Because He Loves Us

I think we all have weeks where we just totally blow it.  Life is just no fun sometimes.  Last week was that week.  After a failed attempt at potty training my 2.5 year old son, both of my children decided to go in to complete brat mode.  Yep I said it, my kids were brats last week and boy was I a brat too!  Did I go straight to the Lord in prayer, nope, I stewed in my brattiness.

So I went to church on Sunday and it was nice because my little ones were NOT with me.  Boy that sounds bad. But it gave me time to think.  The Lord reminded me to read Hosea (Someone at Onething said we should really delve into Hosea). 

If you don't know the background on Hosea he is the prophet that the Lord called to take a prostitute as a wife and love her as though she was pure.  God made Hosea an example to the Israelites of the relationship between Israel and the Lord.  They were in DEEP sin at the time.  BUT as always, God had a plan to draw His people back to Himself.

The first few chapters are like "eek, ouch, really?"  There were some SERIOUS judgments coming their way.

 ¹ “Hear this, you priests!
   Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
   This judgment is against you:
You have been a snare at Mizpah,
   a net spread out on Tabor.
² The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.
   I will discipline all of them.
³ I know all about Ephraim;
   Israel is not hidden from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
   Israel is corrupt.

 ⁴ “Their deeds do not permit them
   to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
   they do not acknowledge the LORD.
⁵ Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
   the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin;
   Judah also stumbles with them.
⁶ When they go with their flocks and herds
   to seek the LORD,
they will not find him;
   he has withdrawn himself from them.
⁷ They are unfaithful to the LORD;
   they give birth to illegitimate children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,
   he will devour^[a] their fields. 

Hosea 5:1-7

That is some intense stuff.  But a couple chapters earlier we see the heart of the Lord towards the children of Israel, we know that He wishes to draw them in to Himself.

 ¹⁴ “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
   I will lead her into the wilderness
   and speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵ There I will give her back her vineyards,
   and will make the Valley of Achor^[b] a door of hope.
There she will respond^[c] as in the days of her youth,
   as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

 ¹⁶ “In that day,” declares the LORD,
   “you will call me ‘my husband’;
   you will no longer call me ‘my master.^[d]’
¹⁷ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
   no longer will their names be invoked.
¹⁸ In that day I will make a covenant for them
   with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
   and the creatures that move along the ground.
Bow and sword and battle
   I will abolish from the land,
   so that all may lie down in safety.
¹⁹ I will betroth you to me forever;
   I will betroth you in^[e] righteousness and justice,
   in^[f] love and compassion.
²⁰ I will betroth you in^[g] faithfulness,

   and you will acknowledge the LORD. 

Hosea 2:14-20

I love where it says "that you will call me my Husband and no longer my Master".  How incredible that He so delights in us that even though we are terrible and bratty and even in the terrible depths of sin like the Israelites were, that he doesn't want us to come to Him with the intent of trying to earn our way back in His favor, he doesn't want us to come as servants initially, but as lovers of Him., and OUT of that love comes the heart of a true servant.

God was ready to wipe them out, not because he was angry AT them, but he was angry at their sin.  He is JEALOUS for us and will remove whatever is in the way of loving Him.  Sometimes it hurts and we may not realize that certain things are actually keeping us from loving Him.

It does feel at times like the Lord is trying to wipe you out (like with terrible toddlers), but is He really just trying to wipe SOMETHING OUT of you, not necessarily you (if that makes any sense).

Things are definitely clearer in the light of His grace and mercy and I love that He is ALWAYS faithful to reveal Himself to us and that He chooses to acknowledge our weak love and loves us in our weakness and not despite it.

This is a spontaneous song from the Onething 09 CD.  Yep, you have to listen to all 6 minutes :) Sometimes we need to remember that He REALLY does love us, even in our brattiness.  Just make sure to turn off my player at the bottom before you play this one.