It’s easy to
feel alone and isolated in the wilderness. We are without much of what we’re
used to and in our present case, we are without each other in the sense we are
used to. And as we’ve come to realize, that impacts us even more than we
thought it would. Truly, it is not good for man to be alone.
The book of
Hosea deals in part with Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. In the second chapter,
God speaks to the nation in covenant terms—He was been their faithful husband while
they have been an adulterous wife. The language is graphic, harsh and unsettling
because that’s what the situation called for. In an effort to save His
marriage, God tells Israel He will keep her from her lovers and punish her in several
ways.
And just
about the time we’re feeling like maybe God is more like us than we thought, we
hear Him say, “Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into
the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.”
What kind of
God speaks like that?
And why the
wilderness? After all, it’s not normally a place we associate with courtship. But
God wants to take Israel back to the place where it all began—where they stood
on the opposite side of the Red Sea singing and celebrating the deliverance He
had brought them. God, the offended party, wants a reset in their relationship and
will move heaven and earth to make it happen.
In this time
then when we are feeling the pinch of not being together, of missing others and
the enjoyment of the relationships God has blessed us with, it wouldn’t hurt to
give God the opportunity to take us back to where we started with Him. Back to when
we stood on the other side of the water and celebrated the deliverance He
brought us. It may or may not make you feel less lonely, but it will fill your
heart, lift your spirit and draw you closer to Him.
The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my
father’s God, and I will exalt Him. (Exodus
15:2 ESV)
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