Redeemed.

I've been thinking about redemption quite a bit this year. At senior chapel, I sat there thinking about what I would say as my summary of my time at USF if I got up to speak. I didn't go up and say anything, but I realized that I would say, "God has been so faithful to me while I've been here. He's redeemed so many things in my heart and in my life and taught me more about redemption. God is so good."

Redemption. The theme of my last four years. God redeemed my college choice so that it glorified Him rather than me. God redeemed my past and my issues with my family so that my testimony can glorify Him, not me. God redeemed my heart after Tim and I broke up. And those are just the "big" things. Our God is the Redeemer.

In addition to seeing Him redeem my life, I've learned more about God's desire to redeem through His Word. Hosea 2:14-23 has been on my mind since this last fall. It says:

¹⁴ “But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.
¹⁵ I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.
She will give herself to me there,
as she did long ago when she was young,
when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
¹⁶ When that day comes,” says the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’
instead of ‘my master.’
¹⁷ O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips,
and you will never mention them again.
¹⁸ On that day I will make a covenant
with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky
and the animals that scurry along the ground
so they will not harm you.
I will remove all weapons of war from the land,
all swords and bows,
so you can live unafraid
in peace and safety.
¹⁹ I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion.
²⁰ I will be faithful to you and make you mine,
and you will finally know me as the Lord.

²¹ “In that day, I will answer,”
says the Lord.
“I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds.
And the sky will answer the earth with rain.
²² Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries
of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees.
And they in turn will answer,
‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’
²³ At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites
and raise them for myself.
I will show love
to those I called ‘Not loved.’
And to those I called ‘Not my people,’
    I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’
And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”

A summary of the story of Hosea is that God tells him to marry a prostitute, and she's unfaithful, but Hosea continues to pursue her and win her back. It's God's metaphor for Israel (His people). God chooses us to be in relationship with Him, and we foolishly sleep around rather than trusting that He's all we need. We don't need to sell ourselves to the world. What I love about this passage is that it shows how great God's love is. He knows that we're abandoning Him to sleep around with all the things of the world that compete for our hearts. But God says, "I will win her back once again." He does it over and over again because that's who He is. He doesn't quit after winning us back the first or second time. He desires to redeem us again and again. He never relents.

Later, God says to His people, "I will make you my wife forever showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord." He's faithful in the midst of us running away again and again. And He wants us to know Him. He doesn't want to be our master like a master of slaves; verse 16 says He wants to be our Husband. Whoa! God knows what I've run like a prostitute to: my schoolwork, Tim, my "perfect Christian" image, and more. But He wants to make me His. Like Jesus Culture sings, "He won't relent until He has it all." And He doesn't want us so that He can cause us to suffer or miss our former life; He wants us so that He can "return our vineyards to us and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope" (verse 15).

God's redeeming me. I hope you're letting Him redeem you too. No lie: redemption is a scary and painful process. It means you actually face the past. But God has so much in store for us than us avoiding our shame. He wants to redeem us from it. David Brymer has this song called "Restoration," and in it he sings,

"You've taken my pain
called me by a new name
You've taken my shame
and in it's place, You give me joy

You take my mourning and turn it into dancing
You take my weeping and turn it into laughing
You take my mourning and turn it into dancing
You take my sadness and turn it into joy."

That's what it means for God to redeem and restore us! Yay! I still mourn and weep, but I finally am free of shame because God wants so much more for me and for you. He wants all of us so we can experience all of Him. I love that He redeems me. He's not done; there are still parts of my heart, my life, my family that need to be redeemed. But God is faithful and will redeem us if we allow Him to "lead us into the desert and speak tenderly to us there" (verse 14). The desert isn't easy, but it leads to the vineyards. It's a place where we can hear God and learn more about what He desires for us. Our God is so good. Through Him, we are redeemed.