Fields of hidden treasure

To be understood. To be fully known. To be loved despite our faults. All you need to do is search “he doesn’t understand me” in google and you’ll get a host of top tips of how to discern whether the man / woman you are dating really “gets you”. The deep wish of each of our hearts, I believe, is to be truly understood and fully loved.   This is why I find Psalm 139 so incredible. The psalmist says a number of revolutionary things. Not only is it clear from this psalm that God knows each of us individually, but when you take a step back and consider the manner in which he knows each of us; it’s really breath-taking. According to verse 1, God has “ searched ” us and he “ knows ” us. Not only that, he knows each one of our mundane and quotidian activities: “ you know when I sit and when I rise. ” The psalmist goes further, explaining that God knows his “ going out and lying down ”, and God is “ familiar with all my ways . ” Such information does not generally attain the level ...

Rejection. It is something that we’ve all experienced, whether waiting in queue for those concert tickets that just sold out, a refused job application or perhaps that familiar unrequited crush.   Coming in different forms of proximity to our very nature and personality and in varying levels of intensity, it goes without saying that whatever the circumstances, it is always a bitter pill to swallow. The most painful rejection of all, is that rejection which we perceive as unjustified. That which fails to recognise our true skills, personality or ability to love.   I was inspired to write about this topic as I study the book of the prophet Hosea. More accurately, I was blown away as I considered the rejection that the very God who created the universe took, so that we could be in a loving relationship with him.  The Bible records that God instructed the prophet Hosea to marry a “ an adulterous wife ” (NIV). This wife symbolised the Israelites, who had turned away fr...