Francine Rivers’s novel Redeeming Love draws on themes from the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer to remind us of God’s passionate, sacrificial, and unchanging love. In this 5-day devotional, Rivers takes us deep into Scripture as together we explore that incredible love and consider how God longs to redeem the pain of our past as we draw closer to Him.
WaterBrook Multnomah
Day 1
Scriptures: Psalms 139, Zephaniah 3:17
The Deepest Truth About You
Rejection is a heavy burden for any person—child or adult—to bear. Yet we all carry it. Whether this burden came from a parent or a friend, a teacher or a peer, we have all experienced moments when others have weighed us in the balance and let us know, by their demeaning words, scornful looks, or excluding actions, that they have found us insufficient.
Over time, our brains can turn “I don’t love you” into “No one will ever love you.” “You’re not good at this” can become “You’re just not good enough.”
David’s psalm speaks truth over these lies:
You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
(from Psalm 139:13–16)
These words speak powerfully of how God created us, fashioning us deliberately. Do you wonder if it’s a mistake that you’re alive? God formed your inmost being and has ordained your days. Do you question your own worth? You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Do you feel you are hopelessly flawed? God wove you together. Do you feel unknown and alone? God sees you.
The deepest truth about us is that we are created by God. We are loved. We are known. Even beyond that, God delights in us! The way Zephaniah 3:17 portrays God is almost startling:
The Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
If the One who created us delights and rejoices in us, we can know that we’re never unwanted or worthless, no matter what anyone else says. If you’re struggling with feeling rejected, let others’ harsh words turn you toward the only One whose acceptance matters. Let the truth of His words sink deep into your heart and permeate all aspects of who you are. You are valuable. You are wanted. You are loved.
Meditate on Psalm 139:13–16, and consider what the verses tell you about how you were deliberately created. What messages of rejection in your mind can this replace?
Day 2
Scriptures: Psalms 46:1-3, Psalms 46:7, Isaiah 46:9-10
Fear Not!
Fear is a constant companion for some of us. It looks over our shoulders as we make decisions and invades our thoughts as we consider the future. We fear making mistakes, losing the good opinion of others, or suffering the illness or death of those we love.
A surprising number of verses in the Bible address fear, and many of them command us, “Fear not!” Psalm 46:1–3, 7 says:
God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.
Let the oceans roar and foam.
Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! . . .
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.
This passage is notable for what it doesn’t say: that God will make everything work out okay for us. Instead, the psalm paints a picture of drastic circumstances. The earth could be shaken by such a great earthquake that the very mountains would break off and fall into the raging ocean—yet the psalmist says he will not fear. How is that possible?
Verses 1 and 7 answer this question: because God is with us.
This isn’t just any god we’re talking about. This is the Lord Almighty, the God of Jacob. He is the creator of the universe and the one who has redeemed us through Christ’s death on the cross. He is the one who is our refuge, our strength, and our fortress. He is the one who has promised not to leave us.
We fear the unknown, but what is hidden from us is known by God. Isaiah 46:9–10 reads:
Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God!
I am God, and there is none like me.
Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.
Nothing is a mystery for God. He already knows what will happen in the future, and He already knows how He will help us through it.
What fears are keeping you from moving forward in your life? How does remembering that God knows the future help you?
Day 3
Scriptures: Romans 7:21-25, Philippians 1:6
Little by Little
It’s happened to all of us. We’re stuck in a bad situation or habit, and we long to escape. We finally see a way to freedom—but we don’t take it. We continue struggling, captive,
haunted by missed opportunities, looking back at the escape we passed and asking ourselves, Why didn’t I take the way out?
In Romans 7, the apostle Paul wrote about the gap between what we want to do and what we actually do:
I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! (verses 21–24)
Like Paul, we know what we should do, yet so often we don’t do it. We follow our own desires instead of God’s. We live by fear instead of by trust. As Paul so aptly said, there is a war inside us. Fortunately, Paul’s words don’t end there:
Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 7:24–25)
When you find yourself stuck, telling yourself, I should have . . . after you’ve turned away from being rescued, take heart. Remember that Jesus is the one who will free you. He is capable of using even your failures to work in you.
Philippians 1:6 gives us this promise: “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
God will not give up on us when we turn our backs on Him and return to sin. He continues to work in us, changing our hearts little by little until we are finally ready to be set free.
Think of a time when you didn’t take an opportunity to be rescued from a bad situation or a sinful habit. What made you turn away from being rescued? Talk to God, thanking Him for His work in your life and asking Him for courage to move forward and accept His rescue.
Day 4
Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Genesis 2:18, Romans 12:15, 1 John 4:12
Sharing the Load
The wounds in our past can affect us long after we’ve been rescued from that past. When we have been hurt by other people, we might see relationships as only potential pain. We lean away from the people who reach out to us, careful not to give them any ammunition with which to wound us more. We begin to think of isolation and independence as ideal.
But this is not what God considers best for us. As messy and painful as relationships can be, they also bring us life. Consider Ecclesiastes 4:9–12:
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.
We’re created to care for others and be cared for by them. From the very beginning, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). He knew that life on this earth would be tough, and we would need others to help us share the load. Romans 12:15 tells us to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” When others enter into our sorrow, their compassion makes us feel less alone. When others celebrate with us, our joy expands. And when we care enough to share others’ joys and sorrows, our love for them grows and our hearts change.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 is a reminder that God’s presence is what ultimately makes our relationships work. His presence strengthens our relationships, deepens them, and helps them last. First John 4:12 says, “If we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” As we love others, He makes us more like Himself.
Think about a time when caring for someone else ended up helping you. If you feel isolated, what’s one thing you can do to foster good relationships?
Day 5
Scripture: Romans 8:28-30
Nothing Is Wasted
Have you ever had a moment where your past pain suddenly made sense?
Romans 8:28 is a wonderful but hard verse: “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Everything? Even the pain we have experienced at the hands of others—how can that be used for good?
God’s purposes are bigger than we can see or understand. We look at this day, this week, and this year, but God looks at the scope of eternity. Our problems fill our field of vision, but God’s view is broader. He is less concerned with what is easiest for us and more concerned with what is best. And His ultimate best for us involves our being restored to Him.
Look at the verses that follow Romans 8:28:
God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the first-born among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. (Romans 8:29–30)
God works in our lives to bring us to a right standing with Him. His goal is our ultimate good—our salvation—and His glory. And He can use everything—everything—to bring us closer to that goal. No matter how hurtful or senseless a situation seems now, He can make it new.
One day we will see how God has redeemed the world, taking away all sorrow and pain and death. None of those hard things will last. What will last is God Himself dwelling among us, those whom He has made His children. He will restore everything. Nothing will be wasted.
Write down a few of the hardest things in your life. Pray and hand them over to God, telling Him that while you don’t know how He can possibly redeem these or use them for good, you will trust that He will. Make a note to reassess these hard things in a few months to see what God has been doing.