As we embrace the beauty of waiting for the sake of others and being refined in our heart and character, we can see the power of endurance and not giving up. God is always at work. 

Even through the pain, there is grace, recovery, and a path to glory. Joy comes in the morning, mercies are new every morning, and God has provision and purpose for every moment you wait. 

If you’re feeling discouraged in the midst of hope deferred, reflect on the ways God has already shown Himself to be faithful to you and meditate on these scriptures, declaring them aloud:

• Psalm 27:14: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.” 
• Isaiah 40:31: “But those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” 
• 1 Corinthians 2:9, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
• Psalm 37:4 & 7: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart… Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” 
• Micah 7:7: “But as for me, I will keep watch for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” 
• Psalm 30:5: “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
• Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” 
• Philippians 4:19: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.”
• Psalm 33:20-22: “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” 

The Desire Will Come | Attaching to the Tree of Life 

As Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life” (emphasis added). 

Just as the root of our faith is Israel (Romans 11), our deepest hope and desire stem from the Tree of Life. As we attach our hearts to Jesus, the Author of Life, we will not wither in seasons of drought or discouragement but be nourished, grounded, and strengthened. 

Through all the waiting, heartache, misunderstanding, and unmet expectations, this is most true: the desire will come. Life will win. Jesus will sit on His glorious throne in Jerusalem, and Heaven will come to earth in full sway. All will be made well, and real life will begin.

Don’t let darkness deceive you. The hope you have in Jesus is an anchor for your soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19-20). Fix your eyes on Him, and set your confidence in Him. Join in the fellowship of the people of God, the hope that is thousands of years old, and receive the blessing of believing He will do just what He said (Luke 1:45).