Then the Lᴏʀᴅ said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lᴏʀᴅ loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” —Hosea 3:1

Hosea was a young preacher—a prophet, really—who lived at a time when religious people weren’t interested in hearing his message. Instead of listening to God, the Israelites were more interested in living life on their own terms. 

Then, one day, God surprised Hosea with a memorable message: Hosea’s bachelor days were up! But the good news came with some bad news. Yes, Hosea would get married to a beautiful woman named Gomer, whom he loved. But she would love him and leave him—leave him betrayed, bewildered, and brokenhearted.

Yet this would not be the end of the story. Not by a long shot! God would help Hosea pick himself up, dust himself off, and then do the unthinkable—bring his wandering wife back home. And he’d actually have to pay money to get her back. He would have to redeem her.

At this point, Hosea must have cried out to God, “Redeem my wife? She’s thrown my love away! Why should I have to buy back what is already mine?”

But he did. Hosea walked up to the slave block and saved the unfaithful Gomer, proving that love can overcome that which seems lost forever.

The story of Hosea and Gomer is a love story from ancient times. It’s also the story of God’s love for Israel. But beyond that, did you know that it’s also your story and my story? It’s a story about finding your identity in the perfect love of God, returning to the truth of who you are, and finding out that you are never invisible. You do matter.

There is a “me” in GoMEr—and there is a “you” in Gomer too. It’s the part in all of us that is prone to wander and stray from God. It’s the part in all of us that loses our God-given identity as we search for who we are in the world and forget about God. 

Like Gomer, we wander off to other lovers of acceptance, significance, and approval because we aren’t secure in our identity. When we don’t accept who we are in Christ, we seek acceptance from those “other lovers” to discover or validate who we are.

I’ve been Gomer, confused and stuck in chains of insecurity that I thought would certainly choke me. I’ve stood in her shoes, unable to free myself—unable, really, to even like myself. 

But God didn’t just see where I was—He saw who I was, and He sees who you are too. You are never invisible to Him.

Discover the truth of how God sees you in Invisible by Jennifer Rothschild.