Thrive Moms: Loved Sample

“Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” I spent an embarrassing amount of my young adult life chasing after love. I wanted so badly to be loved, pursued, and cherished. Unfortunately, I thought I could find that in being popular or having a new boyfriend every week. I broke hearts just for the sake of breaking them. I felt powerful and in control. I was sure that I had figured out the meaning of “love” in worldly things, only to realize I was empty. Then Jesus got hold of my heart, and somehow blessed me with the most amazing man in the process who showed me what love really was (I snagged that one for life!). I think we can all relate in someway. At some point, we chase things other than the one true love of our life. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Gomer and Hosea. God tells Hosea to take a prostitute as his wife. So, he obeys God (which I’m sure he thought was crazy) and takes Gomer as his wife. He falls madly in love with her and pursues her relentlessly. They start a family but Gomer aches for her old life, so she runs away to return to her former lifestyle. And when Hosea could have said “I told you so, this is what happens when you marry a prostitute!”, he chased after her to bring her home to him. Hosea’s love is such a beautiful picture of God’s love for us. He will chase us to the ends of the earth, no matter where we search for our own form of love. While we are lost, looking for it in relationships, popularity, businesses, the internet, or even Netflix - He is still chasing after us. Even when we seem like a lost cause. Did Gomer deserve the forgiveness Hosea showed her? Probably not, but do we? God’s love goes far beyond the limits of our sinful nature and desires. God longs to bring us back to himself when we are looking for love in all the wrong places. He desires that we return to Him, love and serve Him faithfully. So, when you worry if you’ve crossed the line - you haven’t. If you feel like you’ve done too much and don’t deserve the gift of his love and forgiveness, just remember Hosea’s example. If Hosea would chase after his Gomer, God would chase even harder after you!