Our disobedience to God and His word can take us into dark places. None of those dark places are so dark and hopeless that they can overcome God’s great love for us. His love will always prevail.

The Lord asked the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute named Gomer. The marriage was a very stark prophetic act.  The marriage would reveal the unfaithfulness of Israel to God. Gomer bore two children to Hosea. The Lord said to name the two children “Not Loved” and “Not My People” to reference the failure of Israel to honor and obey the Lord.

After the failures of her many lovers and the blessings she claimed came from her lovers, not from God, the Lord led Gomer into the desert where He revealed His ultimate goal, “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there” (Hosea 3:14). The Lord begins the restoration of His people after seasons of painful consequence for their sins with words of compassion like a man tenderly loving his wife. All of this happens in an emotional desert where we only have God as our hope of restoration.

Everything was lost in Gomer’s life as her many lovers deserted her in her time of need. In that place of abandonment and loss, the Lord said, “I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young” (vs. 14-15).

In the sewage of Gomer’s life, God had another plan, a plan of beauty, intimacy, and restoration, “I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love, and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord” (19-20).

In the times of our lives when our sin has led us astray and condemnation comes to speak words of death about our future, God will restore all that has been lost if our hearts are open to his loving advances of restoration. The words of the Lord spoken in the desert of Gomer’s loss are poignant: “You will finally know me as Lord.” Knowing Jesus as our Lord changes how we choose to live our lives. Without the Lordship of Jesus drawing us close to Him each day, our love will wander leading us to places of spiritual prostitution far away from God’s heart and plan for our life.