Many of us base our definition of love on our personal experiences. Some have had wonderful experiences in their homes and relationships, while others have experienced unimaginable hurts.
God loves us. God’s love never fails, and nothing can break His covenant with us through Jesus Christ. Through the prophet Hosea, God gave us a portrait of His faithful love to us, even though we are unfaithful to Him.
“When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.’ So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son,” (Hosea 1:2-3 NIV).
God called on Hosea to portray a role of our God who remains faithful to us regardless of circumstances. Gomer depicted the role of the unfaithful people of God.
The Lord instructed Hosea, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife.”
Imagine receiving that kind of instruction. Perhaps we would want to resist because this would not an easy thing to do. Marry someone you know will cheat on you. Really? Why put ourselves through that kind of heartache.
Yet the Lord desires that all people come to know Him and call on Him, therefore, He sent someone to love to the unloved.
In my preteen years, both my parents worked outside the home to provide for the family. I often found myself alone. I felt rejected by my peers at school and reasoned it was because I was not a pretty child having buck teeth and glasses. So instead of being busy after school, I cleaned and cooked alone at home for the family.
Then one week in the summer, I went to a piney woods church camp in New Mexico. There I was pursued by the love of Christ. Every morning I hiked up a little ways up the mountain to sit on a rock and talk to Jesus. That is where I met Him and felt loved.
God’s love came after me. Just like Hosea went after Gomer, Jesus came after me. He loved me in spite of knowing I would later cheat on Him. I didn’t know it, but He did. And you know what? He loved me anyway.
Upon returning home, I no longer experienced the feelings I had in the mountains. Classmates teased me about my name. They called me “Savage Cabbage.” Or asked, “How wild are you?” With the taunting and the loneliness, I believed the lies that I was ugly and unworthy of love. So after some time, I began looking for love and comfort in places and ways God never intended.
Yes, I cheated on Christ. I turned away from Him, but He continued to love me anyway because He is faithful.
By God’s wild grace, He sent Jesus, our Salvation, to unconditionally love wayward people. His love pursues us. He loves us in spite of our actions drawing us to Him. That’s true love, my friend.
© 2014 Shonda Savage
Excerpt from the Bible study Wild Grace: Experiencing Your Spiritual Splendor.
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