Tender Words in the Wilderness (A Christmas Devotional)

In the midst of life's struggles and uncertain seasons, we often find ourselves feeling lost, weary, and alone. But even in the wilderness, God speaks tenderly to our hearts. His words bring comfort, hope, and reassurance when we need them most. Just as He spoke to His people in the desert, offering encouragement and guidance, God continues to speak words of love and promise to us today. His gentle whispers remind us that we are never truly alone, and His presence is a refuge in every storm. 

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Full Transcript Below:

Tender Words in the Wilderness 

by Deidre Braley 

Hosea 2:14: Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 

In the book of Hosea, the Lord rebukes Israel for her idolatry—namely for chasing after other gods and forgetting her first love, and for forgetting that it was God who gave her every good thing she’d ever had. Her worship had been misplaced: she’d mistaken the worldly things around her as the source of goodness. 

God says, “She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil. I lavished gold and silver on her, which they used for Baal” (Hosea 2:8). As a consequence, he proclaims that he will take these gifts away, listing them one by one to show how forsaken Israel will be without her God. “I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord” (Hosea 2:13). 

As the shadows grow long on this year, I can’t help but reflect on all the Baals I’ve worshiped these past months, all the worldly things I’ve wandered towards, misunderstanding them to be the source of the riches and joys that I have and that I want. And yet even as I’ve gotten my fingers around them, they’ve turnt and spoiled. Like a carton of milk that is fine one day and sour the next, I am holding something that I once thought was good, but now know will make me sick if I consume it. 

What a terrible and frightening thing, to be left bowing and offering sacrifices to the fickle whims of man or chance. Here in the desert place, I repent of the lovers I’ve gone after this year, panting after praise or acclaim or worth or self. I long for my first love, here where I hold what I thought I wanted, only to discover it’s worth nothing at all without my Lord. 

I imagine this is how Israel felt, too—and perhaps there was no other way for them or for me to realize that we don’t like to be in the hands of that which never loved us nor provided for us. We have to experience the full and crushing weight of life without God before we can know that this is our worst fear—and our greatest heartache. 

But, hallelujah, God doesn’t leave us here. In Hosea, we see God’s mercy toward his people when he says, “Therefore, I am going to persuade her, lead her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her” (Hosea 2:14). He allows us to come to a place without him to understand that we were always meant to be with him, but then he doesn’t shake us or yell at us or slap us back into submission—no, it’s quite the opposite. He leads us into solitary places where he can speak

softly and tenderly to us, loving us as we’ve always longed to be loved until we remember that he is the Source and the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). 

Intersecting Faith & Life 

In this season of Advent, as we await the coming Christ, let’s each take an honest look at the Baals which we’ve worshiped and followed after this year—whether that’s the praise of man or financial gain or inflation of ego or the comfort of any substance. Let’s acknowledge the ways we’ve placed them before the Lord and then repent, turning around and allowing ourselves to be led back into the wilderness by our first love, by the One True Living God who is waiting to speak tenderly to us, to wash us in his mercy and grace. 

In this season of Advent, let us return to the Source and let him press balm to our tired and wounded spirits. Let’s come to rest in the security of his hand, allowing it to