We have read probably close to 200 verses together. And considering that only about half of them have been directly from our time in the book of Hosea (incl. cross-references, etc.), that really is remarkable.
Monday night was an incredible time in the Word.
We had just finished reading about Angel's first weeks with Michael. Last we saw them, he had taken her to a hillside to watch the sunrise.
Knowing all the good Michael has to offer Angel, we are so startled that Angel wants none of it. She's a skeptic, sure. But she's also stubborn and rebellious. She walks without hope, and she assumes all hope is illusive -- if not an illusion.
So even though Michael has been nothing but tender and patient and kind and loving toward her, she begins hatching a plan to head back to her old life.
We are so like that, aren't we? We know full well the goodness of God. We've seen it in action. We've received his grace and kindness enough to know how wonderful it and real it feels. But we always go back to sin. Always. Maybe it's not the same old sin every time, but we still yearn for our own ways.
The homework was: Find verses that discuss obedience and/or resistance to the Lord.
Together, we found 23 verses, not including the eight or so verses we found about God's pursuit of us.
We looked at verses where God asks us over and over again to obey him (Jer. 11:7). We saw that our obedience is seen as an act of love toward Him (1 John 2:3, 3:24 and 5:3). We discovered the benefits and consequences of obedience (Rom. 5:19, 11:30-32, 2 Cor. 10:6, Deut. 6:20-25).
And the one that really hit me: The Lord ultimately knows that our disobedience is linked to a lack of trust in Him (Deut. 9:23). And that's really what it comes down to, isn't it?
It's not like we wake up every day and say, "I think I'll commit these sins today." Instead, as we go through our day, we come to situations where God just hasn't seemed to move. We encounter areas where His timing just isn't quick enough, or His rule just couldn't possibly apply here. ("It's just a little white lie; I couldn't hurt his feelings, Lord." Or, "It's just that, Lord, she really irked me. She deserved for someone to tell her off.") =
It comes down to whether we really trust God to do as He says. He says He loves us, but will He show it the way I need Him to? He says He'll work all things for the good, but I'm not so sure.
And so we go our own way. Like Angel.
We talked about Michael's prayer on Page 96. When does doing God's will hurt, and why does it? Joy, perhaps, said it best: "We're so brainless; we just take in whatever we're fed, so when things get hard it hurts." We live in a have-it-your-way culture, and we just lap that up. And then, suddenly, when it's not our way, we gripe. We rail against the only One who has ever really known us and loved us fully.
Oh, Lord, help us to stop praying "My will be done." Help us to mean it when we say we want to hand things over to you. You are the only One completely outside space and time; You are the only One who can see beyond my current situation. Help us, Lord to trust You when you introduce us to all the light and warmth and color of morning. Help us to see and trust your goodness, Lord; remove our blindness and forgive us for choosing it.
The homework for next week is to read chapters 12-14 in "Redeeming Love." Also, I'd love it if you looked for verses this week on God's newness and bring them to share on Monday. Have you ever noticed how the Lord uses the idea of morning to convey Himself to us? I found at least 11 verses that talk of God's promises that come with morning, including Lam. 3:22-23:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Think about how you see the Lord's mercies anew in your life. Think about how Michael used the morning to reveal to Angel his intentions. Now think about what you sense the Lord trying -- in all His love and kindness -- to really show you. We'll talk about it Monday.
