When Being “Cut to the Quick” is a good thing

Hosea 6:4-6

Ephraim, what will I do with you?
            Judah, what will I do with you?
    Your love is like a morning cloud,
            like the dew that vanishes quickly.
Therefore, I have attacked them by the prophets,
            I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
                and my judgment goes forth like a light.
I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
            the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings.

Many times throughout my life of faith, I have had a recurring experience.  The details vary widely but the effect in my gut is the same.  Sometimes it happens when I am listening to a powerful sermon or incisive teaching.  Other times, it may be a conversation with a friend.  I have had the experience while watching a movie, listening to a song, or even reading a post on social media.  The recurring experience is that of “being cut to the quick.”  In an instant, I feel convicted.  I realize that I have walked away from my faith in an important way.  I let other things, sometimes even trivial things, become more important than my relationship with God.  Those “cut to the quick moments” expose the distance that I have wandered away.  God uses prophets or anything else to get my attention. 

God’s desire in getting my attention is communicated in the passage from Hosea for today;  I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings. (6:6).  Throughout the book of Hosea, it is the relationship between God and God’s people that is the focus.  God is always faithful; we consistently are not.  God is not demanding our attention, but God desires that we should want to give it freely.  God wants to be known by us in a mutual relationship.

The reality for me is that I want that too.  But it seems I have spiritual attention deficit disorder.  I am so easily distracted.  I’m sure that I’m not alone in this, but there is some good news.  Those “cut to the quick” moments are our opportunity to come back to God again and I believe God delights in in returning, whether it’s the first time or the 1456^th time.  They are moments of relational clarity.  The idea is to gradually develop the ability to realize on pour own that we have wandered and refocus without the jarring external reminder. 

I see this happening in myself.  Do I still have to be reminded that I’ve strayed sometimes.  Yes.  I have to admit that it’s more than sometimes.  But little by little, I’m catching myself off-focus more often.  I have no illusions that I’ll get to the point where I don’t need external callbacks, but my growing relationship with God exerts more of a natural magnetism than it used to earlier in my life.  My prayer is that the same process is afoot in you.

Prayer:  God, help us never to waste those cut-to-the-quick moments.  May we keep coming back to you. Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the women and men in our military today.

Song:  Softly and Tenderly – Audrey Assad