Memory Verse
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.Habakkuk 3:19
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As we begin our week examining the books of the Minor Prophets, we begin with Hosea and Amos. Do not be fooled by the size of their writings because their message is mighty. Through Hosea’s life we see God revealing Himself (for the first time) as a Faithful Bridegroom and the children of Israel as His bride. That imagery runs all through the New Testament. What a legacy!
For thousands of years and many generations, God has been patient with His people. God demonstrated His love for His people using marriage as a metaphor. Ouch! If our life was a metaphor for our relationship with God (and it is) what would it say to the people around us?
In looking at Hosea’s story, I noticed seven ways God used Hosea’s life as an example to the people around him. Let’s see if they might pertain to our lives as well.
- Our relationship with God is like a marriage. From “Will you…” to “I do”… to “?”
- God uses our struggles to display His POWER through us. Not what we can do on our own.
- God uses our challenges in our relationships to reveal His LOVE to others. We have a choice.
- God calls us to love the unlovely – even those who have hurt us deeply.
- Our disobedience to God brings judgment and severe consequences.
- God calls us into a covenant relationship with Him. He WANTS you!
- God expects us to live in a manner that would connect others to Him.
From the moment we say “I Do” to a relationship with the Great I AM we are in a committed, monogamous, covenant “marriage.” Why does God use marriage as an example of His relationship with us? Marriage is that object or state of being we have sought after (in one form or another) most of our lives. When we were young, we would dream of our perfect wedding to the perfect person and we would live a perfect life. Happily Ever After, right?
Then maybe we found that perfect someone, promised a perfect “forever” and began to live that dream. Then…that “perfect” life hit a few bumps along the way. Our perfect marriage gets rocky…then what? Dreams are shattered, hearts are broken, eyes are opened.
Look at God’s example. He used Hosea’s life and Hosea’s marriage and Hosea’s service to speak to the Israelites about their “marriage” relationship with God. Just as those “perfect” dreams were shattered, our relationship with God becomes broken. It is at this moment of broken dreams that we find we have a choice.
We can choose to honor our marriage vow or walk away. We can choose to love the unlovely one or cast them aside. We can stand firm when the going gets tough or we can faint in the face of struggle. We can choose to OBEY or expect the consequences of our actions.
We can break our promise to God. We can leave those “other people” out there in the dark instead of leading them to the Light. We have a choice. Because we chose to say “I Do,” we get the blessings of a life in relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Because we said, “I Do,” we have a Helper, a Leader through our struggles. Because we are “one flesh,” we are loved when we are un-lovely.
So how can God use us – You and Me – to lead others to Him? How can God use a broken heart and a broken spirit to shine its LIGHT? He changes our heart. We were born with a heart problem, but God is our Healer.
The prophet Amos (who studied under Hosea) told the Israelites their words were empty without the right heart. They needed the heart of a worshipper and the heart of a servant. Oscar Wilde once said,
“Every Saint has a PAST. Every Sinner has a FUTURE.”
God showed Hosea how to love his wife, Gomer, the way God loved Israel; the way He loves you and me. Hosea forgave Gomer, rebuilt the marriage and taught others to follow God. Hosea’s struggles did not disqualify him from service. Gomer’s wicked ways did not prevent Hosea from being used by God. Their children, who were given very unfortunate names by God, were restored and dearly loved in the end.
We were born with a heart problem, but we have a choice. We can choose to live with a bad, broken heart, or we can give the pieces to God and let Him make something lovely.
Let’s Pray:
Lord, We bring You the pieces of our broken hearts and our broken lives. Thank You for loving us when we are un-lovely. Thank You for making a way for us to go from an unfortunate name of “I am not your God” to “I AM your God.” You asked us “Will you?” We want to say “I Do” and live under Your Protection all the days of our lives. We love You, Lord.
AMEN
About Teresa Bolme
Teresa, you popped the big question right off the bat! “If our life was a metaphor for our relationship with God (and it is) what would it say to the people around us?” Recently I shared with a friend who is going through a rough time in their life my story of my rough patch many years ago. What was exciting to me was to see how different the circumstances were and yet God remains the same. As you say, “we have a choice,” to allow the circumstances to break us or to allow God to change us and use us. I choose to allow Him to change and use me. Because He remains the same, He makes it easy for us to point others to Him. Malachi 3;6, “‘I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed…Return to Me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” That’s His everlasting mercy!
Absolutely! Our God does not change. HE does not move away from us. We change, we move. Keep telling your story. The more you tell it, the more you see Him…the Great I AM.
thank you, teresa, for your words today in our lesson and in your wonderful blog this morning! my heart is pricked and convicted. in that beautiful song, there are the words, “My love it unites us; it binds you and Me….” truly it IS all about God’s grace first and His mercy continually. He draws us to Him, He places LOVE in our hearts, He encourages us, teaches us, leads us…it is HIS LOVE that makes it possible for us to love Him. our God is so amazing!!! i love Him so!!! He IS the Great I AM! <3
I Am so glad your spirit was touched today. Love you friend.
Oh Theresa, this is so good. I love the metaphor of the marriage. So true. Your blog this morning reminded me of the book “Sacred Marriage”. What if God created marriage to make us holy not happy. He uses our marriage as a tool to understand how he forgives and loves us. Our marriage is a tool to build character in us and teach us the love of God. Great words this morning
I had often wondered ‘Why marriage?’ and in studying Hosea, it began to make more sense. There is no closer bond two people can experience. We really do become ‘one’ when we bind ourselves to another person and to God. I learned so much during this study.
I’m speechless!! What a blog today! So much good info. I love the marriage analogy. And til death do us part? We never have to be without Him. We will spend eternity in His presence.
This would have to be one instance where death would bring us closer to our Beloved. I cannot wait for that ‘Wedding Supper of the Lamb’
I do!
I Do, too!
Beautiful and inspiring words, as always, Teresa! Thank you so much!
Thanks, friend. We are ALL so blessed to be loved so well.
When God created life He knew the challenges. He knew just what it would take to bring us to Him – bad times and good. He doesn’t only want to hear our struggles but He wants to be there in the triumphs. How can he not LOVE us but more how can we not LOVE Him as he makes us His bride. Ours through life and death. What better reward!!!!
Awesome words, Anne. How can we turn our backs on love like that?
This is a late response but it has been a busy day. I love how you lined out those seven points. I actually printed them out and plan on putting them in my journal