Who Do You Call?

Hosea continued...

Scripture:
Hosea 7:8-16 (ESV)

Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
    Ephraim is a cake not turned.
Strangers devour his strength,
    and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
    and he knows it not.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
    yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
    nor seek him, for all this.

Ephraim is like a dove,
    silly and without sense,
    calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
As they go, I will spread over them my net;
    I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
    I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.
Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
    Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
    but they speak lies against me.

They do not cry to me from the heart,
    but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
    they rebel against me.
Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
    yet they devise evil against me.
They return, but not upward;
    they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
    because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.

Devotional:

When invasions came and enemies approached Ephraim failed to turn to God.  They sought refuge, protection, and deliverance from other countries.  They did not turn to God.  Their reliance went elsewhere.   Today let us think about one thing.  When times of trouble comes who do you turn to?  Who is it that I turn to?  The obvious answer should be God.  Take a moment and reflect over the years in your life.  Think about all the times you had troubles or things didn’t go well.  How did you handle it?

I wish I could say that every time I had troubles in my life I cried out to God.  That God waved his hands and the troubles were gone.  The truth is that more times than I care to admit I tried to fix things myself and my way.  Only then did I turn to God and say, “I can’t fix it God.  What can you do?”  Sure, there are times when I turn to God first.  I start out by praying and crying out to Him.  As I grow older and hopefully wiser it happens more often and becomes a natural first step.  God doesn’t promise to take away our troubles, strife, and hardships.  He does promise to be with us.  He does promise to make us stronger if we allow Him to work in our lives. 

Israel turned away from her first love.  Israel suffered because of it.  Who do you turn to?  Who is your focus on?  Think of it like this.  Your car will not run and is in the middle of the street.  You can struggle and struggle to push your car down the block or to the side of the road. Around you are a few small kids who can help you push.  Three or four of you push and push. You struggle to move the car.  Off to the side of the road waiting and watching are a couple of large men.  They are obviously body builders who lift massive amounts of weight.  They could easily help you push the car down the road.  Do you struggle by yourself or possibly with the help of a few children?  Do you call to the side of the road and ask the body builders for help?

God is more than big enough, smart enough, wise enough to handle whatever comes your way.  Will you struggle on your own?  Will you call upon God?  The car gets pushed not teleported.  God will help you.  He will be there with you.  You do not have to go at it alone.  Do you go at it alone?  Who do you call?