God's Love is Unfathomable
Have you ever felt trapped by the belief that you’ve done too many bad things for God to love you anymore? I know that I definitely have. This misunderstanding of God's vast love for me affected my later teenage years and much of my twenties. I was confident that I had done too much, gone too far astray, for God to ever want to hear from me or speak to me ever again. I was too blemished, too ugly, to be in the presence of an almighty God. Of course, this was the furthest thing from the truth, but it still felt real. This is why I love the story of Hosea and his wife Gomer.
At the beginning of the book, Hosea and Gomer are married and raising several children. However, in chapter two, Gomer unexpectedly leaves her husband, home, and family to return to a life of prostitution, as she had done in her early years. For me, there have been times where it seemed easier to turn my back on the life that God had given me to pursue the world and my sin, just like Gomer. But God’s grace was sufficient for Gomer, sufficient for me, and it’s just as sufficient for you too.
We see in Chapter 2 verses 6-8, where it says, “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way. When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’ She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has—the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.”
In these verses, there is so much of God’s grace for Gomer. She was actively looking for sin, actively giving the good gifts from God to other idols, and yet He still protected her by keeping what she was looking for out of her reach. God has done this many times for me too. He has saved me from my own actions time and time again and has redeemed me.
We see an even better picture of God’s redemption as we read further on to verses 14-20: “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt. When that day comes," says the Lord, "you will call me 'my husband' instead of 'my master.' O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again. On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety. I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.”
God was using the story of Hosea and Gomer to also illustrate His love for Israel, but I believe this same story and same love is for you and me today too. God wants us to really know Him as the Lord, to really understand His great love for us. His love is unfathomable, and yet we get to spend our lives receiving new facets of it. How beautiful is the Lord, and how gracious is He!
Today, I encourage you to let the Lord redeem you, all of you, and to let Him lavish His love upon you (1 John 3:1). There is absolutely nothing that can take you away from your Father’s love. What separates us from Him is our thoughts, ideas, sins, and belief that we are not good enough to be in His presence. I believe that the Holy Spirit can and will redeem you, as He has done so greatly for me, if you will allow Him to come close and to speak tenderly to you in your desert. God loves you, Jesus, the king of kings, died for you, and the Holy Spirit is available to you every moment of every day. Receive Him!
Activation: Set a timer for 5 minutes and write a letter to God. Don’t worry about making it sound good, smart, or put-together. Just tell Him anything that you’ve been wanting to say, but haven’t felt able to. Really get honest with the Lord. Don’t hold back!
Prayer: At the end of the 5 minutes, pray a prayer like this:
“Dear Lord, thank You for being my ever-present help in times of need. This letter that I have written to You is from my heart, and I am sorry that I have kept my thoughts and feelings from You. Please forgive me, and please help me to have even more of a knowledge of Your incredible and gracious love for me. Holy Spirit, I ask that You lead me and guide me throughout the rest of my day, and in the days to come. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
At the beginning of the book, Hosea and Gomer are married and raising several children. However, in chapter two, Gomer unexpectedly leaves her husband, home, and family to return to a life of prostitution, as she had done in her early years. For me, there have been times where it seemed easier to turn my back on the life that God had given me to pursue the world and my sin, just like Gomer. But God’s grace was sufficient for Gomer, sufficient for me, and it’s just as sufficient for you too.
We see in Chapter 2 verses 6-8, where it says, “For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block her path with a wall to make her lose her way. When she runs after her lovers, she won’t be able to catch them. She will search for them but not find them. Then she will think, ‘I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.’ She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has—the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.”
In these verses, there is so much of God’s grace for Gomer. She was actively looking for sin, actively giving the good gifts from God to other idols, and yet He still protected her by keeping what she was looking for out of her reach. God has done this many times for me too. He has saved me from my own actions time and time again and has redeemed me.
We see an even better picture of God’s redemption as we read further on to verses 14-20: “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt. When that day comes," says the Lord, "you will call me 'my husband' instead of 'my master.' O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again. On that day I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky and the animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety. I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.”
God was using the story of Hosea and Gomer to also illustrate His love for Israel, but I believe this same story and same love is for you and me today too. God wants us to really know Him as the Lord, to really understand His great love for us. His love is unfathomable, and yet we get to spend our lives receiving new facets of it. How beautiful is the Lord, and how gracious is He!
Today, I encourage you to let the Lord redeem you, all of you, and to let Him lavish His love upon you (1 John 3:1). There is absolutely nothing that can take you away from your Father’s love. What separates us from Him is our thoughts, ideas, sins, and belief that we are not good enough to be in His presence. I believe that the Holy Spirit can and will redeem you, as He has done so greatly for me, if you will allow Him to come close and to speak tenderly to you in your desert. God loves you, Jesus, the king of kings, died for you, and the Holy Spirit is available to you every moment of every day. Receive Him!
Activation: Set a timer for 5 minutes and write a letter to God. Don’t worry about making it sound good, smart, or put-together. Just tell Him anything that you’ve been wanting to say, but haven’t felt able to. Really get honest with the Lord. Don’t hold back!
Prayer: At the end of the 5 minutes, pray a prayer like this:
“Dear Lord, thank You for being my ever-present help in times of need. This letter that I have written to You is from my heart, and I am sorry that I have kept my thoughts and feelings from You. Please forgive me, and please help me to have even more of a knowledge of Your incredible and gracious love for me. Holy Spirit, I ask that You lead me and guide me throughout the rest of my day, and in the days to come. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
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