And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it – Habakkuk 2:2
“I didn’t know. I just hoped.” This was the response Laura gave Mary in an episode of Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie, after Jack’s reappearance. It proved Laura Ingalls’s optimistic outlook true—that their loyal dog would find them—after they had been separated while crossing a river during the family’s journey to Kansas. Laura’s faith wasn’t only verbalized but demonstrated by her leaving breadcrumbs in hopes it would lead Jack back to them.
The fruits of hope combine Romans 8:25 and James 2:26 when patiently waiting for what’s envisioned, while proactively working for its manifestation. It is the expectation Laura had when she hoped her dog Jack would return home, using breadcrumbs as his GPS. It is David believing that God would help him defeat Goliath despite his small size. It is also seen in Luke 5:18–20, when men lowered a paralyzed man through a roof to reach Jesus.
Hope that’s dormant is a vision only for the mind. But hope that is partnered with God will, in due season, produce its manifestation. Fruits of hope are God’s reward for those who seek to take what He’s placed in their thoughts and make them a reality.