Devotionals

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Alone With God

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfort to her. I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth. Hosea 2:14-15 (NKJV)

The Israelites were dearly loved by God, who had seen their plight in Egypt. Now suddenly, they found themselves away from the comforts of normality, away from life and in a place where they were discontent with their surroundings. However, God wanted to draw them into the desert as a place where He could have His people to Himself, to establish a close relationship, before they would enter Canaan and get back to the routines of normal life.

In Hosea, we see the endless loving nature of God, towards his people. In our scripture, He even talks of alluring us into a place of wilderness, not as a punishment, but in fact for quite the opposite. The valley of Achor was a place of trouble, but God says that the place of trouble will be a door of hope. How many times does a new ministry or a new dream come out of a place of trouble? Quite often in my life. Later on in the chapter of Hosea 2, God talks about His people no longer calling Him a master but instead a husband. The wilderness is where He can have privacy with His people.

I live in a Yorkshire city in England, but from our upstairs windows, we can see in the distance the beautiful hills of the Peak District. Often on Saturday afternoons, my family like to go walking in the hills. We leave the city and the traffic and venture into the beautiful dales, the hills and valleys, and find a quiet spot. Then as a family we find a remote track through the moors and walk. The children run on and my husband and I walk often hand-in-hand. Our lives are busy. As Pastors, we are on call, all day, every day. We never know who may turn up at our door. The Peak District is away from the busyness of life and I find that I have my husband all to myself. We walk and chat, sharing our hearts and our dreams. We stop from time to time to admire the view or to take a photograph. We enjoy being drawn away from the day-to-day routine and to steal time alone. Nobody can reach us up on the hills and nobody can come between us. As a family we have a great time and as a couple, we draw closer. We go home renewed with fresh vision. But in order to get my husband to myself, I need to allure him away from the distractions of our lives.

It is the same with God. You may have found that all of a sudden, things have dried up for you. Opportunities are not coming up. It may feel depressing and at times, even a despair and a yearning, to get back what you may feel like you've lost, can come upon you. But God is pulling away all of the distractions because He wants to get you all to himself for a while. When you can't sleep at night, or when you feel the darkness coming over you, open up your Bible or simply pray. Put on a worship CD and sing to Him. Let Him saturate your soul. He desires you. He does not want to share you and He wants to restore you.

You may have been through difficult times and times of change, but allow God to allure you into the wilderness. He has said in Hosea that there will be a return to innocence when He talks about us singing - in that valley of trouble – like we did when we were young. Life can throw a lot of muck on you as you grow older. We experience a lot of things that can harden our hearts. But in the wilderness, God will repair us and restore us. He lightens our load so that we can feel our youthfulness again. When I was a young person, nobody could tell me that anything was impossible. I had so much energy and trust in God. As I've grown older, life has changed me, but what a wonderful thing to know that God will bring me to a place where I can sing like in the days of my youth.

Prayer:
Father help me to understand that you mean for this time of wilderness to be a special time. Help me to quickly learn to discard the things that are hindering my walk with you. Draw me closer so that I learn who you are and so that I can trust you when I need to step out from the wilderness into the battles that I will ultimately face. Thank you for your love and your tenderness toward me. In Jesus name, Amen.

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