I’m devoting the next few weeks to working on a project that’s going to demand most of my mental energy. So apart from the usual Mon-Fri Checkout which will continue, I won’t be writing an additional daily article. Instead, I’m going to post a series of daily devotionals on Hosea that I wrote a few years ago.
“I will hedge up your way with thorns” (Hosea 2:6).
When God cursed the ground on account of the first sin, He promised that it would bring forth thorns. Thorns, then, are an emblem of difficulty resulting from sin. But, there is often mercy even in God’s harshest judgments. Without the “thorns” of difficulty that scratch us, pierce us, and pain us, would we ever hate the sin which caused them? Would we ever want to be free from the sin of this world? Would we ever cry out for our wounds to be healed and our pains relieved?
Israel had strayed from God’s path and sought her own path. She had broken down God’s fences and was wandering in her own way. But, instead of just leaving His people to wander farther and farther away until they were out of sight and out of mind, God promised, “I will hedge up your way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.” In mercy, God would send difficulties into Israel’s life that would scratch, pierce, and pain her so that she would be stopped in her tracks, and prevented from going any farther.
Many Christians have come up against the thorn-filled hedges of God in their lives. They have strayed from God’s path, jumped God’s fences, and traveled far from Him, often without serious immediate consequences. They have said, “I will follow my lovers.” But, after watching from afar for a time, God eventually responds, “I will hedge up your way with thorns.”
Our great and good Shepherd sends pain-filled difficulties into our lives to frustrate our sinful desires and directions. Perhaps your ambition made an idol of your job. But now you have lost your job. God has hedged up your way with thorns. Perhaps you were proud of your family. But now a son has rebelled against you. God has hedged up your way with thorns. Perhaps vanity was puffing you up. But now God has sent disease into your body. God has hedged up your way with thorns.
These are painful experiences which pierce deep into our hearts and minds. But they are sent in love to stop us from going farther away, to make us examine our wounds, to cry for help and healing, and to turn us back to God’s pathway. Whatever we do, let’s stop trying to get through the hedge!