“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 live with you.’ (Hosea 3:3)

I’ve recently torn or severely sprained the MCL (medial collateral ligament) in both of my knees. In what some would call a series of “bad luck”, I first tore the MCL on my right knee, and then after over 2 months of healing, I immediately sprained the same ligament on my left knee the moment I went back to a sport I love doing.

Although being injured isn’t fun, I praise God because it has redirected my focus and given me more time and mindshare to study His Word and disciple my family, through a season in which my family (and I) need it the most.

In Hosea 3, we continue to see how Hosea’s love and commitment to his unfaithful wife Gomer, reflects the same love that the Lord has for unfaithful Israel. As Gomer is separated from the men that were not her husband, God, in His mercy, likewise puts Israel through a period of separation from the very idols that are keeping them from living lives of worship centered on Him.

“For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days.” (Hosea 3:4)

If we are truly seeking the Lord and genuinely desire that He would clear out anything getting in the way of our relationship with Him, He will surely answer that prayer!

The way God draws us closer to Him may not always be welcomed at first, but if we rest on the truth that He loves us, He is good, He knows exactly what we need, and He also knows exactly what we can bear, then we can also rest on the truth that whatever He allows to happen in our lives is a blessing! Remember that He works for the good of all who love Him and are called according to His purpose!

When we idolize something that is hindering our worship or is getting in the way of where He wants us to go, then as a child of God, be ready for God to put you in a season of isolation from that very thing.

As the Israelites went through their season of purposeful detachment before returning and seeking the Lord, so may we be blessed to also be led through our own season of separation.

[From January 24, 2019]