The Great Romance (yeah, I've been reading the Circle Series)

You walk into a room, and a smile creeps onto your face.  There she is.  Your eyes meet, and she smiles and walks toward you.  You ask how she is, and your conversation flows in low tones.  Everything seems perfect.   Then he enters the room.  Her voice trails off as her gaze follows him.  Your heart sinks. She continues listening and distractedly adds to your conversation.  You try to hold her interest, but she excuses herself from your conversation and crosses the room to meet him.  You watch, downcast and concerned.  They begin talking, and she seems shy at first, glancing over her shoulder in your direction occasionally.  As those looks become less frequent, he grasps her hand.  She starts speaking with animation and awards him with such smiles you've only wished she would display for you.  Your heart aches, not simply because she has devoted to another, but because he is not worthy of her.  He will never fulfill her and will eventually leave her feeling empty and alone, forced to find another relationship.  How can you make this clear to her and win her back?


Something similar to this has likely happened to you.  Most people have some instance of unrequited love or affection.  Many have been in the situation of loving someone who they felt loved them at first but slowly slipped away towards someone who is not right for them. And you are left wondering if s/he ever cared to begin with, if you will win him/her back, and if your heart will ever heal.  This experience is definitely temporally painful, and I believe God feels it far more intensely when his children dedicate themselves to other gods. God is jealous for us.  He is El Qanna.   When we begin devoting ourselves to other gods--whether they be an actual idol, or a god of education, god of money, god of attention, or a sex god like the one to which the Israelites turned--He seeks to win us back to Him.

  ¹⁴ “ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.  ¹⁵ I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ “ And it shall be, in that day,” Says the LORD, “ That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ ¹⁷ For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more. ¹⁸ In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely.

 ¹⁹ “ I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; ²⁰ I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD."

 Hosea 2:14-20

This Christmas, let us make sure to focus on God.  Ask Him to show you in what areas you might have "stepped out."  He alone can help you turn back to Him.