Recently God has lovingly asked me to adjust my conversations with him. Out of neglect, my prayers have become mostly a list of ways I want God to move and act. God, do that, then do this. I’m continually suggesting his next move. I push my preferred destiny on the one who holds the ultimate preferred destination for my life, as if I know better and he needs my help.

Is that what you do too?

Something I’ve noticed on my journey with God is he allows me to be wrong. He allows me to do it wrong. Then, with time as my trust in him grows, he begins to show me a better way. Now, he’s showing me Luke 6:45, “What you say flows from what is in your heart.” This heart was really full of supreme ideas and suggested ways. This heart was full of a need for control and everyone under my control to play nice, just the way I wanted them to. And from my heart, everything I said to God just flowed.

“God, fix this. God, change them. God, stop her.”

But, in a surrender of my heart, God is changing the words that flow from it. He’s simply asked me to give him more praise. Recognize his extraordinary power and my complete dependence on him. See his hand in everything, and trust him wholeheartedly. Give him credit and stop assuming my goodness was the force behind any of this. He is the force, I am not. He is the Creator, I am not. He is the healer, redeemer, provider, restorer, I AM NOT.

And when my heart knows that, then what I say flows from that. I’m in a season where God has asked me to practice words of awe, wonder and praise over requests, pleas and demands.

As God has been dealing with me on this change of my heart, he leads me to a tiny book of the Bible I’ve never studied, Hosea. I must admit, it’s a bit confusing because it starts out like this, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go and marry a prostitute.” Immediately my brain flips a switch that says, “Skim over this, it’s not applicable.” Some of the Bible is a hard read. I can’t pretend to understand it all, and if it were my book, I would have left a whole lot of that out. But it’s not my book. It’s above me. My guess is, it’s above you too.

Good, it keeps us humble and it keeps us seeking. I think that was God’s plan.

As I leaned into God’s word in the book of Hosea, there were things that started leaping off the page at me. Warnings and promises revealed, and to my surprise, they do apply to me. I bet they apply to you too.

The Lord is speaking to his people. He refers to them as his bride. Don’t let that trip you up and don’t let the enemy twist that. Know that it means you are chosen, you are cherished, and you are adored. But as the Lord is speaking to his bride, he shows us there is a problem … she fails to recognize all God has done for her.

Hosea 2:8, “She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has.”

She has become ungrateful. She has become so busy with her blessings that she fails to honor the bless-or. She treats her provisions as if she earned them. She receives without acknowledgment or gratitude and only expects more. She takes it for granted.

SHE IS ME.

Is she you too?

When we fail to realize it was God who gave us everything we have, we face an awakening that comes only through hardship. God says in verse 13, “I will punish her for all those times she forgot about me.”

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Honey, if you can’t be trusted with your blessings, they are in danger of being taken. If your blessings have gotten in the way of the bless-or, then the way will be cleared. This is our warning. A warning of love from our Father.

I had a really good earthly Daddy, so it’s very natural for me to lean into God as my heavenly Daddy. I trust easily. I have been taught a Father’s love is genuine and pure and his disciplining hand can be trusted. I fully recognize that is not everyone’s personal experience. I’m so sorry if you were hurt, abandoned, neglected, or simply not loved well by an earthly Daddy. I pray for healing so you can fully receive the love of your heavenly Father who is perfect in every way.

Our heavenly Father punishes from a place of love for his beloved child. He corrects us when we are wrong. He puts us in an occasional time out so we can think about what we’ve been doing wrong. And sometimes he takes our phones away so we listen. That’s what you do as a good parent. A good parent doesn’t just let their child do anything and everything they want, because a parent knows things the child does not.

And God says, “My girl, you’ve forgotten about me. You’ve gotten so wrapped up in your blessings that you only come to me asking for more. You were not created to be an ungrateful taker, but you’re unknowingly acting like one because your heart has gotten twisted. Now, I will untwist your heart.”

How is a heart untwisted? Some things are taken away. And that’s what God does in Hosea 2. He takes back the ripened grain and new wine he had so generously provided every season before. He takes away the wool and linen clothing he had given to cover her. He puts an end to her festivals and celebrations. All the busyness and blessings that caused her to forget about God were taken. But they were taken out of LOVE.

God will take everything away if it brings us back to him.

Just as we put our children in time out or take away a toy … why? Out of love, not out of hate. We love them so much that we’re willing to do the hard thing now to help them forever. God loves YOU so much that he’s willing to do the hard thing now to help you forever.

But, the hard does not last forever. Look at what comes after the lesson is learned. Verse 14-15, “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.”

God wants to win you back now! After you’ve learned the lesson, after you’ve put your blessings back in their rightful place, then he gives it all back to you. You know what this tells me? This tells me GOD WILL REDEEM WHAT I HAVE MESSED UP.

I’ve created my own Valley of Trouble. I’ve allowed temporary things to become top priority. I’ve gotten all out of alignment with my fleshy desires and limited perspective. I’ve messed things up in my own special way.

Oh girl, have you messed some things up in your own special way? Did you know God wants to redeem that now? Once you turn back to him and just let him win you, then redemption comes. Hope returns. Blessings overflow.

The question is, are you going to let God win you back? He wants your praise. He wants your gratitude. He wants your time and attention. He wants you to recognize every single thing you have is solely because of him. He wants you to put everything back in it’s rightful place and turn your heart over to him fully. And when you do, he shows you just how good he is. Then he wins you back!

God’s winning me back. I may wander sometimes and occasionally get all up in my head thinking things are more about me than they really are. I may temporarily become an ungrateful brat who fails to pause and recognize God is the one who put that chicken on my plate, God is the one who strengthened my legs to run again, God is the one who kept my husband’s heart beating, God is the one protected my children in their stupid years, God is the one who makes my world spin. It’s all GOD!

He’s winning my heart back. And with my heart his, then the words that flow from my heart are pleasing to him. I naturally praise him. I don’t have to force it and I can’t help it.

I think God wants your heart back. He wants to win you back again. He wants to transform your Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. And this time, he wants you to forever remember only he could do that.

Look at the lengths he has gone to for you. He’s meeting you here in your Valley of Trouble and winning you back! Now, there is hope!

Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela
Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim
Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com