Do you find yourself referring to life these days in terms of pre and post-pandemic?  I sure have.  I also find myself thinking, HOW life will ever return to normal? If I’m being honest, it’s been a roller coaster of ups and downs, anxiety, and lukewarmness to it all. There are so many uncertain scenarios.  Life is in the balance.  Is God trying to get our attention?

What is God showing us in all of this?

We complain because we don’t have the answers.  We moan about the life we were accustomed to.  We fear the future and miss the past. We experience loss, are anxious about provision and security, and resent our loss of control. We react, we hurt, we cry, we scream………..but do we ask…

What does God want to do in me through this experience?

When God led His people out of Egypt, they too endured a change in culture.  God has constantly been in a dance with the people of Israel, He leads, they follow. They lose their step; He gently pulls them back.  I keep asking myself, is God asking us, once again, to return to Him?  To renew our covenant with Him as He asked Israel to do?

Hosea 2: 14

Therefore, I will now allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.

I’ve been drawn to the Book of Hosea this week. Hosea, a prophet from the Northern Kingdom, preached to Israel in a time of their prosperity and comfort.  A time, when once again, they had forgotten the covenant between themselves and God and were unfaithful. Hosea’s beautiful words reveal to us how broken-hearted God is.  He describes the relationship that Israel was meant to have with Him in terms of marriage; a covenant relationship.

Hosea 2: 19-20

And I will take you for my wife forever, I will take you for my wife in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy I will take you for my wife in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.

Are we being called into the wilderness?  Is God tenderly trying to show us that we’ve strayed too far?  Lost faith in His providence? Placed our faith in our own strength and power?  Is He calling us back; removing the world’s chaos and noise? Bringing us to a quiet place to listen…….and remember?

Hosea 11:1-2

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.  The more I called them, the farther they went from me.

Many are filled with fear of the time we are living in and even wonder if this is God’s wrath on our unfaithfulness, but after reading Hosea, I see a heart-broken God who is doing everything He can to get our attention; to call us back to Him.  Yes, there is loss and pain………but God is good.  The loss and pain are where we can find Him, weeping with us.  He’s also in the hearts of those who see a need and fill it.  He’s in the rainbows and sunsets, as my sister-in-law recently pointed out. Haven’t they been beautiful? He’s tapping us on the shoulder, saying “Look! Here I am.  Do you recognize me?”

Hosea 6:3

Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains, that water the earth.

Later in Hosea 6:4-6, we see that God reveals how fleeting our love for him is – like the morning dew that goes away early.  He desires only our love, only our steadfast love.

Hosea 14: 1-2,4

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.  Take words with you and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.” I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.

Yes, times are uncertain, but our God is not.  He is faithful and good. May our hope for our future be found in God’s holy Word.  Let us settle into the silence and listen for His voice.

I WILL WAIT FOR YOU – Keith & Kristyn Getty

Lord, from the depths I call to You

Lord, hear me from on high

And give attention to my voice

When I for mercy cry

Out of the depths I cry to You

In darkest places I will call

Incline Your ear to me anew

And hear my cry for mercy, Lord

Were You to count my sinful ways

How could I come before Your throne

Yet full forgiveness meets my gaze

I stand redeemed by grace alone

CHORUS

I will wait for You

I will wait for You

On Your word, I will rely

I will wait for You

Surely wait for You

Till my soul is satisfied

So put your hope in God alone

Take courage in His power to save

Completely and forever won

By Christ emerging from the grave

CHORUS

Now He has come to make a way

And God Himself has paid the price

That all who trust in Him today

Find healing in His sacrifice

CHORUS

I will wait for You

I will wait for You

Through the storm and through the night

I will wait for You

Surely wait for You

For Your love is my delight 

OUTRO

I pray my soul waits for the Lord

My hope is in His word

More than the watchman waits for dawn

My soul waits for the Lord

Getting to the Root of Change and helping you LOVE the season of life you’re in.

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