On being the whore!

We sometimes miss a powerful point from the book of Hosea.  We read this book about the wickedness of Israel and the patient loving God as it is played out between Hosea and his wife Gomer.  It is easy to focus on the sin of the nation and the bazaar, and almost confounding, commandments God gives to Hosea.  We discuss the fine details of exegesis of this book and discuss whether it is a historic record of an allegory.  One point that we often miss is that, “we are Gomer!”  Allow me to rephrase that, “I am Gomer.”  

God wants me to move from experience to trust, from feelings to love.  I can feel the emotions very strongly.    I can’t feel the truth in such a visceral way.  I can feel hurt, rejection, or offense.  But it is not so clear to feel the approval of the truth.  I can articulate the disappointment I experience, but it is harder to commit to the truth in the moments of disappointment.

Given the choice, my fallen nature easily gravitates toward what I feel.   God wants me to know that I am accepted, loved, and affirmed.  But with the profound allure of the flesh, the world, and the whispers of the demonic, I move toward what feels good, self vindicating or rewarding.  When I give in, I become Gomer.

I am the wife, who out of dysfunction, goes off to the strip club and turns tricks.  I am the $5 crack whore that will do anything for the next fix.  I betray my true lover and chase hard the ruin of my own life.

And God loves me anyway.  That is the point of Hosea.

He comes to the basement apartment in which I exist, that stinks of mildew, and piss, and the sweaty John from the night before.  He carries me to His mansion and puts me in a sick bed.  The best physicians attend; cost is no object.  All the while He is at my bedside.  He towels my face and holds my hand in the convulsive throws of the illness.  He holds my head as I vomit the poisons from my body.  In the mansion I need never worry about the next meal, having clean sheets, or what I will do if I soil my clothes.  He cares for me in my recovery, even when I feel nothing but fear, distrust, frustration and darkness.  Everything tells me I am loved.  When He walks from the room and I can’t see Him I can trust and say, “He will be right back; everything will be alright.”

Read Hosea, but remember, we are Gomer.  The sooner we own that, the sooner we will be able to accept the great and marvelous love of our Savior.  The sooner all our motivation will be because we love Him.