I decided to read through the book of Hosea this week. I call it one of the unread books in my Bible and personally, it was my first time giving attention to the book. Well, I’m glad I did.
The love story begins…
I believe that Hosea
is a book for every believer because it reveals our sinful nature prior to salvation and it goes on to narrate how the Lord wins us back in love. The process of the Lord winning us back in love is found in Hosea 2:14-15, `But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt’ (Hosea 2:14-15 NLT)
This is interesting. Who would want to win a lady by leading her into the desert? 
No, Wait!! There are many breath-taking romantic sites on the surface on this earth. We can think of a couple standing next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Santorini in Greece is a famous honeymoon site or spending that quiet time with your spouse at The Berkshires. Yet the Lord decided to win her back in the desert.
Well, that ain’t romantic at all but it teaches loads of wisdom and gives us so much assurance.
What the desert means to God?
The desert is not the place you would dream of staying. The weather conditions do not really make it a romantic destination. A place where only the tougher ones exist. A desert is a place of stillness with minimal noise and busyness.
It is a place where almost everything appears to be standstill and I can say that for someone to be led into the desert is to be moved into hardship, solitude, and loneliness.
The desert days are the times in our lives where nothing seems to work out. Dropping grades, financial challenges, broken relationships, loss of jobs and even the death of a dear one.
Yet the Lord says that it is on the desert 
that He speaks tenderly to us to win us back.
Emmanuella is a young graduate and currently a research and teaching assistant at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Her passion and desire for young people especially women have led to her writing on various issues regarding womanhood and spirituality.
