Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

I used to look at that verse as describing an ending to something.  Once the desire came, in my mind, I imagined sitting under a giant tree with plenty of shade, the temperature being a perfect 70 degrees, and basking in the joy of the answered prayer for such-and-such or so-and-so.  I am a Type A.  I like to start a project and then arrive at the end of a project.  So when I think of prayer requests, I always imagine the end, and not that the answer to prayer itself is really taking me just one more step down the road.

My husband's last job was a huge struggle.  Without going into a lot of details, his boss was not nice.  I have always prayed for Darin to enjoy his work, for him to be an important part of any organization he works for, for him to deepen his skills every year, to be able to work with the team, and any other issue that might pop up.  But his boss brought on what I would call MAYDAY prayers.  I was doing some major calling out to God to save Darin from the situation he was in.  There just seemed to be nothing that Darin could do to please that guy, and the uncertainty and stress that he brought into our home was just too much.  This was not the first unreasonable boss that Darin has worked for, so my prayer for Darin took on the form of asking God to give Darin a place where he could work and be treated like a real person. That he would be valued and cared for.  That really doesn’t seem like too much to ask for from another human being, does it?   Darin was finally fired, and long story short, found a new job in a new state with a boss and co-workers who do treat him with care and respect.  It is such a blessing. 

And so with the answer to the prayer, the “desire comes.”  The job-stress is gone.  Even the drive to and from work is a blessing.  No bumper-to-bumper traffic during rush hour in this new state.  Darin is a new man.  You would think that we are all sitting around under that giant “tree of life” enjoying every minute of this answered prayer, but the answered prayer has brought new prayers.  Moving across county has been hard.  Leaving our home of 27 years has been a jolt!  In a word, we are homesick.  

Is this prayer-thing just a big trick?  Can we Type A’s never get satisfaction?  Or does it go much deeper than checking answered requests off a list?  God never wants us to stop relying on Him.  He loves us and wants to provide and be a true Father.   

Our first inclination is to trust in our own power and forget about God.  Jesus nailed it when in Matthew 19:24, He said,  

“And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  

A rich man doesn’t struggle with gaining the most basic needs of this world.  He has everything he wants or needs.  He feels self-sufficient and self-made.   I looked up what Matthew Henry had to say about the real Tree of Life.  Writing about Revelation 22:2, he wrote:  

This tree of life is fed by the pure waters of the river that comes from the throne of God. The presence and perfections of God furnish out all the glory and blessedness of heaven. 2. The fruitfulness of this tree. (1.) It brings forth many sorts of fruit—twelve sorts, suited to the refined taste of all the saints. (2.) It brings forth fruit at all times—yields its fruit every month. This tree is never empty, never barren; there is always fruit upon it. In heaven there is not only a variety of pure and satisfying pleasures, but a continuance of them, and always fresh. (3.) The fruit is not only pleasant, but wholesome. The presence of God in heaven is the health and happiness of the saints; there they find in him a remedy for all their former maladies and are preserved by him in the most healthful and vigorous state.  

Even in heaven, we are not independent of God.  We will continue to rely on his provision.  The tree grows from the water that comes from the throne of God.  We are “preserved by Him” for eternity.  He is giving us a taste of what we will experience in Heaven, here on earth.  Our blessings and needs are continually provided through Him, and as one prayer leads to an answered prayer, which leads to new needs, new prayers, new answers, He teaches us and continually draws us closer to Him.  There is never an end to His care and sustaining power.  It begins here on earth, as we humble ourselves and submit our lives to Him through His Son, Jesus, and will continue on into eternity.