12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. ~ Proverbs 13:12
In 1873, German zoologist Karl Möbius placed a Pike (a voracious ambush predator found across the Northern Hemisphere) in a glass tank with a group of schooling fish. Karl Möbius separated the Pike from the group of schooling fish with a transparent glass barrier. The Pike continuously attempted to get to the other fish but kept hitting the glass barrier. After failing over and over again, the predator gave up and retreated to the back corner of the tank. Karl Möbius then removed the glass barrier, but the Pike didn’t attack when the other fish entered his side of the tank. They swam all around him, yet he didn’t move. He didn’t attempt to catch them once. Not long after, the Pike Fish died of starvation in a tank full of food. This experiment later became known as the Pike Effect.
Some of us are like this Pike. We’ve tried so many times, but failure has beaten us down. It puts us in a place of hopelessness. A learned helplessness that keeps us from trying even when the obstacle has been removed. Even when there’s nothing more stopping us, we still refuse to try because our brain has been conditioned to believe that it’s pointless. That family member that we’ve been praying for for so many years has only gotten worse. That cancer diagnosis that we’ve been praying against hasn’t changed. That relationship we’ve set before God seems to have worsened. That sin we’ve been struggling with feels like its grip has only gotten tighter. We feel helpless and broken. But we can’t give in.
We can’t give up. There is a time and season for everything. Sometimes, the enemy puts a barrier between us and what God has for us. We hit that glass so many times that we just feel like there’s no getting through. Like there’s no way around it. But we aren’t that Pike. We are children of God Most High. Sons and daughters of God the Almighty. We are not without hope. Some of us are in a time of testing that feels like it will never end. Some of us are in a Job season, and the whole world is just weighing on our shoulders. But here’s the thing: we aren’t in the tank alone. We aren’t fighting the enemy on our own or in our own power. We fight in the Name and power of our LORD Jesus Christ. And because of Him, we are never without hope. Yes, the fulfillment may be delayed for a time, but not forever. For when we call on Him, He answers. And when we cry out to Him, He runs to our rescue. You are not alone. Never let the enemy convince you otherwise.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Be The Pike.