Daily Scripture: Hosea 11:1 “When Isra’el was a child, I loved him;
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more [the prophets] called them,
the farther they went from them.
They sacrificed to the ba‘alim
and offered incense to idols.
3 “Yet it was I who taught Efrayim to walk;
I took them by their arms.
But they did not know that it was I
who was healing them,
4 who was guiding them on through human means
with reins made of love.
With them I was like someone removing
the yoke from their jaws,
and I bent down to feed them.
5 He will not return to the land of Egypt,
but Ashur will be his king,
because they refused to repent.
6 The sword will fall on his cities,
destroying the bars of his gates,
because they follow their own advice.
7 My people are hanging in suspense
about returning to me;
and though they call them upwards,
nobody makes a move.
8 Efrayim, how can I give you up,
or surrender you, Isra’el?
How could I treat you like Admah
or make you like Tzvoyim?
My heart recoils at the idea,
as compassion warms within me.
Reflection Questions:Matthew’s gospel, describing Joseph, Mary and Jesus returning from Egypt, quoted part of this passage from the prophet Hosea. We might find that puzzling, since Hosea’s words were history, not a prediction of the future. But the prophet described God as Israel’s parent—stymied, hurt, yet always loving his children. Matthew quoted Hosea because Jesus was the ultimate expression of God’s willingness to go to any length to try to reach people.
- As we listen in on Hosea’s picture of God's conversation with himself, we hear the rising frustration and determined compassion of a loving parent. Israel was the "child" God had fed, clothed, taught to walk, healed, and held gently in his arms. You’re God’s child, too. In what ways have you experienced God doing any of these things for you?
- Israel’s fickleness pained God—but God did not give up on his "child." The God of second chances came in person in Jesus to offer salvation anew. Has anyone ever given up on you? Have you ever had to give up on someone you cared about? How have you felt the divine struggle Hosea pictured—to honor another person’s freedom, yet care about their pain and yearn to deliver them from it?
Lord of all, I’m so thankful that, even when I’m at my worst, you look at me and your “compassion grows warm and tender.” I want to respond to that compassion, and not be a rebellious child who breaks your heart. Amen.
---------------------"Insights from Brandon Gregory"
Brandon Gregory is a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection. He helps lead worship at the Vibe, West, and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.Humans have an innate need to have some degree of control over where their lives are going. When you see someone behaving irrationally, the root cause is often a loss of power or control. Without this power or control, people usually panic.
There is an exception: the trust of a child in his or her parents. When children lose control, which is often, they’re usually content to know that their parents are in control. This is because they implicitly trust that their parents have their best interest in mind. They know, as long as their parents are in control, they don’t need to be in control, because they trust that good things come from their parents.
My son came to us through the foster system. He came from a background of neglect and abuse. He never learned the trust I talked about above, because his biological parents often brought him bad things. Now, at 13 years old, he’s learning to trust for the first time. It’s hard–for both of us. There are times when it’s heartbreaking. There are times when he will do anything within his power to defy us, and the heartbreaking thing is that I know he’s doing it because he doesn’t trust that my wife and I will take care of him.
When it comes down to it, trust is a difficult and dangerous thing. It means giving up control, which means placing your life in another’s hands. And the more bad experiences we have, the harder it is to trust. It’s a vicious circle, a self-fulfilling prophecy, that spirals down into greater heartache. Learning to trust after being hurt can be as hard for us as it is for my son.
In the Christian world, we talk about trust so much that this difficulty has been lost. Trust seems like such an easy thing to us. But as we know, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All of us struggle with trust, and with grasping at power over our own destiny.
But struggling to trust is just as heartbreaking to our heavenly Father as it is for me watching my son desperately grasp at control because he believes that it’s his only chance to come out on top. Our God is a loving father who wants the best for His children. Our God is a god who will not give up on us.
Trusting God is not about fatalism and not caring what happens; trusting God is about knowing that good things come through Him, and the path to the best life lies in following the path He has set out before us. Let’s not pretend that it’s easy to trust this implicitly. But trusting God like this can be the most important lesson we have to learn in life.
---------------------
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
There is an exception: the trust of a child in his or her parents. When children lose control, which is often, they’re usually content to know that their parents are in control. This is because they implicitly trust that their parents have their best interest in mind. They know, as long as their parents are in control, they don’t need to be in control, because they trust that good things come from their parents.
My son came to us through the foster system. He came from a background of neglect and abuse. He never learned the trust I talked about above, because his biological parents often brought him bad things. Now, at 13 years old, he’s learning to trust for the first time. It’s hard–for both of us. There are times when it’s heartbreaking. There are times when he will do anything within his power to defy us, and the heartbreaking thing is that I know he’s doing it because he doesn’t trust that my wife and I will take care of him.
When it comes down to it, trust is a difficult and dangerous thing. It means giving up control, which means placing your life in another’s hands. And the more bad experiences we have, the harder it is to trust. It’s a vicious circle, a self-fulfilling prophecy, that spirals down into greater heartache. Learning to trust after being hurt can be as hard for us as it is for my son.
In the Christian world, we talk about trust so much that this difficulty has been lost. Trust seems like such an easy thing to us. But as we know, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All of us struggle with trust, and with grasping at power over our own destiny.
But struggling to trust is just as heartbreaking to our heavenly Father as it is for me watching my son desperately grasp at control because he believes that it’s his only chance to come out on top. Our God is a loving father who wants the best for His children. Our God is a god who will not give up on us.
Trusting God is not about fatalism and not caring what happens; trusting God is about knowing that good things come through Him, and the path to the best life lies in following the path He has set out before us. Let’s not pretend that it’s easy to trust this implicitly. But trusting God like this can be the most important lesson we have to learn in life.
---------------------
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
---------------------
---------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment