The Bible is full of examples of God asking people to do what would not come naturally to them. When you read through the lives of Noah and Abraham, or the command given to Jonah you realize that God often expects what men would call the impossible. But I think the most impossible thing that God asks is what he asks of the prophet Hosea.
Hosea, a man of God, a prophet, is told to marry a promiscuous woman. A woman who will not be faithful to him. When we marry we do so with the promise that we will forsake all others and cling only to the one we are pledging to. Some marriages enter into the difficult land of infidelity and affairs. Others sail past this into struggles with infertility, money and family interference. All marriages have times of trouble. But once again God tells us what he expects even in times of trouble. He expects the impossible. He expects us to love. He expects us to treat each other honorably. He expects us to lay down our own plans, dreams and expectations and allow him to work in the life of those around us.
Hosea does what God asks. He even goes after his wife and brings her out of an adulterous relationship back into his home and back into his life. He tells her in Hosea 3 that she is to be faithful to him and he will remain faithful to her. God was using this as a picture of his relationship with his people. What is amazing is that God’s faithfulness is not dependant on ours. He is always faithful even when we stray.
Marriage is designed the same way. Vows are not conditional. We do not say if you stay well, wealthy and faithful then I will love you and stay faithful to you. No our vows tell our spouse, no matter what you choose to do, no matter what God takes us through, I will remain faithful. I will love you until death.
The impossible task that God asks of us is not to base our treatment of others on how they treat us. The world says, If you don’t make me happy, fulfill all my needs, then I have the right to find someone who does. The world says if your spouse has an affair then you get to have one too. If your wife is bad with money, well then you can recklessly spend too. If your husband ignores you and treats you badly then you can retaliate. The world says you have the right to divorce anytime you want. Working things out, laying aside your own desires that’s too hard.
God asks us to do the impossible every day. He asks us to follow his example and stay faithful and to treat each other with love even when we are not treated this way. It is by acting different than the world that the world will know whom we serve.
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