Don't believe me? Read the book.
The first time I ever heard of this book, I was a junior in college and my roommate Courtney was reading it. She would occasionally tell me about it, mentioning it was a love story, but was really hard to read. It never jumped out at me...UNTIL I saw it sitting on Kim's bookshelf a couple of months ago. Kim told me I could borrow it, where it sat on my bookshelf for the next few months. And then I had a God-moment. You totally know what that is if you've ever experienced one.
I felt the need to read it, something urging me to open the book and just read at least the first few pages. And then I was sucked in. If you've never read it, allow to recap. If you have bear with me.
Redeeming Love is a fictional representation of the book of Hosea in the bible. The main characters are:
Angel - a prostitute who's been in the business since she was 8 with a lot of abandonment issues
Michael - a simple farmer, follower of Christ
Paul - Michael's friend and brother-in-law
Miriam - soon to be Paul's new wife, part of the Altman clan
The Altman's - a family who builds a house and life on Michael's farm becoming very close to Angel and Michael
God tells Michael to marry Angel after seeing her once in the streets of Pair-a-dice. This is a problem as Angel is lives in a brothel and live an adulterous life. That doesn't matter to God. Michael spends time trying to win her over and eventually marries her and brings her home to his farm. A couple of times she runs back to the city, thinking her life before was better and thinking maybe she could make it on her own. Michael continues to bring her home. Over time Angel has come to love Michael and can't imagine her life without him. But knowing she can't have kids and that's Michael's dream in life, she decides to leave despite her love for him. She thinks Miriam would serve as a better, more traditional wife.
This time when Angel leaves, Michael doesn't go after her, though he prays every day that she will return. She's gone for 3 years. Eventually Paul comes to find her (as his wife Miriam has requested this). Settling some issues from their past, Paul comes to realize how wrong he was about Angel and brings her home to Michael. Angel realizes that Michael has waited for her over these past three years and then there's kind of a happy ending. :)
Of course there are a lot of details woven into the story that only heighten the love and sacrifice involved. It's definitely worth reading.
The story of every man? Well here's my rationale. I can identify myself with Angel. No I'm not a prostitute nor have I suffered through some of the extreme circumstances in the story, but I've also been an adulterer. Let me explain.
For so long, I've called myself a Christian and focused on this in-depth relationship that I have with Christ. And for so long, I've cheated on Him with whatever the world throws my way. Drinking, relationships, lust, anger, materialism, self-centered attitude. And during those times I found myself running from God. Michael represents God who is there waiting patiently each and every day for every single child to come to Him. He's constantly asking us to come back to him and so many times he finds me, wraps me up, and brings me back to Him. And no matter how much I miss up, I know that there is nothing that will make Him turn me away.
I'll admit, I was angry for Angel for so long in the book because she repeatedly broke Michael's heart. I kept thinking how every woman longs for a man to love her like this and here's this girl who wants nothing to do with this epic love. What kind of person could do that to such an unfailing and unwaviering love? And then it hit me, I have. I have a great love story and I continually run away from Him. Instead, I should not only be content by it, but overjoyed by it.
I can try to run away but I remember Him waiting there for me, days, months, and even years. And it took the running away for me to realize that what I needed was to be running towards Him. It took me understanding what running away and running to Him looked like. There are still plenty of issues to work out. My past will always be remembered, but I will never feel shame nor guilt for the choices that happened because they led me to Christ. And He doesn't hold me to it. He lifts me in His arms and prepares me for what I will be. He loves me as I am and not as I should be. It looks like I've already gotten my happy ending after all.
