Love writes us…

I was reading Hosea this morning in the Bible and it struck me hard today as I reflected on God’s words how much He wanted for Israel to return from their own ways.

The voice of Love echoes through every word…

“When Israel was a child, I loved him…”

Hosea 11:1

“It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought: but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; and therefore they forgot me…”

Hosea 13:5-6

“I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely…”

Hosea 14:4

“O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit…”

Hosea 14:8

We can all relate to being draw away by idols today. Whether it be our jobs, money, people, dreams or even sometimes just ourselves. Sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes we get full up on the things around us. Sometimes we forget.

Yet He is there…forever writing His love in our hearts. If we would only stop in this moment and see.

Right now it can feel as though there is so little love out there in the world, especially during this hard year. Or perhaps we have got so swept away in what we think our story should look like that we no longer see His loving fingerprints marking every grace-filled page.

Or perhaps today, you are wondering if you are special enough, perhaps longing to be seen in a loud world but He sees you and He has made you. Each of us is special to God, completely original in its design, there is no one else like you.

The more we know His love, the more we can let go of the striving to be loved. Our identity is safely in His hands, our future, our hopes and dreams, even our fears, He knows them all.