Come, let us return to the Lord.For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.
Hosea 6:1-3
I cannot count the times that I've referred to this passage... I've always known it was a special passage for me. But, I am now clinging to the hope that is so evident in it in a way that I never have before. In the past, it was a faint remembrance of what He had done for me before. But now, it is a promise that I am holding on to desperately. You see, I have been going through a time of much conviction and growth and... it hurts. It is encouraging because I know I must be more teachable and seeking after the Lord more fully, but that doesn't mean that it hasn't been painful. I constantly finding myself asking my Father, "Can we be done yet? At least for now? I can't go on like this, Dad!" There are so many times when I've wished myself away from... myself. But this passage has been keeping me going, this and other passages, songs, friends, and the many other blessings that God has been sending my way. He will heal me. He will bandage me. He will revive me. He will rain on me, on my thirsty, cracked soul. Life is not supposed to be easy or simple. It's not supposed to be soft and comfortable and warm. Not here, anyway. The pain isn't going to go away until we are perfected, in a perfected kingdom. But He is faithful... oh, so faithful.
urgh! i don't know why it made that first part white!
ReplyDeleteThis post was so encouraging. It really touched my heart for I can so relate to this. I love you dearest and I am so excited to see God working in YOUR life. <3 He loves you sooo much.
ReplyDeleteThank you, my love. You have such a precious heart. I love you too. <3
DeleteDear, how strange that what you just wrote in one of the lines was almost verbatim to something else a friend of mine wrote...wow. God must be trying to get my attention.
ReplyDeleteWow... God is so cool! I kind of felt compelled to share this, but I didn't know why, cuz it's not terribly deep, but I'm so glad that I could be useful to Him in some way.
DeleteI like how you point out that He comforts us even after he has disciplined us. It is writing like this that also comforts one another. God uses you to comfort me, to remind me of his love as i draw near alongside you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting Anne Marie and thanks for sending me an email about your post. Can you tell Abby how to do that? I forget to go look at her posts. I send emails through google + . Is that what you do?
Keep writing!
Love,
Auntie Alexandra
Thank you, Mrs. McGee! You are always so encouraging and always say something that gladdens my heart very much. I'm very blessed and awed that God can use me even in this small way. <3
Deleteand yes, I will explain it to Abby if she doesn't already know how. But it does take time to do, so I don't know if she'd even have time to. :P
lol, i forgot to add, I send them through blogger, which has a little white envelope at the bottom of every post, and when you click on that, you can send an email out to a maximum of 10 people at a time, so i have to send them out in increments, if i want to be sure that everyone who might want to read it, will. :)
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