Then it grows and it can become monstrous. It outgrows the pot and crushes everything within it. It cracks the clay and it breaks the heart that was harbouring it. And when hope is delayed it stays that way. A hope deferred makes the heart sick. But when that hope is satisfied it's like the overgrown, tangled, gnarly plant shrinks back and recoils into the pot. Instead of being a rampaging reminder that hope has not come through and saved the day, it once again becomes a flower. A flower that stands for the faithfulness of a rightly planted hope.
