When You Struggle to Feel God's LoveSample

The Prophets’ Cry: Love’s Longing In The Land

What’s God’s deepest longing? To be known and loved—the same need we each have, inflamed with pain when our inherent dignity is transgressed. The same furious longing you’ll find in a husband scorned by his adulterous wife, a father dishonored by his beloved son, a mother who yearns for her rebellious children, a friend slandered and rejected.

Scripture:

“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

like the dew that goes early away. . . .

I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,

the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

But like Adam they transgressed the covenant;

there they dealt faithlessly with me.”

Hosea 6:4, 6–7 (ESV)

When you experience a major betrayal—from a lover, friend, co-worker, family member, spiritual leader, or someone you have genuinely loved—don’t you feel both a fury at the violation and an unrelenting wish for restoration?

Don’t those waves of grief spin you ’til dizzy with a deep regret for how things turned out? Isn’t this a mini hell—disunity you were never created for?

Have you ever considered that this inexplicable emotional pain is an echo of what Brennan Manning called “the furious longing of God”[1]—that deep desire of God to be known and loved by His own beloved, and for His beloved to know the depth of His love for them?

What led to the great exile of Judah (what we touched on yesterday) was the corruption of love—from the Israelite and Judean kings (Ezek. 34), to the greedy priests (Mic. 3:11), to the false prophets who promised peace in the face of the people’s spiritual adultery (Jer. 6:14).

They bowed to their neighbors’ gods (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon—their “lovers,” as God put it) hoping for military protection. Hear the cry of children sacrificed on the altars of false gods, migrants robbed on the highways of trade, and the poor calling for justice to no avail. Watch as God’s people participate in praise services as if they don’t reek of injustice and infidelity (Amos 5; Isa. 58).

But love never lets us stray without a faithful witness. It cries out in the wilderness of our wandering hearts. Yes, love had a voice in those generations: the prophets who persistently proclaimed Love’s (God’s) longing in the land.

What’s Love’s longing? To be fully known and fully loved—the same need we each have, inflamed with pain when our inherent dignity is transgressed. The same furious longing you’ll find in a husband scorned by his adulterous wife (Hosea; Ezek. 16), a father dishonored by his beloved son (Jer. 3; Mal.1), a mother who yearns for her rebellious children (Isa. 66:13; cf. Matt. 23:37), a friend slandered and rejected (Isa. 40–41).

Through the prophets, God’s soul cried: “Return!” “Know Me!” “Seek Me sincerely!”

But the faithful were few. And the voice of the prophets—Love’s cry—was all but muted.

Call to Action:

Here’s a writing prompt for you today: Do you hear Love’s cry for you today? How can you let your longing to be known and loved lead you to God’s longing for the same?

[1] Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2009, New

Edition).