What God saw
Recently I was clearing out some space and found some books of my grandfather’s that I had put aside years ago. One was a study on the book of Hosea from the Bible. He had written notes throughout it.
The story of Hosea was always one of my favorites — the symbolic story of the relentless love of a man for a woman considered “the least of these.”
I always felt it offered such hope. The kindness of the story appealed to me most.
God instructed a man, Hosea, to marry a harlot, Gomer, one who continued to return to her former life at that. But God told Hosea to continue to pursue her, to woo her, to convince her that his kindness was better than what she was settling for, even though it was all she had ever known.
And it makes me think of how we humans can miss so much in this life all due to fear of the unknown. And I think God must have understood that about Gomer.
I think he understands that we are creatures of habit, and that it takes being convinced, several times over, before we decide to choose better things for ourselves.
People called Gomer a harlot. By definition maybe she was. But that’s not what God saw.
And he placed it in a righteous man’s heart to love her, pursue her, capture her heart and choose her for his bride — which at that time meant safety and security for her.
Have you ever heard names used to reference you that you knew might have had some truth to them but didn’t accurately express who you are?
I bet Gomer knew there was more to her than “harlot.”
It’s a good thing God has eyes that see further and wider than ours. It’s a good thing that truth and wisdom are what he measures the distance between us and him with, and that he leads with mercy.
We all need mercy. And that’s an even field. No one needs it more or less than another.
That story of Hosea and Gomer was never meant to leave us all with our mouths gaping wide at a godly man going after some sorry little dirty lost girl.
The point of that story is that Gomer and Hosea were always equals. God sent Hosea to marry Gomer because she was his equal and God knew it. God esteemed Gomer.
Hosea was obedient to something that man’s wisdom would have criticized and argued against.
But in trusting God’s wisdom Hosea reaped the benefits of a wife and helpmate and found the love of his life in her.
Trusting in God’s vision has the potential to touch and change lives. And his ways are always higher and better. He has the bird’s eye view.
And there’s our hope.