HOSEA 101: LOVE UNFEIGNED

A Bible retelling of the story of Hosea and Gomer.

The minute Henry stepped on the threshold of his house and heard muffled sounds of pleasure coming from the room he shared with Lilian, his wife, it was as though the air became toxic and the bouquet of white roses he held in his hand wilted.

Rage surged in his head like a volcano as the implication dawned on him.

She was cheating. Again. And this time so boldly. In his house! On their matrimonial bed! On their anniversary of all the days!

Shaking in anger, he shut out the grotesque picture of whatever might be happening behind that door and wearily went to his son's room.

Henry found Larry deeply asleep. He suspected this was the doing of Lilian—she had probably given their naive four-year-old boy some sleeping pills. Tears sprang up in Henry's eyes. He wanted to snatch up his son and run away from the vicinity of this sin-crazed woman before she did more harm to both of them. But that would be foolish. He had willingly married her after all, for better for worse.

Without a word, he retreated from the room, securely closing the door.

Drowning out all sounds, he dragged himself to the kitchen and dropped the flowers on the island where he was sure she would see it.

After a long day counselling hurting people at the church, all he wanted was to spend some quality time with the woman he had slowly learned to love over the years despite her glaring flaws. He didn't have the strength to confront this tsunami about to crash on his head.

"God..." That was as far as he could go before emotion clogged his throat.

"Be still, my son," he heard the warm voice of the Holy Spirit whisper in his heart.

The tide of his anger receded slightly.

His heart constricted and instead of anger, he felt the raw pain of betrayal.

He had to leave this house. To breathe. To think of the next line of action.

He slowly trudged up the dirt trail he had worn out over the years on his countless prayer walks.

He recalled how five years ago, he had a promising future in the entertainment space before God captured his heart in a dramatic encounter.

He had come to this countryside at God's instruction. It had cost him everything. His friends and relatives abandoned him to what they termed his foolishness. And because his ministry was to the despised sect of society, he met Lilian, an outcast and a drug addict.

She was the most hopeless case in the community. Without shame, she lived a reckless life and would often sell her body to just about anyone who came by. Her seductive body was to her advantage in that regard.

His first encounter with her was when he heard the Holy Spirit's voice crystal clear telling him she was to be his wife.

He had been appalled and had battled for many weeks before finally saying yes to God's weird demand.

At first, she had been cold towards him, but he was persistent and after long months of chasing and wooing, she finally thawed.

But her repeated rebound to her old life was getting irritating.

He got to the top of the knoll some distance away from his home and watched the sunset in silence. He let the bubbling cauldron of his emotions spill over.

His scream of frustration flooded the hills.

"God, this is it. It's over. I've put up with this nonsense long enough. I'm getting a divorce."

But His voice came.

"As I loved you. Unconditionally. Without pretence or restrictions."

He stayed there a long time, wrestling with God. When he finally found peace, he knew what to do, however hard and humanly speaking illogical it was.

It was already dark when he entered the house through the kitchen door. Lilian was hunched at the kitchen island, fingers fiddling with the now-dead white flowers, her shoulders heaving.

"Lilian," he called with a sigh. 

She stiffened. Henry thought she looked pale when she slowly turned to him. One look into her guilt-filled eyes and he knew she knew he knew.

"Why did you come back?" she croaked.

"I came back for you."

He could see her clenched hands, her gritted teeth. A minute of silence passed.

She let out a bitter chuckle. "I should leave then. I'm sure that's what you came to say."

"You're not going anywhere. Neither am I. I love you, Lilian. Regardless..."

He made to hold her hand, but she flinched and curled into herself, whimpering.

"You're not going to shout at me? Aren't you going to ask why?" She paced like a caged leopard. "Henry, it wasn't even a man this time. I'm irredeemable! Go away. Just leave me already!"

Henry grimaced—she'd grown so bad under his nose that she did women now?—but went closer to her.

He cradled her tear-drenched face in his hands. Her eyes refused to look into his. He brought her palm to his chest.

"It hurts, in here. What you did to us. But I forgive you. I don't want to know why or with whom you did whatever you did."

Her eyes were round like a deer caught in headlights. "But why?" she cried.

"Because I love you, Lilian, warts and all. I love you like Christ loves the church."

"You can't possibly love a monster like me. I've tried to change, to stop my obsessive addiction. It doesn't work. I'm cursed to perpetually crave the forbidden."

"You've been trying to fight on your own. Why not let us wade through this storm together, with God's help? I'll never give up on you."

She was a puddle of tears within the next minute, trembling in his arms.

"I don't deserve you, Henry," she said, gulping back tears. "I'm sorry won't be able to express how I feel."

"Oh, my dove, my love for you has no strings attached. It is, as the bible puts it, love unfeigned."

~~~

Author's note: Happy new month, guys! It's the season of Love. The ultimate sacrifice of Jesus is the proof of God's love to you. Never forget that. 🔥🔥🔥

Thanks for reading this. I'll appreciate your comments, votes and shares. 😁🤗

God bless you. 💖💖