A Very Cliche Topic

I hate it when things are not reciprocated. Looking over the patterns of my life, however, it seems a constant thing I must deal with. If I respect you, shouldn't you respect me? If I'm kind to you, shouldn't you be kind to me? Most would agree. Nevertheless, there is one area in life where all of us have failed: love. Unreturned love is devastating. As I've posted before, to love is to be vulnerable. When the love is not reciprocated, the vulnerablity is attacked. The pain is deep, personal, and confusing.

I know.

And because I am familiar with rejection's sting, I am brought to a different understanding of God. Hosea is one of my favorite books in the Bible. In it, God commands his prophet, Hosea, to marry a prostitute, have children by her, find her when she runs back to her sin, and buy her back. Gomer the prostitute represents Israel, God's runaway lover. She has turned away from God and given herself to other gods. Hosea records God's words, full of fury, love, judgement, and tenderness. That's what I love about Hosea: reading it gives us insight into God's emotions - the part of Him that responds to us. And His responses are overwhelming.

With Israel as His lover, God first wants to "expose her lewedness before the eyes of her lovers" then wants to "speak tenderly to her."

With Israel as His child, God calls down judgement on him, then asks, "How can I give you up?"

And finally, God promises restoration. This part hits me hardest: "I will be like dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow."

Israel - a tree stripped bare, no leaves, no branches.
God - sees Israel, has overwhelming compassion, nourishes it back to health.

He loves me. There's no unreturned love I could ever give Him. In fact, I often fail to reciprocate. But even so, His compassion is so great, that He sees me, cries over me, wants me, changes me, provides for me. And I have yet to even comprehend a small piece of this love.