THE LION HAS TORN US, IN ORDER TO HEAL US!
Hosea 6:1-3

“COME and LET US RETURN [IN REPENTANCE] TO THE LORD, for HE HAS TORN US TO PIECES [like a predator grabs its prey, shredding it with its sharp teeth], SO THAT HE WOULD HEAL US! HE HAS WOUNDED US, BUT HE WILL BANDAGE US. After two days HE WILL REVIVE US (QUICKEN US, GIVE US LIFE); on the third day HE WILL RAISE US UP THAT WE MAY LIVE BEFORE HIM. YES, LET US [FULLY] KNOW (recognize, be acquainted with, and understand the greatness of the) LORD; LET US BE ZEALOUS TO KNOW THE LORD [to appreciate, give heed to, and cherish Him]. HIS APPEARING IS PREPARED and is AS CERTAIN AS THE DAWN, and HE WILL COME TO US [IN SALVATION]  [JUST AS THE HEAVY] SPRING RAIN THAT WATERS THE EARTH.”
[Hosea 6:1-3 (AMP)]

Hosea 6:1 includes an intriguing phrase: God “HE HAS TORN US TO PIECES, SO THAT HE WOULD HEAL US.” The word torn describes how a predator grabs its prey, shreds the animal with its sharp teeth, and consumes it. It’s the same word Jacob used when his malevolent sons brought back Joseph’s coat of many colors, shredded and dipped in blood:

“Jacob immediately recognized (Joseph’s coat) and said, ‘It is my son’s tunic. A fierce animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces!’”
[Genesis 37:33 (AMP)]

Torn is a severe word — and it is rather unsettling to read that God tears us.

Who “has torn us”? Make no mistake. God is behind the hurt in our life. When our life feels torn in two, God has not abandoned us. He does not callously move away from us; He compassionately moves toward us.

Why? Why does God approve pain’s intrusion into our lives? Like an electromagnet, God draws our heart back to His. Whatever the particular point of pain, the circumstance we most want to change, the unwanted source of shock and sadness that we beg God to reverse or resolve — God has a purpose for that pain. And the pain will not subside until its purpose has been completed in us. What is more, when God has finished His work in that part of our life, He will move on to His next project in us. God’s love is not a pampering love; it’s a perfecting love. Through pain, God calls us back, further, and deeper into Him.

The closing verses of Hosea 5 paint a picture of God’s ravaging work:

“For I WILL BE LIKE A (CHARGING) LION to Ephraim (the most dominant of the tribes of Israel), and LIKE A YOUNG LION to the house of Judah. I, EVEN I, WILL REND (tear, rip, slash, shred) and GO ON [RENDING]. I WILL DRAG THEM OFF, and there will be no one to deliver them. I will return to where I came from [on high] UNTIL THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OFFENSE and FEEL THEIR GUILT and SEEK MY FACE; IN THEIR AFFLICTION and DISTRESS THEY WILL SEEK, INQUIRE FOR, and REQUIRE ME EARNESTLY, saying, ‘COME and LET US RETURN [IN REPENTANCE] TO THE LORD, for HE HAS TORN US TO PIECES [like a predator grabs its prey, shredding it with its sharp teeth], IN ORDER THAT HE WOULD HEAL US!”
[Hosea 5:14–15; 6:1 (AMP)]

Like a lion, God uses those painful circumstances in our lives and waits until we acknowledge and seek Him. By faith, can you see the Great Lion in your life? Can you see past the struggling marriage, difficult work environment, stubborn child, or physical sickness to the Lion by your side?

PAIN IS NEVER THE END. We move through pain to purpose. ‘”HE HAS TORN US, SO THAT HE WOULD HEAL US!” We want the healing without the tearing, and if that were possible, God would want that for us too. God wants to heal our finances, our failures, and our families, and He tears us to heal us.

“HE HAS WOUNDED US, BUT HE WILL BANDAGE US.” Do not misunderstand God or judge Him harshly. He is the Lion that tears — so that He may heal. He strikes us down — so that He can bind us up. God always uses pain to bring us to a better place. Surgeons do not lament the pain of a procedure. They wound to heal, re-breaking a bone to set it or cutting through tissue to remove a tumor. In the same way, God inflicts precise pain to draw our hearts closer to Him.

God’s role in our suffering is always for our good. Even Job could attest:

“Consider the JOY of those corrected by God! DO NOT DESPISE THE DISCIPLINE OF THE ALMIGHTY WHEN YOU SIN. For THOUGH HE WOUNDS, HE ALSO BANDAGES. (REMEMBER), THE SAME HANDS THAT STRIKE, HURTING YOU, ARE THE HANDS THAT HEAL YOU.”
[Job 5:17–18 (NLT)]

God loves us so much that He would rather see us anywhere else than living in rebellion against Him. God would rather see us in a hospital bed or bankrupt, broken, or hurt than separated from Him.

Will you let life’s pain bring you to God’s purpose?

Will the Lion have to tear that silly, self-indulgent, sordid something out of your life? OR will you move quickly through the pain to His purpose for you?

Trust me; we are human. Therefore, the pain will come. Maybe there is no pain now, but it does come. Not to spite us, but to heal us.

PRAY

Lord God, help me to see more clearly who You are. You are a mighty Lion, willing to tear me — because You love me and want what’s best for me. Help me to look past the pain in my life to Your purpose for it. Use the pain to draw me closer to You and to make me more like Your Son, Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, in whose name I pray, Amen.