Go... Ok

Hosea is not exactly where we go for your typical reference toward obedience to the Lord. I know. But it's there in a big way, and it hit me today like a bag of bricks. No, this has nothing to do with my eternal singledom or anything in particular at all actually. But run with me for a second. the Lord told Hosea to go marry a whore. Whores have disease, they are unfaithful, and they are often not the most attractive women, not to mention she lives a life of whoredom which means she probably doesn't do much cooking/cleaning around the house. Not exactly your average middleclass American housewife, eh? And we could jump into all the ways that this is us and Hosea's role is that of the Lord's. That's easy because that's the focus of the whole book. But realize, this was not an easy everyday thing the Lord was asking Hosea to do. At best, the man's heart would be broken on a regular basis. Not to mention the diseases, and the money he would be spending on her ungratefulness. And yet, we see in verse 2 of chapter 1 that the Lord tells Hosea to marry a whore and explains the imagery. And verse 3 of chapter 1 finds Hosea making a case against the Lord as to why this is a bad idea. No. Verse 3 of chapter 1 finds Hosea going out and marrying a whore- Gomer. No questions. No rebuttles. Job and Moses could have learned a thing or 2 from this cat. It doesn't matter what we want out of life or what we think is ideal. It's about furthering the Kingdom, isn't it? I believe strongly that the Lord chose Hosea because he knew the man could handle it. We're all made uniquely to do our part and that part sometimes isn't easy. But he allows us to be and do what we can handle based on how he made us- fearfully and wonderfully.

This is a bunch of rambling, I know. Got tired of talking about myself and I just had these thoughts to share, incomplete and disorderly as they are. Have mercy on me, and I hope you get something out of it all. More on myself another time. Deal?