Hope deferred

   makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled

   is a tree of life.

            Proverbs 13. 12

(How long, O LORD,

    will this last?

When will this affliction

           be over?

Hope in the LORD

   hangs on even in despair,

not wishful thinking

     "We'll get through this!",

but a deep organic strength

   energized and growing

              in the darkness.

And on the other side of this,

faithfulness to God,

      even through the storm,

bears fruit

   far beyond our lives.)

O LORD,

You see beyond this.

You carry us

       in the midst

    of what we cannot understand.

Your strength comes

         not just at the end

  but on the journey through.

Our hope does not hang

      on the "what if"

      of a specified outcome,

but staking our lives

      on the "what is"

      of Who You are.

And You, O LORD,

    bear and ripen

    Your life-giving fruit,

some of which

        we may never see.)