Our beloved and late Nana had a poster of a fish in murky water wearing a hazmat mask hanging in their ocean themed hall bathroom (still there I believe) that said, “SEA [sic],” for the caption. I got it but never really understood it either.
You see, [sic] is used to show that the copied or quoted text that appears to be odd or even erroneous is in fact, quoted EXACTLY how it was originally written or said.
So, I’m not 100% sure how the sea [sic] poster is supposed to be taken other than maybe the fish wearing a hazmat mask, while foolish and quite strange, is somehow needed because the ocean is being polluted. I think Kelly just liked the poster for her bathroom décor but who knows.
I want to take the next several weeks to give you some texts or pictures that seem a little strange and even erroneous when it comes to love, but are EXACTLY how they are originally intended to be!!!
There’s a rather strange story in the Old Testament where God tells one of his prophets to “marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her.” (Hosea 1)
Now, this is NOT the substance that Hallmark movies are made from. In this short book, Hosea is to love his wife, again and again, time after time, while she is off falling in the arms of another man. Did I mention it happened repeatedly?
What kind of love story is this?
It’s exactly the kind of love that God specializes in: UNEQUALED, UNENDING, and UNCONDITIONAL!
God uses this man in his struggling marriage and unfaithful wife of choice to share the capacity and complexion of His love for people.
We don’t have it in us to excuse such atrocities when it comes to relationships. We want justice! But this is the nature of God. It is WHO he is, not just WHAT he does.
We are the unfaithful lover and yet, God has CHOSEN us BEFORE we ever choose him. And even after we begin to grow towards him, we have a tendency to stray, to fall away, to choose the arms of another instead of the safety and security that a relationship with God offers.
In this story, not only does Hosea take his cheating wife back, but he pays a ransom for her. This is the extent to which God loves and rescues and redeems his people (his bride – us). We have sold ourselves to the devil and been swept off our feet by a lover we know all to well, ourselves, and God sent Jesus to pay the price to have us back.
So, actually, this is the ULTIMATE love story and one that makes Hallmark seem pretty weak. It highlights the CALL of love more than the CONNECTION or ENCHANTMENT of it!!!
We’re CALLED to LOVE others, not CALLED to FEEL like LOVING. This story isn’t to inspire marriages but rearrange our outlook on LOVE in every sense of the word. This story has two purposes as I see it:
- To remind me (all of us) how faithfully loved we are by a self-sacrificing God who is extravagant, gracious, and pursuing us relentlessly!
- To move me beyond my own self-justification and see others the way God does, CHOOSING to love them despite their painful and harsh care for ONLY themselves (which is no different than the way we are, or have been).
Which do you need to lean into? Here’s to a month of being LOVE[sic]!
PS – this story is NOT to excuse relational abuse and if you are currently in an abusive situation, please get out, get help, do NOT let it continue. God does NOT wish that for you and you do NOT deserve it, no matter what you have been told or caused to believe! We can help.
#HallmarkSucks
#Love[sic]
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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