Hosea Chapter 2: Verse 14 (NIV Translation)
“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.”
I don’t know anyone who relishes going through difficult circumstances or “wilderness” experiences, especially if we think we are going through them by ourselves. Yet God can use them to teach us the things we would never otherwise learn.
In this verse in Hosea, God speaks of alluring Israel into a wilderness place where He would speak tenderly to her. Often the people of Israel would only reach out to God and listen to Him when they were having a hard time. Sometimes we are just the same. Too busy living our life to pay any attention to God, and what He is trying to tell us, so He leads us into circumstances where we will. But He will not be harsh, or condemn us. He will speak tenderly to us. And if we listen, we will come out of the experience stronger than when we went in. And of course, we will not be alone in it. God will be by our side. After all, do we not have the same Good Shepherd that David spoke of in Psalm 23?
Dear Lord,
I know I generally fight against difficult circumstances instead of allowing You to lead me through it. When I go through such times, I ask that You keep my ears open and my heart soft. I ask in the name of Jesus, my Good Shepherd. Amen.