I Will Not Give Up on You

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 But the more they were
called,the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baalsand they burned incense to
images. 3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. 4 I led them with cords of human kindness,with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek,and I bent down to feed them. 5 “Will they not return to Egyptand will not Assyria rule over thembecause they refuse to repent? 6 A sword will flash in their cities,it will devour their false prophetsand put an end to their plans. 7 My people are determined to turn from me. Even though they call me God Most High, I will by no means exalt them. 8 “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.” – Hosea 11: 1-8

Opening
There is a question that lives quietly in many of us, even if we don’t say it out loud.
Not in church.
Not in rooms like this.
But in the quiet… it shows up.
And the question is:
“Is God tired of me?”
Not tired like frustrated in a moment…
but tired like… done, done!
Done with the inconsistency.
Done with the comings and goings.
Done with the parts of us that haven’t quite aligned yet.

And if I’m honest… this has been my journey.
I don’t struggle with believing in God.
I’ve struggled with believing that God would continue choosing me.
Not the polished and pulled together me, but the

• Me with the past
• Me with the trauma
• Me with the divorce
• Me with the doubt
• Me with the drama
• Me with the illnesses
• Me with the anger
• Me with the insecurities
• Me with the mistakes
• Me that everyone doesn’t get the opportunity to see
  Some of them repeated.
  And what I have found is that is the me that God keeps choosing.
  And if we’re honest…I know I am not alone.
  Some of us don’t struggle with believing in God.
• We’ve seen too much.
• We’ve experienced too much.
• We’ve done too much.
  But we struggle with believing that God would continue choosing us,
  even in our inconsistency…
  even in our becoming…
  even in the parts of us that are still unfolding
  That’s where the tension lives.
  Take a breath here.
  Not metaphorically, but actually.
  Let your body settle for a moment.
  And I want you to notice something, not in your mind, but in your body.
  When you hear: “God continues choosing me…”
  What happens? What happens in your body?
  Do you feel peace? Calm? Centered?
  Or
  Do you feel resistance? Tightness? Distance? Disbelief?

Or maybe… you feel nothing at all.
Just notice.
No judgment.
No fixing.
Just awareness.
Because sometimes the disconnect is not in what we believe intellectually…
It’s in what we have not yet allowed ourselves to receive.
And what you just noticed in yourself…
that tension…
that hesitation…
that resistance or even numbness…
That’s not separate from the text.
It’s actually right there in it.

Let’s go back.
The text tells us that the Israelites have been doing some stuff, stuff that is similar to the stuff we
do today, which is leading them away from God. And now that it no longer feels as enjoyable,
they are calling on God.
In verse 7, God says:
“They call to me… but I will not exalt them.”
And we can take this moment of correction and turn it into a conclusion about God’s character.
And if we’re not careful, we can hear that as rejection.
Not because that is what God said, but because that is what we have learned to hear.
We can hear that as distance.
We can hear that as God pulling back.
But that’s not what’s happening here.
God is naming something real:

• They want God’s relief, but they are not returning to God
• They want God’s help, but they are not surrendering to God
• They are calling on God, but they are not seeking God
  Calling is situational
  Seeking is relational
  So, when God says, “I will not exalt them.”
  He is not rejecting them.
  He is refusing to reinforce what is keeping them from Him.

But, just when we expect God’s tone to harden…
God reveals His heart.
“How can I give you up?” God says.

When God says, “How can I give you up?” I don’t hear a threat. I hear grief.
Not grief because God is weak…but grief because the relationship matters.
Almost like God is saying: “How did we even get here?”

“How did you come to believe that I would leave you?”
And if I’m honest…That’s the part that sits heavy with me.
Because Israel is turning away.
And still…
God is the one carrying the weight of their distance.
God carries the weight of my distance. God carries the weight of your distance.
Listen, I don’t carry what I don’t care about. So if God is carrying the weight of our distance,
that means He is invested in it and us.
This is one of the most human-sounding moments of God in scripture.

God is not distant here.
Not detached.
Not purely declarative.
God is… moved.

Point 1: God Reveals His Heart, Not Just His Authority
We are often taught about God through rules.
Through expectations.
Through what is right and what is wrong.
But here, God reveals something deeper.
Not just His authority…but His heart.
“How can I give you up?”

That is not the language of someone looking for a reason to leave.
That is the language of someone who has already decided to stay.
And for some of us, that’s hard to receive.
Because we’ve experienced love that was:

• conditional
• inconsistent
• withdrawn when we didn’t get it right
  So, we project that onto God.
  We assume:
• one more mistake
• one more delay
• one more misstep
  …and He’ll be done.
  But this text interrupts that assumption.
  

Point 2: God Is Not Wrestling About Leaving You

God says “My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused…”
God is not wrestling with whether to abandon you. He is revealing why He won’t.
Pause.
And that matters.
Because many of us live as if God is on the edge watching, evaluating, and waiting for the
perfect moment to abandon us.
But listen to what God is showing us here.
When He says, “My heart is changed within me…”
He’s not becoming someone different.
He is revealing what His love looks like in relationship. And when you read this whole
passage… you realize something.
God is describing His relationship with Israel like a parent with a child.
A child He raised.
A child He taught.
A child He walked with… step by step.
And for some of us, that imagery feels clear.
For others…it may feel complicated. So don’t get stuck on the label.
Focus on what it reveals.
This is a relationship
with history…
with investment…
with deep attachment.
This is not a distant God reacting.
This is a God who has been there all along.
And when love has that kind of history…it doesn’t just walk away.
It holds. It stays. It refuses to let go.
And in this moment, God is saying: “I have bound Myself to you.”

He is not looking for a way out. So, He is not standing at the door, waiting to walk out.
He is standing with you, even in the places you’re still trying to understand.

Point 3: You Can Be Loved and Still Be Becoming
Hosea is not a clean story.
It’s complicated.
It’s layered.
It’s uncomfortable at times.
And yet, God remains.
Not because everything is perfect.
Not because everything is resolved.
But because God’s love is not dependent on your completion.
Some of us are waiting to “get it together” before we fully receive God.
Waiting to be more consistent.
More disciplined.
More aligned.
But this text reminds us:
You are not loved after you arrive.
You are loved while you are becoming.

Point 4: The Real Question Is Not God’s Commitment, It’s Your Belief
God has already revealed His position.
“I will not…”
Not as rejection, but as refusal.
Refusal to reinforce what is keeping them from Him.
So the question is no longer:
“Will God give up on me when I turn away?”
Because if we are honest, that’s the part we are unsure about.

The question then becomes:
“Do I believe that He will stay?
Do I believe that:

• even here… He stays
• even now… He is present
• even in what is unfinished… He is committed
  Because what you believe about God will shape how you show up in your own life.
• If you believe God is distant, you will live guarded.
• If you believe God is conditional, you will live performing.
• If you believe God is easily disappointed, you will live apologizing.
• If you believe God is waiting for you to fail, you will live bracing.
  But if you begin to believe that God is steadfast…you may finally allow yourself to be honest.
  To be present.
  To be in process without shame.
  
  Closing
• God says:
  “How can I give you up?”
  And maybe for the first time, instead of explaining it away…or minimizing it…you let that
  question sit.
  Not as pressure.
  But as truth.

God is not trying to leave you.
He is not counting you out.
He is not waiting for you to do that unthinkable thing to withdraw His presence.
He is revealing, even now…why He won’t

Final Invitation
So today…you don’t have to fix everything.
You don’t have to resolve everything.
You don’t have to become everything.
Because some of us have been carrying the quiet pressure to finally get it right.
To finally be consistent enough…disciplined enough…healed enough…good enough

But what if…
What if God was never waiting for a better version of you to choose?
What if…

He’s been choosing you all along?
Not the polished, pulled-together you, but the…
You with the past.
You with the trauma.
You with the divorce.
You with the doubt.
You with the drama.
You with the illnesses.
You with the anger.
You with the insecurity.
You with the mistakes…

Some of them repeated.
And somehow…
This is the version of you that God keeps choosing. EVEN NOW!