Proverbs 13:19

A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools abhor turning away from evil.

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✨ “What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” — Langston Hughes, Harlem (1951)

Hughes wrote those lines at the dawn of the Civil‑Rights era, capturing Black America’s simmering frustration. The poem became a cultural mirror: if hopes stay bottled up, sooner or later they crust… or explode.

My sister‑in‑law, a studied actress, used to recite the poem ‘Harlem’ with a thunderous cadence—every pause aching, every word bruised with yearning. I still hear her performing it in my mind…and get chills.

🪴 When Longings Blossom

Proverbs 13:19 echoes Hughes’s warning by showing both sides:

First, a longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul–“a tree of life” is the slang that the Bible uses.

Anyone who’s seen a wish come true knows this: the joy, the rush, that sense of satisfaction. God wired us for that. In the beginning, the world was “formless and void”… until God summoned Light!—and darkness rearranged itself into beauty.

Dreams are that God‑spark within us. They look right at “how things are” and dare to picture “how things could be.”

But When Dreams Stall?

The proverb’s second line sounds more familiar to Langston’s poetic omen:

“Fools abhor turning away from evil.”

Translation: some people are refused the very changes their dream requires. Their progress seems sabotaged, their development arrested, and for some reason they refuse to let go of the very things that thwart their own dream. It’s not fate—it’s resistance to transformation. But not all dreams were meant to fester in the heat of deferment.

Author H. Jackson Brown Jr. advised,

“Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures.”

That’s the secret sauce:

* Dream big—write about it, talk about it, pray about it.

Then:

* Celebrate small wins—a page written, a pound lost, a single act of courage accomplished. Relish it all.

Each tiny pleasure keeps the soul sweet, preventing burnout while the bigger vision ripens.

Break the dream into increments, win by win; and watch the larger picture come into view.

Look

Dreams do come true—Hope is not always deferred.Celebrate the small wins and you can see your dreams determined.

Prayer

Shape my dream, Lord—sweeten each step and train my heart.

Today’s Challenge

* Write one sentence describing your “dream-determined.”

* List one small pleasure you’ll enjoy today—no matter what.

* Identify one habit to release so the dream can breathe.

Because a longing fulfilled is sweet, and sweetness starts today.

Bonus:

In my Tribute to Hughes incomparable poem Harlem, I imagined a poem stating the opposite of his question about a dream being deferred and I cal it: A Dream Determined

What happens to a dream-determined?Does it ripen like a grape on the vine?Or ferment fine—like time‑aged wine?

Does it rise like bread freshly baked?Or glow like dawn lighting a shadowed place?

Does it heal like skin once torn, now mended & reborn?Or gleam like gold from the fire, purely formed?

Maybe it still explodes—but in the slowest of modes,unfolding its codein incremental light that’s strobed,past and future mysteriously robed…

Ah, but to watch it in present tense—Is the greatest gift bestowed.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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