Hosea 11 - rewritten (and reflections on the heart of God)

[Hosea 11 rewritten]
When I [insert my/your name] was a child, You (God) loved me and called me, Your daughter, out of the dark places, the places of oppression and slavery to fear.

But the more You called me, the further I went from You. I tried to do everything on my own, and I turned to other things (and other people) to satisfy me; I merely played at religion.

But God it was You who taught me to walk, taking me by the arms; but I did not realise it was You who healed me. You led me with the cords of human kindness, with ties of love; You lifted the yoke from my neck, and bent down to feed me.

Yet at every turn I try to go back, back to the places that seemed comfortable and safe, but in reality are really only places of destruction and oppression - I seem to try anything, anything that is except from returning to You! That is why I feel so empty inside, so burnt out and washed up; why every plan of my own invention to try to improve things never seems to work. I still seem determined to turn from You, even now. So many times in the past, even if I have called to You, the most High, it hasn't been real, my heart hasn't really been connecting with You.

But still You cry, how can I give up on You, [insert my/your name]? How can I hand you over? God, Your heart is changed within you; all of Your compassion is aroused.

So You will not carry out Your fierce anger, nor will You turn and devastate us. For You are God and not man - the Holy One among us. You will not come in wrath.

I will follow You, Lord, and You will roar like a lion. When You roar, me and all of Your children will come trembling from the far places. We will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. You declare that You will settle us in our homes.

Selah.


[My reflections]
Hear the Lord's anguish in this passage; hear His desperation and His heart for us, His longing for us to return to Him. We who turn from Him, in spite of all that He has done and does still; and yet, still He loves us with an everlasting love; still He refuses to give us up, to abandon us to the wolves and to our own devices.

Praise be to God!