Time Out
When times are good, we forget God.
Yet I have been the Lord your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who fed you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. When I fed them, they were satisfied; they were satisfied, and their heart was proud; therefore they forgot me. So I will become like a lion to them, like a leopard I will lurk beside the way. I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and will tear open the covering of their heart; there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild animal would mangle them. I will destroy you, O Israel; who can help you? Where now is your king, that he may save you? Where in all your cities are your rulers, of whom you said, "Give me a king and rulers"? I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my wrath. Ephraim's iniquity is bound up; his sin is kept in store. The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son; for at the proper time he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb. Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction? Compassion is hidden from my eyes. - Hosea 13:4-14
There are two times when people stop going to church: when they are angry with God because things are not going well, and when things are going really well, and they forget about God.
God gets the short end of the stick both times.
We are a selfish lot, aren't we?
We can read a passage like this one today and say that God is mean, punishing his people for disobeying him.
There is a Netflix show called "Lucifer." It paints a picture of God, a bot like what Hosea prophesizes here. God is aloof, distant and uncaring about humanity.
He doesn't answer our prayers and has abandoned his own children. In the show, Lucifer is one of God's sons, along with the other angels. It's a stretch, and it starts out clever and fun.
But when you get into the seasons, it morphs into something darker, not as lighthearted and fun.
In a way, that is what Hosea is warning the people about. God can go dark on them if they continue down the path they have taken.
It doesn't mean that is what God wants to do to his children, but some tough love may be needed, and when it is, it will be dispensed.
So, is God dark or light?
I believe God is always light and never dark. We invite the darkness by our actions and by our failings.
Maybe we do need a time-out now and then. That might be a way to avoid something worse.
More to come...