So Hosea Married Gomer

In the first two verses of Hosea, we learned that the Lord told Hosea to marry a prostitute.

Hosea 1:3 – So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him.

And in the third verse we see that he obeyed the Lord.  I mentioned previously that I thought it would be difficult to do this.

I thought about it more and realized that there have been a few times (many times) God has asked me to do something that I did not want to do.  There was one specific incident where I was afraid of the repercussions of what God was asking me to do.  Several times I thought about saying no to God but I could not bring myself to do it.  The fear was great but my desire to be obedient was greater.

I learned a lot about fear because of my obedience during this incident.  It was a practical application of Matthew 10:28.

Matthew 10:28 – Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

I realized that there was nothing man could do to me that really mattered.  Even death just takes me home to my heavenly Father.  I was reminded that God is sovereign.  He will never ask us to do something that is not for His glory, even when it seems insane like marrying a prostitute.  And He will protect us from whatever we need to be protected from and allow pain and suffering if it is needed to help bring glory and honor to His name.  Nothing is outside of His control.  And He always takes care of His elect.

It seems that there are many times that head knowledge isn’t bad but God wants me to have practical application of these same lessons.  This is not always fun but I do love piecing things together afterwards.  Did I react properly?  Did my actions glorify God?  And I love to see how God uses these lessons in my life.  Time after time there are specific people put into my life that need to be encouraged in a very specific way and I would not have been able to relate with unless I had experienced the practical application of God’s Word.  It is amazing.  And all it requires is my simple obedience.