Real Hope: HopePrøve

## Hope Never Deferred Not everything we hope for comes as we’d like it to. When Luke and I first married, we were content with the idea that we would be two for the rest of our lives. As time went on, things started to change. One day, we discussed having children and Luke said he’d like to, and I said I wouldn’t. The next time, it’d swap, and I’d be keen to have children and he’d say no. Then one day we both said we didn’t want to, then felt a deep-seated sadness, which told us that we actually wanted to be parents. So, we decided to try but after a year, two years, three years – we still weren’t pregnant. Four years and still no child. This was our greatest experience, as a couple, of hope deferred. We hoped and hoped, yet it didn’t eventuate. After four-and-a-half years there was a positive test, the scan showed a heartbeat and soon enough we were parents of Tyson, followed two years later by twins Royden and Toby. To have that longing fulfilled was most certainly life-giving. Not everyone sees their hopes fulfilled, though. Other friends never experienced the positive pregnancy test. Instead, some turned to becoming foster parents. Others chose to travel and pursued fulfilment from adventure and making their life rich in experience. As followers of Jesus, we find hope in Christ – a hope that is never deferred, never fails. We may not always get what we want here on earth – the dream job, a child, wealth, marriage – whatever it might be. Yet, when we source our hope in the One who is eternal, we find that even when one hope is deferred, another is still constant – that there is joy, peace, and a final destination that’s designed with our best in mind. #### Written by SUSIE HOLT