Hosea 8-11
Trust Your Stuff!
Hosea 8:8 Israel is swallowed up; They are now among the nations like a vessel in which no one delights. NASB
It is always sad to watch a gifted athlete, singer, actor, or other celebrity fall from the heights they attained with their giftedness because they wanted to be like everyone else. That is what happened to the ten tribes of Israel, and the nation of Judah was following their example.
Israel was gifted by God as the chosen people and He gave them the law. (8:12) God blessed them and set them as an example for the world to follow, but they chose to follow the ways of the world instead. They chose to trust in relationships with other nations rather than trust in God. As a consequence they went the way of the other nations to their downfall. God describes this as sowing to the wind. The godless wisdom they followed would cause them to be picked up like a house in a tornado and scattered to the nations controlled by Assyria. Their godless wisdom and lifestyle offered little and would produce nothing worthwhile.(8:7)
Israel traded what they knew for what they did not know. We need to be careful not to do the same. Sure, there will be times when difficulties and trials arise, but in those times we need to draw closer to the Lord rather than running to something else. I remember a baseball game where the pitcher was struggling to get strikes and the pressure was getting to him as he walked batter after batter. From the dugout the coach yelled out, “Trust your stuff.” Good advice. Those three words said it all! They said, you are gifted for this trial, you can overcome this trial, and I trust you. God is saying the same thing to us.
When times get difficult we need to trust in the one who died for us, saved us, gifted us beyond all that we could ask or imagine, and calls us His child! Let’s not be guilty of giving up what we know for what we don’t know.
Here are a couple of reminders.
1 John 3:1
Proverbs 18:24
1 Corinthians 15:33
Grace and Peace
Pastor Dave