Yesterday I finished a my first in-depth study on the book of Hosea with an awesome blog called She Reads Truth {If you haven't ever heard of them, I highly suggest you check them out, ladies}. The past 17 days I have been studying Hosea inside and out with hundreds of women all over the world. It's a daily devotional and an online community that engage women in scripture, prayer, and spiritual truth. This is the second, in real time, study I have done with them and I have been encouraged every day. Who wouldn't be encouraged by reading God's Word with hundreds of sisters each day knowing all of us come with our unique stories to praise the same God? It's awesome!
Now to reality, reading Hosea was sometimes difficult, sometimes refreshing, and sometimes terrifying. If you don't know much about Hosea, you should read this post. As I read about how Israel continued to turn from God, not seek Him, and worship false idols, I knew it sounded familiar. I am Israel. I turn my back on God when things don't go the way I think they should. I don't seek Him in the good and bad times. I worship other things besides Him. I feel like this is a constant battle for most of us because we live in a fallen world. We are constantly being distracted by things around us that want our undivided attention, but none of them deserve it. In Hosea, the people worshipped Baal, wooden idols, and themselves. Now we worship others, technology, ourselves, and the list goes on.
Though Israel was so disobedient, God never gave up on them. Hebrews 12: 3-7, 11 says:
"
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart. In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
or faint when you are reproved by Him,
for the Lord disciplines the one He loves
and punishes every son He receives.
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
He loved Israel, so He disciplined them. He wanted them to see the consequences of their sins. He wanted them to repent and turn their hearts back to Him. In Hosea, God was just and punished them for their wrongdoings. It was hard and painful, but He still loved them. The same is true for us. We do things that aren't pleasing to God, but He waits with open arms for our return. Hosea ends with a promise of restoration. Verse 4 God says, "I will heal their waywardness, and love them freely." May your heart find peace in His promise.
As a whole, Hosea was very reflective for me. I thought back to the time when I received salvation. How before I intimately knew God, I lived for myself and my own happiness. Yet God was still pining after my heart. When I finally realized I needed Him, I remember physically feeling His love for me. Now looking back on those times, I see how lost I was before July 4, 2006. Now on September 12, 2014 I'm found. I find love in Him. I find life in Him. I find peace in Him who died so that I may live.
Blessings,
Chelsea
