A Loving Reminder: Grace and Mercy
Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.” (Hosea 5:15)
My lovelies, I've been reading a study on the book of Hosea. A study on the disobedience and redemption of the people of Israel. It has been a little tough to swallow, convicting and bringing full awareness of how we grieve God.
Hosea 5:15 penetrates my heart. I read it over and over again. The Lord says I will return to my place..... Until they admit their guilt..... For as soon as trouble comes.....they will earnestly search for me.
Certainly I am no different than the people of Israel. Almost daily, I get consumed by the worldly things around me. Grieving God by desiring the things of the earth. Wanting more than that, that He has already given me. I have even walked away in pursuit of things that are not of God, and that is not in His will for my life. And as beautiful as certain things may seem, where God's will is not present, there is no peace. So we often find ourselves living in misery, in pain, in trouble, living the consequences of pursuing our own earthly agendas without the blessing from God. It is in these moments of pain that that we remember God and start calling out to him.
The part of the verse that resonates in me is 'The Lord says I will return to my place..' I know what it feels like when God recedes, because of disobedience. He never left me, he remained present. But after warning me, He receded and allowed me to walk in my will. Walking against God's will is an uphill battle. And I battled alone. The entire time I knew in my spirit that He was present but He allowed me to stumble, fall and feel the heaviness of his absence, until I could no more. It was at that point of hurt of being tired of going against God that I searched for Him and that I longed once again to be in His presence!
How faithful and merciful is He, that he allows us to do what 'we' will after he tries to guide us and then waits patiently until we are ready to come to him, full of pain, anguish and full of regret, searching for him diligently.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:1-9
Thank you Father, for I am redeemed! I know who's I am! I wandered, I was unsettled but you gathered me. You relentlessly pursued me. You roared like a lion and back I was with trembling and fear, but in the hands of Unfailing Love! I lift up any lovely that may be walking on their own right now. I pray that they feel the heaviness of your absence as I did and run to You, searching for you diligently! I pray for true restoration where it is needed. I pray for a touch of your love where it is needed. I pray that you fill their mouths with a new song. Father I thank you because although you recede, you never leave. You are ever-present waiting to pick us up. Forgive us for grieving you. In your precious name Jesus! Amen
