In the Desert

Sometimes there are those days, weeks even months where you just want to ask the question, “What is going on here?” I know my family does!

One of the great things I am enjoying about reading through the Bible in chronological order is that I am getting to see just where in Israel’s history some of this stuff took place. Today I was in Hosea. The prophecy makes so much more sense to me now that I see where it fits in. Last year I did a study on the book of Daniel, so I know what Hosea was trying to warn them about; the destruction is coming down the path in the form of Assyria!

In Hosea 2:23 the Lord says “At that time, I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called ‘Not Loved’. And to those I called ‘Not my people’. And they will reply, ‘You are our God!'” This is so good! The Israelites are coming back to God and He is loving them.

So what took place at the beginning of the verse that brought them to the place of following Him? The verse starts outat that time. If we go back to Hosea 2:14 the Lord says, “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.”

There is the answer. He led her (Israel) into the desert where she got away from everything and she could hear Him speaking tenderly to her.

That brings me back to tough stuff in our lives. I was writing out this post in my journal this morning. I had just written “The times in the desert are purposeful” when I heard my husband upstairs getting ready for work. Now for those of you who don’t know, Greg is color blind so each day I have to pick out his clothes for him. Since I had not already done that, I left my study and headed up to our room. As long as I was there, I decided to get ready for the day. While I was getting ready, Greg handed me a towel. SMASH! The towel accidentally drug across some heavy iron candlesticks by our tub, dropping on the tile edge and breaking the marble! Not good! This was just another problem to add to our list of many others. Greg asked me the question “What is going on here?” I can only think that part of it may be the Lord, calling us out to the desert. For later on in chapter 5 verse 15 He says “…For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for Me.” The question is, will I? Will I take my frustrations and disappointments and allow them to lead me out to the desert, out to where He can speak tenderly to me?

Do you feel like you are in the desert or that the Lord is directing You there? I would love to hear about it and hear what your response to Him has been in this season.

Lynn