God has shown me my own stubbornness (Hosea 4:16).  Pursuing my own path led me nowhere.  When I got to a dead-end, I just chose a different path instead of turning to God.  I didn’t realize how much time I was wasting with my behavior.  My hair was sprinkled with gray, and I didn’t notice (7:9).  Stubbornly doing my own thing is ultimately self-destructive.  It also pains God to see me acting this way.

The book of Hosea is a marvel to me.  At first, I couldn’t get past the fact that God ordered one of his prophets to marry an unfaithful woman.  Finally, I was able to get deeper into the message.  The more I read, the sadder I got.  God talks a lot about His anger.  Beneath the anger, I also get a sense of hurt.  God is angry about Israel’s betrayal, but also hurt to see his child continuously hitting its own head against the wall; getting bloodied, but refusing to allow God to clean and bandage the wounds, and soothe them with oil.  He says that, “When Israel was a child, I loved him” and “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms” (11:1 & 3).  I also get that it hurts God to have to punish us.  “How can I give you up, Ephraim?  How can I hand you over, Israel?” (11:8).   It’s painful to parent a wayward child.

Years ago, my pastor said that it was okay for us to tell God about our hurts and frustrations.  However, I’m also realizing that God is also lamenting to us about our own behavior.  My word of wisdom today is re-think.  My Bible study leader explained that to repent means to re-think.  If our own plans are not getting us anywhere, it’s time to turn to God.

 “… how often I have longed to gather your children together,

as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,

but you were not willing!”

Luke 13:34