When I picture God’s judgement, images of an overwhelming flood, or fire and brimstone, leap to mind. You know, real wrath of God type stuff.
The prophet Hosea, however, paints a unique portrait of wrath for us, when God himself tells Hosea that, “I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah” (Hosea 5:12).
Judgement does not have to come in like a lion (also used to describe God’s wrath), as here it’s described as being eaten by a moth, or by rot, a wasting away of life and vigor. Rot slowly turns articles we value to dust, filled with holes and smelling of mildew, good only for the dumpster.
This type of judgement is slow, under our noses, within our gaze. We tend to ignore it, we don’t pause to care, we hope that it won’t catch up to us. But it does catch up, our lives face ruinous circumstances and we are forced to start over.
Consider your life. Perhaps some of the thorny issues you face, those you just wish would go away, might be attributed not merely to bad luck or faulty genes or mean people. Perhaps some of the angst in your life could be a result of God’s discipline? His judgement might come as a bolt of fire from the blue, or it might settle gently on your shoulder and begin to nibble.
What’s nibbling at you? Could God be trying to get your attention in a kinder way than you will discover years from now when the floor of your life collapses, shot through with rot? Pause. God works on you because he cares for you. Don’t ignore what he’s trying to show you, especially if it flutters by in the evening shadows, for this is how God often chooses to work.
Good thoughts. He is always in it for our good.