A Plain Country Homestead
Monday, April 2, 2007
Thorns are a place of Grace
Posted in Scripture StudiesHos 2:6-7 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
In Hosea, God says that He leads us personally into the desert places. In the above verses the Lord describes how He blocks this wayward woman's path with thorn-bushes and walls her in so tha she cannot find her way.
Thorns are a place of Grace. Thorns are lovingly placed by God in our lives to bring pain that actually protects us from our own way and leads us to His way. I was raised to want a good life...but an easy life. Thankfully, mothering has taken me to the very end of myself and it is there that I found Him and learned His Truths.
Thorns are a place of Grace. Thorns are lovingly placed by God in our lives to bring pain that actually protects us from our own way and leads us to His way. I was raised to want a good life...but an easy life. Thankfully, mothering has taken me to the very end of myself and it is there that I found Him and learned His Truths.
Hos 2:14-15 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Sometimes God has to take us to the end of ourselves, because in those desert places are where our songs and our fruit comes forth, and where He speaks tenderly to our hearts. The desert can be a great place of mercy and intimacy if we allow it to be.
Isaiah 58:11-12 says "And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
All of us have some hidden, scorched place -- but God says "I want to make myself known to you, and the most beautiful, powerful way is through your resting in Me in your mothering. Colossians 1:17 says "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Sometimes I am just at the end of my rope, saying I can't go without another night of sleep (from babies who know nothing of a schedule!) or I can't fight that willful stubborn child yet again. Yet, in spite of my ragged feelings, God continues to hold me together. Every fiber of my being is being held together with His Loving Hands.
In the OT, mothers offered their children to idols. We think this is terrible....how could a mother do such a thing?! Yet every day we give our children over to our own idols when we choose convenience over conviction...default over decision. Our children become what we pour into them....television, books, music, even church groups!
On even our most worst day, we need to remember that we are still the "apple of God's eye." We are still the delight of His heart. We are still His bright and shining light in a fallen world. I have many many days where my prayers are cried more than whispered:
Isaiah 58:11-12 says "And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
All of us have some hidden, scorched place -- but God says "I want to make myself known to you, and the most beautiful, powerful way is through your resting in Me in your mothering. Colossians 1:17 says "And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Sometimes I am just at the end of my rope, saying I can't go without another night of sleep (from babies who know nothing of a schedule!) or I can't fight that willful stubborn child yet again. Yet, in spite of my ragged feelings, God continues to hold me together. Every fiber of my being is being held together with His Loving Hands.
In the OT, mothers offered their children to idols. We think this is terrible....how could a mother do such a thing?! Yet every day we give our children over to our own idols when we choose convenience over conviction...default over decision. Our children become what we pour into them....television, books, music, even church groups!
On even our most worst day, we need to remember that we are still the "apple of God's eye." We are still the delight of His heart. We are still His bright and shining light in a fallen world. I have many many days where my prayers are cried more than whispered:
Lord, today I failed. I didn't do the right things. I didn't listen enough to their tales. I didn't give enough hugs. I hurried them through what might have been very special moments for them merely to achieve my own agenda. Today my prayers were too short and my lectures too long. My smiles didn't hide my sorrow or my fatigue. I didn't heal any wounds today...in fact, I may have been the cause of some. Their tears fell and I felt too helpless to wipe them away. Today I felt completely defeated and totally inadequate for my calling and position of "mommy." But as I kneel in prayer and confess these and many more failures, I am reminded that I am not their hope -- I am not to be their total joy -- I am not to be their salvation -- He is, and in Him there is always hope for the weak.
A great awakening lies in the heart of every mother who will say "yes" to God. He only needs one to change the entire course of many generations to come!!
A great awakening lies in the heart of every mother who will say "yes" to God. He only needs one to change the entire course of many generations to come!!
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