A Door of Hope

I have a promiscuous heart. I’ve never been unfaithful to my husband, but I have been unfaithful to God by allowing my eyes to wonder. It only takes a moment. Before I realize, that moment turns into an hour, then a day, a month, a year. Suddenly, I’ve strayed from God, my first love.

In the book of Hosea, we read about Gomer, a promiscuous woman. Her unfaithfulness broke Hosea’s heart, damping their relationship, much like the people of Israel broke the heart of God by their promiscuous ways. Yet God waited patiently. He pleaded for their return, but the people of Israel wouldn’t listen.

The truth is all of humanity struggles with unfaithfulness to God. It happens like this. One day, I have a wonderful love relationship with God until I let my heart wonder. Suddenly, when I pray, there is no answer. I can’t find release from my burdens even when I confess my sin. I begin to worry if I’ve drifted so far, I can’t go home.

If you identify, there’s hope.

God knew Israel would be unfaithful, but He loved her anyway. Likewise, Hosea loved Gomer. This tells us that no matter what we’ve done or said, God love us.

Gomer was also a promiscuous woman. Her unfaithfulness broke Hosea’s heart damaging their relationship much like Israel broke the heart of God by their promiscuous ways. Yet God waited patiently. He pleaded for their return, but Israel wouldn’t listen.

The Valley of Achor (which means trouble) was a place of “trouble” when the Israelites first entered the promise land, but it was now a symbol of new opportunity—a “door of hope.”

“I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Anchor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, as in the day of her youth, as in a the day when she came up from the land of Egypt” (Hosea 2:15)

God’s love provides an open door in which we can return to Him. No matter how far we’ve strayed, God will always take us back. That’s not a human kind of love. That’s divine love that causes my heart to sing, “Love so amazing; so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all.”

(Micca Campbell, A Door of Hope; Real Life Devotional Bible for Women; Zondervan, 2012, p.1016)