I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.
(Hosea 11:4 NKJV)
Do you ever feel like you just don’t fit in? Like a round peg trying to squeeze into a square hole. No matter how hard you try, it never works.
That was Gomer, the former prostitute who became Hosea’s bride. Why would a prophet marry a woman of such low degree? And that name! Just the mention of it might send men running.
After several years of marriage and three children, Gomer decided she wanted to return to her former life. Why would Gomer leave her respectable husband who loved her? Why would she abandon her children? Did Gomer prefer her former life?
Gomer’s problem isn’t much different from the problem’s women face today. If you look at Gomer’s name, you will find “me” right in the middle. Yes, we might have more in common with this Old Testament harlot than we realize.
Much of today’s baggage come from yesterday’s garbage.
Let’s peer into Gomer’s childhood. In biblical times, a name characterized a person, and Gomer’s father was Diblaim. This gives us much insight into Gomer. Thanks to Jenifer Rothschild’s Bible study on Hosea, we know that Diblaim means “double portion of raisin cakes,” which are an aphrodisiac. Allow your mind to wander about what Gomer’s childhood was like. Her mother is not mentioned. So we see how Gomer arrived where Hosea found her.
Gomer could not escape the insecurities she grew up with. Perhaps you deal with that too. I know I do.
I feel unacceptable in some crowds because of similar insecurities. As a visually impaired child, I endured taunting and teasing from the kids at school. Satan has cleverly disguised a tactic to cause those old insecurities to resurface. He is so subtle that I’m not even aware of where the feelings come from when they show up: rejection, unacceptable, or unworthy. Sound familiar?
Gomer returned to her past because she couldn’t accept herself. She couldn’t fathom that Hosea could accept her, much less love her. She felt certain God couldn’t ever love her either.
Friend, our emotions are not honest. They try to dictate our lives. They direct our footsteps away from the path God has set before us. That’s why they are a powerful weapon in the hands of the enemy.
But friend, I have good news! God loves you no matter what. He thinks more highly of you than you might think of yourself. He wants to shower you with love and acceptance.
Look at our verse. God draws us with bands of love, He doesn’t set us free, because we would wander again. Instead, He draws us with bands of love and cords of a man. The God-Man, Jesus Christ.
After working so closely with my guide dog, Iva, I get this. I picture the leash that joins us together. Let’s give thanks to God for drawing us to Himself with bands of love.
Lord, we praise You because You take the foolish things of life and make them wise. You take a sinner and give them the heart of a saint. You have washed us in the blood of Jesus Christ, and given us white garments to wear. Amen.
DIG DEEPER
Read Romans 8:1 NKJV:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
HIKING THE TRAIL
Have you accepted yourself? Are past insecurities haunting you? You can have that conversation with Jesus. Tell Him you desperately need to feel His love. He will show you.
RELATED RESOURCE
Would you like to be part of a movement of women seeking deeper faith and a stronger connection with God? If you are on Facebook, find us at A Mountain of Faith Women’s Ministry. Click here to join.
Originally posted on March 5, 2021 @ 3:00 am
I have never felt like I fit in. I felt that way as a child, as a teenager and as an adult before I came back to Jesus. When I did come back to the Lord in 1996 I thought things would be different. You know “a new life in Christ, a new creation”. Well nothing changed socially for me. I saw myself as a square peg trying to fit into a round hole (opposite of the famous saying). I say I am a square peg because I have discovered I have so little in common with others that I truly feel squared off shaped like a box. My edges are too wide to even begin to try to slide into that round hole. The more I am pounded on to try to shove my edges into the round hole the more damaged I become as my square box dents and sags and the edges rip but I am still too big to begin to fit into the round hole. So much of me is not the same as society. The list is long on what has me as a square in a round world. My extreme introvert, the fact I am a Christian, I am a tom boy at heart (so I have little in common with other women), never married, I have no kids and I could just keep going but you get the point. If I did not have Jesus in my life I would easily go back to my way of living before 1996.
I thought being a Christian included fitting in. God saved me in 1996 and it took a while before i realized Christians are cliquish. You don’t expect rejection from them, but they do reject. I’ve been hurt by Christians probably more than unbelievers. I think I hold them to a higher standard. Now I see so many churches not even standing for the truth of God and that is why we are in a mess. By the way, you and I get along just fine.