A Parent's Dilemma

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me.”
Many of you will recognize this verse from Hosea because of its use by Matthew in his Gospel (2:15) to refer to the return of Jesus with Mary and Joseph from exile in Egypt. When verse 1 is read in combination with verse 2 the message of God’s love for his prodigal people comes to the forefront. In these verses God is lamenting the ironic reaction to his love that many parents also struggle with. When God tried to show his love to Israel, to call out to them, they only went further away from him. Likewise, many parents whose children are struggling try to reach out to them only to have that child draw further away in response. A similar problem can occur between husbands and wives when one is having trouble and the other attempts to draw them close to help, only to see the distance widen between them. How do we explain this phenomenon and what can we do about it?
The cause of this “flee from love” response will vary with each case, but in the example of Israel it was caused by the willful disobedience of the people. They did not want to come close to God because they were enjoying their sinful behavior (at least for now). What was God’s response? He continued to love them. He brought necessary chastisement against them, but he continued to love them.
What can parents and spouses learn from God’s experience with Israel? First, just loving more may not be sufficient, we cannot make people love us more by pursuing them harder. Second, don’t give up; God didn’t walk away from Israel despite the trouble they caused him, he remained steadfast in his love. Even when that child yells, “I hate you!” don’t give up. Israel eventually came back to God, steadfast love does produce results. Likewise, in America today people give up on their marriage far too easily, be resilient, imitate God’s patience and mercy toward you when you love your spouse, and know that no matter how hard it may be today, God has been there before, he’ll continue to be with you.