Because I Said So

Wow. I so hated that response from my parents. My repeated badgering of "But why?" and "Why can't I....?" coupled with my unwillingness to accept their answers would ultimately bring on the "Because I said so!" Experience taught me to cease my pestering immediately when that point was reached. Persistence beyond that moment would bring a painful swat.

Much of what God reveals to me in my prayer and meditation seems to take that form when I ask, "Why?" I have come to the conclusion that He does things that way in order to increase my actions based on absolute faith. He hasn't swatted me yet, but He has allowed me to suffer consequences for mis-behavior.

"What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy." (Rom 9:23) Paul's reference precedes a reference to Hosea 1:9, "for you are not my people, and I am not your God." God's people had turned their backs on Him in all but name during Hosea's ministry. Not a lot different than many today. And God was angry and hurt by His people's pursuit of idols - adultery, possessions, materialism.

Yet God cannot deny His love for His chosen and offered hope for the repentance of Israel. "I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert... There I will give her back her vineyards." (Hosea 2:14-15)

The desert is a strange place to find vineyards. Can it be true that the riches of life that we need can be found in the desert - a place that symbolizes loneliness, and from which we can seldom find our way out unaided?

Yes, God knows our need for a desert experience. He knows exactly where and how to produce enduring qualities in each of us. It may mean the stripping away of earthly riches, imprisonment, the removal of support systems, persistent feelings of confusion or abandonment - His pruning of our lives may take dozens of forms.

The person who has been idolatrous, has been rebellious, has forgotten God's words, has said with total self-will, "I will go after my lovers" (Hosea 2:5), will find their path blocked by God. To be certain, the strong-willed will find a way around Him, but when the feelings of hopelessness and abandonment set in, God will say, "I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her." (Hosea 2:14)

God has lead me into some hard, difficult and lonely places, and it has been there that I realize I am where eternal streams wash over me.