The God of a broken heart

Our story begins with the loving God who gives pictures and stories of who He is to His writers, the prophets. Throughout the Bible, we see them. How else can we understand the phenomenon of a God who cares and feels, but in such tangible images?

The most striking is in a little-known book of Hosea.  God instructs his prophet to marry a promiscuous woman who turns out to be unfaithful, and so much so that Hosea, at one point, is told by God to purchase her back from her prostitution and bring her back to his home.

Then the comparisons begin...

The rest of the book describes the unfaithful Israel and the consequences of their (her) behavior, mirrored in this story.

And yet... Hosea is instructed to love her. Despite who she is.  Her own lifestyle punishes her after she leaves her husband. But God uses this story to show how HE reacts: He woos Israel back, promises a future life together, and asks her to follow him.

Jesus reveals this same heart: 

Unwilling? Even more, murderous...  Still, Christ went to the cross for wayward humanity.  The love poured out in this act has never been paralleled.

So. Now you know who He is:

So, your response? Will you wait for Him, love Him in return?  THAT is what HE is waiting for.