Imagine giving all you have to someone: your possessions, your affections, your life, only to have them turn against you. They use your possessions against you, use your affections to try and manipulate you, and take up all the space in your mind and heart. Would you leave them? You’d probably pack your bags and never look back, wouldn’t you?
But what if that person was your child? What if you raised them and watched them grow? What should you do? Here’s the not-so-easy answer: have compassion.
In Hosea 11, God expressed His love toward His people, Israel, also known as Ephriam, by comparing His affection for them to that of a father towards a son. In verses 1-4, He said through the prophet Hosea,
“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt, I called my son.
But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.
To them, I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed them.”
I love the illustration of God’s emotional ties to Israel in this scripture, the precious vision of a father holding his son by the arms and teaching him how to walk. Or the sight of a father lifting their child in the air and caring for them. Through these words, we can also feel the pain of rejection and the sting of being unappreciated. God shared through the prophet the hurt of having a son who once loved Him turn his back on Him as if they never had a relationship at all.
Hosea is a unique book of the Bible because, through this prophet, God expressed many of the emotions we feel as humans when we are betrayed and mistreated. In fact, Hosea, the prophet, was called to live out God’s frustration and anguish over His people. Hosea was instructed to marry a woman who would continue to be unfaithful to him, just as the people of Israel turned from YHWH to chase after other gods. It is a heartbreaking story, but it demonstrates just how much patience and love God has for humanity, even when we are blatantly wrong.
Just as God was frustrated and angry with the Israelites, we also may feel that same frustration when those we once loved and still love act as if there never was love. We may even have anger in our hearts towards them because of the hurt and pain they’ve caused. But God, in His infinite mercy and grace, gave us an example of true love. Notice in Hosea 11:8-11:
“How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.
I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come against their cities.
They will follow the Lord;
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.
They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
I will settle them in their homes,”
declares the Lord.
Your feelings and pain about your loved one are real, and you may be angry, but I pray that God might fill your heart with compassion. This compassion may mean hoping and praying for reconciliation, or it may mean releasing the one you love and letting go, or it may mean forgiving them for the hurt they caused. In any case, I am certain that your act of compassion will lead to peace in your spirit and peace with God. And may this peace be the salve for your wounded heart.
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Heartbroken