Love Restoration
“Therefore I am going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.
”
Hosea had been betrayed by his wife, Gomer. He had obeyed God and chosen a wife who was a harlot. For a while, things seemed to go well. They had begun to build a life together and were blessed with three beautiful children.
However, Gomer’s past gradually returned to haunt her. Perhaps Hosea became too busy with work, or Gomer felt others were judging her. Most likely the scars of her past life had hardened her heart to the best efforts of Hosea’s love. Eventually, Gomer returned to the image she had of herself; as someone who could only substitute lust for love. Gomer left her loving husband and returned to the life of a prostitute.
In many ways, Gomer was like anyone who battles with past hurts, fears and rejection. Even though we have come to a mental knowledge of God’s love and saving grace, we still struggle with loving others and being loved. This story is repeated in marriages, friendships and family relationships the world over.
But this is not God’s will for us. God’s will is for everyone to love and be loved; to be healed of the emotional scars of sin and betrayal.
God told Hosea to return to Gomer and retake her as his wife. But for their relationship to work, Gomer needed not only to be restored to Hosea but also to be healed of the emotional scars of sin.
“The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you. ”
God told Hosea to love Gomer, ‘as the Lord loves the Israelites’. If we are to restore our loved ones we need to love them as God has loved us. Likewise, if we are to be healed of the scars of hurt and mistrust we must allow God, and others to love on us.
“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
“In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;
you will no longer call me ‘my master.’
I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips.
”
God’s plan for Isreal and Gomer, was to restore them to His love. Firstly he sheltered them from the voices of guilt and condemnation. He took Israel into the wilderness, away from worldly distraction and the effect of other ‘gods’.
Hosea also took Gomer away from the shameful situation in which she found herself.
“So I bought her for myself … then I said to her, “You will stay with me many days ”
The second thing God did was to speak kindly to her heart.
We restore love by speaking words of kindness and affirmation. Hosea 2:14 says God will speak kindly to our hearts. Restoration requires tender and kind words of love- not words of guilt and condemnation. God speaks of His love for us throughout the Bible. Words have the power to rewrite our emotions. When we speak words of love, it has the effect of etching love into our mind, emotions and heart.
“You will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.’
I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips. ”
The process of restoring love will change our relationship with God and our relationship with others. The memory of hurt may still be there, but the power of it’s ‘name’ will no longer be on our lips.
Written by Grant Peterson
