"They will follow the Lord; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling." (Hosea 11:10)
I can just picture a lion, watching his cubs making mistakes, being careless, or wandering off somewhere, all the while he is getting more and more frustrated at their foolishness. Finally when he can’t stand it any longer, he roars. The roar is deafening…there is no mistaking the meaning of it, and there is no getting around it. The papa lion has had enough of this flapdoodle, and he lets it be known in no uncertain terms. The cubs stop cold in their tracks, and slowly start to make their way back, brooding as they go, trembling even. No more frolicking or frivolity, Papa means business.
Can’t you just see God roaring at us like a lion? We fail Him in so many ways. We get ourselves in trouble; we wander off into the world with all of its seductive ways. We are enchanted and captivated by its trappings, and we forget who we are. We forget that the One who is the caretaker of our souls has not wearied in watching us, nothing goes unseen. Lying dormant beneath the patience and long suffering of this Lion King, there is heartfelt anguish. A passionate jealousy is stirring just beneath the surface, and finally in one fell swoop He roars. The pain in His heart can be contained no longer. He roars.
He roars because He has been wounded for our transgressions. And we, like lion cubs, like babes, start making our way back with heads drooping. We can’t bear to disappoint our King. With our very hearts crushed in pain, we return. We are prodigal cubs making our way back, and our King awaits us. Deep down inside we are wired to know that forgiveness is within our reach, and if we will just lift our hearts to Him, our Lion King will be faithful to welcome us back with open arms.
