hosea

i had a short remark on Monday night that God rarely comes unless invited; like He doesn't make a home in Your heart until You let Him in. in the same way, i don't think He fully descends on a place like fire unless He is desired in that place, whether by the people there or people somewhere praying. when Jesus healed people, they would say "if You are willing, You can do it," and one of His common responses seemed to be, "I am willing. You are healed by Your faith"

i think one of the points that should be made is that it took guts to get out of your house or your city to pursue God, to get off your couch and look for Him. not only could it maybe be embarrassing ("you really believe this guy can heal?"), but it would be dangerous because you make yourself vulnerable to Him. lepers would go to Him when they couldn't go to anyone else, with a sliver of hope - knowing that He could be no different from the others. they would let themselves be susceptible again to love and it might not be returned. He could be all hype - you could get your hopes up for nothing. He could even hurt you... what if it was instant gratification and then produced adverse effects? what if He wanted money that you didn't have? but most of it all, it was a blow to your pride. do you really need this guy? do you really need help?

and once there, would He perform the miracle? not only was He capable of performing it, but would He? and some people probably didn't leave their house or their place because they didn't believe Jesus could do it, but some people probably didn't pursue Him because they didn't think He really would heal. not for them.

and reading through Hosea, you begin to see some sorts of contradictions. God says "I will never leave you nor forsake You" somewhere in Scripture and He says that He died out of love and He is love and that this is His character and He won't turn His back on His people. Scripture says love never fails and says that even if you had everything, you wouldn't have anything of value without love. and in Hosea, God tells Hosea that the Israelites are no longer His people, He says that He will leave them and cause them to be frustrated beyond belief and that He will take away their clothing and hedge in their paths so that nothing works and they will find no satisfaction anywhere.

the first time i read this, i wasn't sure what to make of it. it seems like a huge contradiction - does God forsake His people or not? the second time around, it occurred that when God was saying, "these are not My people," it was because He wouldn't claim them because they were proud and they weren't following or pursuing Him. because this people had found their comfort and satisfaction in false gods or lovers and outside of God. He wouldn't claim them. His response: frustrate them with such pain that they would become desperate for a real solution. He would take away the power from their fake lovers so that they no longer satisfied, He would take away the privileges He had provided. He would take Israel's kings and priests and powers - there would be nowhere to turn to. they would be lost, misguided, broken-hearted.

Hosea 5:13... "when Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; Yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound." the Israelites feel their pain and their response is to turn to Assyria for antidotes or solutions. but the king has no power to heal them.

Hosea 5:14... "For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue." God will, in a sense, forsake them. He will "tear them and go away." they will be frustrated and alone, stolen away.

Hosea 5:15... "I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me." this is the kicker. He takes them away, He takes all of their things away, so that they will be His. since they put their faith in their money and their lovers and their feelings, He eliminates each one so that they have nothing left. then He will have what He wants. God is a loving God, but at the same time - He is a jealous God. He is not weak - He will change circumstances so that He gets His people. "in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me" - in other words, they will invite Him. that invitation - that giving over of the heart - is what God wants. it's not that He doesn't love His people - He does.

if you want to look at circumstances and think that God doesn't love because of death or bad grades, i will admit that the pain really hurts. i don't want to be undermining pain at all. that's a real emotion and it deserves to be felt. but just because one is afflicted doesn't mean God doesn't love. sometimes, it's because God is loving that one feels affliction. other times, maybe it's just God working in other peoples' lives, weaving His story for others, working in ways higher than ours. but i don't think we can say God doesn't love, not on the basis that we had a bad day. it hurts to feel like crap - and the pain is real. but perhaps it's necessary. maybe the sorrow is a small price to pay to be able to enjoy a good and real God forever. and maybe one is forced to trust, all the more, that God really knows what He's doing. and that, because He wants you, His love won't stop at anything until you're His.*

*but He won't jump the gun. He won't enter your heart if you don't invite Him into it. there's free will. if there wasn't, we'd be like robots, not really living. the philosophical debate begins: how could a loving God let people burn in hell? i can't say that i know. i know that God loves to save and i really believe that He has His love set on everyone, that no human is an exception. i also believe that a willing heart is all that's necessary, no matter how torn, broken, or wrecked that heart might be. i guess it's the people who won't let Him in, who stick by their lovers and refuse God, who will be stuck with what they ask for - their powerless gods. God only wants people who actually want Him.