Lead To Difficulty

When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim. (Hosea 1:2–3)

We always hope the LORD will prosper us with blessing and favor. What do you do when the LORD calls you to embrace difficulty?

Hosea is called by the LORD to marry an unfaithful woman. His marriage relationship is intended to be a living sermon of how the LORD suffers for being covenanted with an unfaithful people.

Repeatedly the LORD calls followers to difficulty in order to carry out his will. Rather than just sunshine and jello, the LORD calls us to join him in the suffering love to transform wayward people, to embody his unconditional love even when the conditions are not to our liking.

Are we willing to follow the LORD of the Cross?  Christ is not a consumer savvy type of god. The cross is really grotesque marketing. Yet this Lord shows us the depth of his love which transcend happenstance and circumstance.