Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12, KJV)
Why do we have to wait so long for things? And what's the point of waiting if it seems like it's never going to pass? Well if we're learning to be patient as filmmakers, it is so important not to give up and not to lose sight of hope in the future... because the proverb above teaches us that hope deferred can make us sick. For most filmmakers seeking to make a living (even at something we believe God has called us to do) waiting for long periods of time for things to happen is usually a reality and a difficulty that we must face on many occasions. And patience is the only thing that is really going to get us to persevere and make it to our "promised land".
In this day and age, for those of us who don't live in a 3rd World Country, we usually don't have to wait as long for many things we take for granted - things like fast food, airplanes, satellite television, email, cell phones, wifi and internet which make things go a whole lot faster for us. These are things I shared in a previous devotional. But I think in some ways those of us living in Western Civilization lose sight of something the Bible refers to as "long-suffering". This is because in places like America everything is given to us in a fast food instant generation. It makes it harder when we have to wait for other real world things that don't come instantly - things like building relationships, healing wounds or injuries, restoration, working your way up in a company, building a business, or making a good living as a successful filmmaker.
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (James 5:7, KJV)
While James is referring to waiting for Yeshua/Jesus to return, this verse also reminds us about being patient while waiting for the harvest to come. Yeshua's return is the final harvest we are all waiting and longing for. The harvest is a picture of having success with the fruit of your labor once everything comes in. It's something we must wait for. That's how the process works.
Having instant success in your dreams usually doesn't happen overnight as well because it is a harvest and I believe it's for a good reason that we have to wait.
Having instant success in your dreams usually doesn't happen overnight as well because it is a harvest and I believe it's for a good reason that we have to wait.
If we got everything we wanted instantly I don't believe we would appreciate it very much. Think about it. Doesn't the person who builds a house appreciate the house more than someone who is just given it? Or how about the person who works a full time job to pay to put themselves through college? Or the person who builds up a business from scratch rather than someone who is given charge of a business who never worked a day in their life? Or someone who works hard to get promoted rather than someone who just gives it to someone who didn't work for it?
Okay... so yeah. Some of you have waited more than 1 year to succeed at this filmmaking thing. Some of you have waited more then 5 years now. You must be saying, LORD, I mean - LORD - Why 10 years? Why 20 Years? How long can I really hold out? When is there light at the end of the tunnel?
I know some of you have been waiting years and years to make a living at making your own films. And I don't mean making a living by struggling from day to day. I mean - abundantly blessed at it where provision is not an issue for you and your family anymore. And you may feel you have already paid your dues and worked hard for it... and yet are still waiting. I truly know this pain and struggle. I mourn with those of you, friends, who have been waiting for years and still haven't gotten to this promised land.
I'm now in my 40s and I've been waiting since I was 7 years old to to do it full time. Sigh... I feel your pain more than you can ever know. I've had to do it on the side for so long, it's been so hard not to be impatient.
I know that so many of you reading this are struggling. It's just so hard to wait when days seem to turn into weeks and then weeks turn into years and years turn into decades. And everyone around you might be losing faith, too, right? So long as this is really God's will for you, then that's usually normal for a person of faith to have to wait for a dream like this to come to pass. The Scriptures testify to this on so many occasions.
Consider that Joseph had to wait for years until he got out of slavery and prison until he finally rose up to became the leader of Egypt. Abraham had to wait until he was 100 years old to have the child of promise. Moses had to wait until he was 80 years old to stand before Pharaoh and declare the famous words: "Let my people go!" The Children of Israel were in slavery in Egypt for 400 years, they were in the desert for 40 years before entering the promised land, and Israel had to wait 70 years before returning from Babylon to rebuild the Temple. Everything takes time. And yes, sometimes they had to wait because of their own sin, but not always. Remember Joshua and Caleb were the good spies who believed God and yet they had to wait 40 years in the desert like everyone else did.
Unfortunately for us (and if we're honest - moreso it's fortunately for us) the Scriptures are clear that anything worth waiting for takes time and more time than most of us like to admit.
It's more likely that we have to wait for so long because we are not ready and it's not yet God's time. How many of God's prophets are waxing on and waxing off in the wilderness until He's ready to pull them out? How many filmmakers are yet to be discovered who have been working for years and nobody has even heard of them? Your time will come, friend. My time will come as well. And when it comes we will rejoice. The Promised Land will be upon us.
I know. I know. you've been waiting long enough, right? I get it. I really do. And He gets it, too. He really does. He hears your cries and hears your prayers for deliverance in your finances and in your years of labor as a filmmaker where so many doors have seemed to be closed.
Consider that Joseph had to wait for years until he got out of slavery and prison until he finally rose up to became the leader of Egypt. Abraham had to wait until he was 100 years old to have the child of promise. Moses had to wait until he was 80 years old to stand before Pharaoh and declare the famous words: "Let my people go!" The Children of Israel were in slavery in Egypt for 400 years, they were in the desert for 40 years before entering the promised land, and Israel had to wait 70 years before returning from Babylon to rebuild the Temple. Everything takes time. And yes, sometimes they had to wait because of their own sin, but not always. Remember Joshua and Caleb were the good spies who believed God and yet they had to wait 40 years in the desert like everyone else did.
Unfortunately for us (and if we're honest - moreso it's fortunately for us) the Scriptures are clear that anything worth waiting for takes time and more time than most of us like to admit.
And hopefully many of us will not have to wait as long as some of the faithful had to wait in the Bible Times. 40 years, 80 years, and 100 years are seriously long periods of time. But either way, we do not want things to happen at the wrong time... and we don't want to be like Essau who was impatient and sold his birthright or have an Ishmael in our lives that could become a thorn in the side that comes back to bite us later. We have to learn to be patient and wait for God to do what He will do when He wants to do it. And the point of the waiting is not to wait in vain... but to keep on believing, pressing on with patience so that we will persevere in the end.
I know. I know. you've been waiting long enough, right? I get it. I really do. And He gets it, too. He really does. He hears your cries and hears your prayers for deliverance in your finances and in your years of labor as a filmmaker where so many doors have seemed to be closed.
I think sometimes we miss something important when we read our Bibles about patience. Sometimes we read a verse or a few verses and long periods of time go by and we don't even catch it. Somehow because it's only one verse - we misunderstand and think that a little time has gone by. And that's hard for us to grasp I think because we're not realizing that sometimes the Scriptures are teaching us some sort of lesson that took many years in one verse and secondly it's not something we can appreciate from a 21st Century perspective - things liketaking long periods of time to travel by boat or by camel or donkey to get somewhere. One verse goes by and 20 years can actually go by.
For example, in Genesis 25:20 to 21 it says:
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
In just two verses, Rebekah conceived after Isaac prayed for one verse. How quick it must have been. But when we come down to verse 26 -here's what we learn:
And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
How old was Isaac when his wife gave birth: 60 years old. How old was he when he prayed for his wife to conceive? 40 years. Do the math and you'll see that 20 years passed by in one verse. Just one verse and many years have passed. And how many of us have missed it by just reading on?
And so even one verse might be longer than we anticipated. That gives us a new perspective especially when we feel like we're in a never ending wilderness and we cry out, How long, o Lord? And the truth is, the wilderness is not a place we're meant to stay in. I once heard this in a message by a minister that we're meant to pass through the wilderness. True indeed.
Remember... God loves you and He knows what you want and He knows what you need. He is a good Father. He's not a cruel taskmaster holding out on you to torture you or to watch you squirm like a mean kid who pulls wings off a fly. He's not laughing at your struggle like for the sake of his personal entertainment. Whatever He's up to, it's always for your good and my good and ultimately it's for the best... and for the best of His Kingdom.
And while you've been waiting all these years, God knows your pain - He knows quite well that "hope deferred makes the heart sick." (Proverbs 13:12a) And He doesn't want you to be sick. He also knows quite well that this particular Scripture of Proverbs ends with hope. "...When the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12b) He wants you and I to hope in Him. He longs for us to persevere and He's right there carrying our crosses with us. And He knows that the desire will come to pass if we don't give up.
And so even one verse might be longer than we anticipated. That gives us a new perspective especially when we feel like we're in a never ending wilderness and we cry out, How long, o Lord? And the truth is, the wilderness is not a place we're meant to stay in. I once heard this in a message by a minister that we're meant to pass through the wilderness. True indeed.
Remember... God loves you and He knows what you want and He knows what you need. He is a good Father. He's not a cruel taskmaster holding out on you to torture you or to watch you squirm like a mean kid who pulls wings off a fly. He's not laughing at your struggle like for the sake of his personal entertainment. Whatever He's up to, it's always for your good and my good and ultimately it's for the best... and for the best of His Kingdom.
And while you've been waiting all these years, God knows your pain - He knows quite well that "hope deferred makes the heart sick." (Proverbs 13:12a) And He doesn't want you to be sick. He also knows quite well that this particular Scripture of Proverbs ends with hope. "...When the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12b) He wants you and I to hope in Him. He longs for us to persevere and He's right there carrying our crosses with us. And He knows that the desire will come to pass if we don't give up.
So remember to continue to do your part now however long you have to wait and keep pressing on. Don't give up, do your best... and God will do the rest... in His good time. You will eventually persevere if you just keep moving forward one step at a time.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9)
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