“We’re ready to study God, eager for God-knowledge. As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is his daily arrival. He comes as rain comes, as spring rain refreshing the ground.” -Hosea 6:3

When I read this, it was this phrase that just exploded with beauty: As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is His daily arrival. WOW! What an incredible promise. We know that the sun will rise every single morning. That is CERTAIN. And just as surely as we know that, we can also know that God is present with His people every single day. There won’t ever be a day when you wake up, say good morning to the Lord, and get an “out of office” reply. If you’re awake, which means you’ve been given the gift of a new day, then just as sure as you’re awake, God is there with you. As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is His daily arrival. 

In case you don’t know much about this unique and fascinating book of Hosea, here’s a little background info. Hosea was a prophet during the reign of a terrible king who led Israel into unrecoverable tumult. Hosea knew that Israel would soon be conquered by the Assyrians. The book of Hosea tells the story of Hosea’s broken marriage. His wife, Gomer, committed adultery. Even though Gomer was the one who was unfaithful, God told Hosea to pay off debts Gomer owed to other former lovers. Not only that, God instructed Hosea to recommit to Gomer despite the way she had treated him. 

This story of Hosea and Gomer is symbolic of God’s relationship with His people—Israel. God was a bit like a faithful husband to Israel after freeing the nation from slavery in Egypt, and all He asked was that they be faithful to Him alone. But they were not. They turned from His laws and His way, choosing to be loyal to their own desires instead of God’s commands. (And, of course, God’s commands had the Israelites’ very best interests in mind!) 

But despite the people living in disobedience, God remained faithful to them. He continued to pursue them and bring them back into relationship with Him. Just like He instructed Hosea to be merciful, gracious, generous and forgiving to Gomer, God welcomed the Israelites back again and again and again.

If you think the symbolism only relates to the Israelites of long ago, think again! As God’s children, we find ourselves directly in the middle of this story even today. God wants to live in a covenant relationship with YOU! But as a human, you (and I) fall short of full and faithful loyalty to Him countless times every single day. God keeps His arms open, though. You can always return into His loving embrace. He stays faithful even when you are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13). 

 So where does Hosea 6:3 fall within the scandalous storyline? Well, here are my Bible’s chapter/section headings: 

• Hosea 1: Hosea’s Wife and Children
• Hosea 2: Israel Punished and Restored
• Hosea 3: Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife
• Hosea 4: The Charge Against Israel
• Hosea 5: Judgment Against Israel
• Hosea 6: Israel Unrepentant 

Now let me remind you of the verse: 

“We’re ready to study God, eager for God-knowledge. As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is his daily arrival. He comes as rain comes, as spring rain refreshing the ground.” -Hosea 6:3

At this point in the story, Israel is talking about repenting and turning back to God, but based on the chapter heading, we can see that the people’s hearts are not actually fully ready to wholeheartedly commit and surrender to God. Even so, they clearly recognize the fact that God will always be there waiting for them when they return to Him. It seems that they know He is there—daily!—watching over them, staying near and standing at the ready for when they finally decide to truly repent. 

What an undeserved comfort we get to live with, knowing that even when we spend minutes, hours, days, weeks or longer periods of time turned away from Jesus, doing our own thing, He still appears daily. As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is His daily arrival. When you feel far from Him, or when you think you’ve messed up so much that surely God is keeping some distance from you, read this verse. If the sun came up this morning, then the Lord is also up. If you look for Him and call out to Him, He is there!

“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” -Hosea 6:3