Staying faithful and learning to trust

Hosea Chapter 2 draws the clear parallel between Hosea and his unfaithful wife and God and his unfaithful nation.

God can no longer call the nation of Israel his wife because she is no longer acting like a wife and because of this, God is no longer able to act as a husband. Marriage is a two way, developing, evolving relationship. It takes two. It’s never a static state, a certificate, a Facebook status. A marriage is made or damaged in a thousand small ways every single day. It’s a working partnership, a work in progress. And I believe that unfaithfulness is not just about having an affair – it’s anything that draws our hearts and minds away from our partners and gets in the way of our relationship. Of course, life has to be lived, I’m not talking about the normal stuff – I’m talking about when something else becomes all-consuming to the point of mattering more.

It’s the same when we become a Christian. That is not a static state, a praying a certain prayer and them doing nothing else. It’s an organic process, a developing relationship. It takes time and effort, a daily sacrifice.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Be transformed. That’s ongoing. Our relationship with the living God can be made or damaged in a thousand small ways every single day.

In verse 5, the motive for this wife’s adultery is revealed –

‘I will go after my lovers,
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’ Hosea 2:5

It seems that it’s more than a sexual motive, more than a desire for sexual satisfaction. This woman does not trust her husband to meet her needs. She wants more than she thinks he can offer. She’s seeking an abundance of food and nice clothes. She wants to be spoilt with nice things. She wants to guarantee that she will always have enough.

If up to this point, this woman has had to fend for herself and even sell her body to provide for her daily needs, you can see why she might struggle to rely now on a husband. She’s had to be independent up to this point and trusting someone else to provide for her must be a massive step.

She fails to see that God is the one who provides all the water and food and fabric for clothes on the whole earth. Everything is from God. It is God who gives and God who takes away. And in this case, He does intend to take everything away to prove His point.

Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens,
and my new wine when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.  Hosea 2:9

For me, this comes back to that whole ‘attitude of gratitude’ thing that is so trendy at the moment. Living with an attitude of gratitude can transform a life from being based on a sense of entitlement to being grateful for everything we have. This is a secular movement and it does make me wonder sometimes who people are being grateful to when they write in their gratitude journals. I am thankful to God. It is good to be reminded daily that God is our provider. Everything we have is from God. He provides all the water and food and fabric for clothes on the whole earth. And we’re making His task a whole lot harder currently by exploiting and destroying large areas of the natural world – we take it for granted that we will have what we need, however we treat the planet, but I’m not so sure.

So what does the woman do when her lovers cannot provide for her any longer? Return to her husband of course.

Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband as at first,
for then I was better off than now.’  Hosea 2:7

This reminds me of the story of the Prodigal Son who squanders his share of his inheritance and when it is all gone, returns to his father. It reminds me of the times that my kids only ever talk to me when they want something. It reminds me of the times when I’ve only ever turned to God when I’ve needed something.

Give us each day our daily bread.  Luke 11:3

For some around the world, this is a fervent heartfelt prayer every day of their existence. For others, daily bread is easy to come by. It’s easy to take for granted. And so we forget to trust God for it. We don’t feel we need to. The shop at the top of the street always has it and is open 24/7.

But everything we have comes from God. Everything. And of his own, do we give. When I have the opportunity to give something to someone, I hope that they see whatever it is as a gift from God – God meeting whatever their needs are in that moment via me. Take me out of the equation. I’m just giving what God has given me to share and use for Him in the ways that He shows me to. We should cling onto nothing – money, possessions, time, gifts…God has given it all and it’s up to God what He wants to do with it.

And a final thought for today. Sometimes we make compromises to make sure our daily needs are provided for. Compromises that affect our relationship with God. We enter into wrong relationships because they give us something we feel we need. We sometimes sacrifice integrity in the workplace because we cannot afford to lose our job. We do not give freely or share generously because we feel the need to guard what we have. We buy cheap goods with no thought for people and planet. Do you see what I’m getting at? It actually all boils down to trust.

Trust and obey, our theme of the Old Testament. We are in relationship with the living God, the one true God, the God who created the heavens and the earth. We can trust Him to provide for us. We don’t have to compromise that relationship by putting our trust in the wrong people and systems and things.

We all have so much. So, so much. And sometimes the only way we realise that is when it is taken away. We take things for granted until they are gone. And sometimes we forget where all that we have has come from. And so this is our lesson for today: show gratitude and develop trust.