a powerful love...

In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
and the creatures that move along the ground.
Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.
I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the LORD.
Hosea 2:18-20

So in keeping with the theme of the post from last week’s meeting…God’s love is most likely the most beautiful powerful thing ever.
Sarah and I have been talking about Hosea and God has been putting the whole theme of HIS LOVE on our hearts…and just even trying to fathom the God who not only has been put through the constant, blatant rejection of the people He loves…but sees every time that we WILL continue to reject Him and choose other things over Him.
In a class I was in once, the teacher said “we are the only beings in existence who have the power to hurt God.”
And I was like, whoa…the animals can’t hurt Him, Satan can’t hurt Him…God knows who Satan is.
But He has given us the choice…He has laid out His heart for us…died for us…He TELLS us in no uncertain terms that He LOVES us…and asks us to love Him back. Asks us to give Him free reign in our lives. He wants to use us and show us how perfect His plan is…He wants to make us fall in love with Him and just show us HIS idea of what our lives should be…
How beautiful is that?????
But we see that, and say, well He’ll still be there after I do this…
Or He’s God…He can take a little pain…
Or we get bored, and want to try something else…
Or we get selfish and do what feels good for the moment – even when we KNOW that its not what He wants.
And all the while, He stays right by our side…waiting, still wanting to show us His love.
Never ONCE does He say – fine, I’m done, don’t come to me ever again, you blew it…
Not once.
And the reality of that is really sinking in…who am I to take advantage of that love???
I have been hurt SO many times…I KNOW what rejection feels like…so who am I to put God through that?
And really – the worst part is… we don’t just flat out reject Him…but we play with Him. We say, ok God, use me, work through me…we play the game…and then choose something else over Him again…then run back when we get sick of that or feel guilty…and then do it all over again.
Whether I like it or not, God loves me. He’s there, just wanting me to go to Him…so what do I do with that?
This is the God who gave EVERYTHING for me.
The least I can do…even if it didn’t benefit me AT ALL…which it DOES in HUGE ways…is love Him back, and give Him my life. To stop playing with His heart.
to decide one way or the other...either RUN towards Him or leave Him alone...but one way or the other He deserves so much more than maybe.
The reality is that we will never be perfect, we will continue to grieve His Spirit…but my prayer is that He gives us strength to live whole heartedly for Him and not waiver…that He continues to reveal His heart to us…remind us of who He is, that we can remember and do all we can to give Him the love He is worthy of…ALWAYS worthy of.
And that we can enjoy a beautiful personal close relationship with our amazing Father who loves us more than we can fathom…and in that become a part of His beautifully perfect plan.