Beauty in the Return

I've been reading and thinking a lot lately about Israel. How frustrating it is that they repeatedly turn away from God; they repeatedly return to idols; they repeatedly sucumb to sin. Yet, the Lord repeatedly forgives His people and repeatedly gives them another chance.

I get so angry with Israel because they never learn their lesson. I wonder why the Lord put up with their betrayal. Yes, He got angry. Yes, He punished them. But, He had the power to destroy them and He didn't.

Why?!?

Just as much as God is a jealous God, He is a merciful God. His love sometimes allows us to fall so that we call on Him to pick us up.

"I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek My face they will search for Me in their distress." Hosea 5:15

When Israel fails, then they would cry out to God. Over and over again. And over and over again God rescues them. Take a look at Psalm 107 as Israel repeatedly falls. In verses 6, 13, 19, AND 28, "they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He rescued them from their distress." When they called upon the Lord, He delivered them from the problem.

The failing spirits of the people were ugly. Captivity and darkness were ugly. Afflictions were ugly. The storms were ugly. The wickedness in the people was definitely ugly.

But it all leads to the return.

"But you must return to your God. Maintain love and justice, and always put your hope in God."

Hosea 12:6

The RETURN is beautiful.

 

In the return there is hope. In the return the sovereignty and power of God cannot be denied. In the return we praise Him for His "faithful love and wonderful works." (Also stated in Psalm 107 following each of the above verses.)

If Israel failed so many times, yet the Lord loved them enough to deliver them, He can do the same for me as I fail repeatedly.

For me, there is no denying that the stories of Israel are a reflection of ME. And there is beauty in the return.

"No matter what you’ve done, no matter how off-key you’ve been, no matter how much your tune has had you squirming in your seat, it’s never too late in the song to return to Him."