That’s right. He does. And I’m okay with that.
One part of the Merriam Webster definition defines Ghetto as such:
2. a situation that resembles a ghetto especially in conferring inferior status or limiting opportunity
Hosea 10:12-15 (New International Version)
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes
and showers righteousness on you.13 But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,
you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated—
as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.15 Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
My wife and I have been going through some very trying financial times since the end of 2008. We made poor decisions and were not focused on God at all. We thought we were, but very clearly, we had put material possessions on a pedestal far above God.
Never so clearly has a verse described the way we were living:
13 But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,
you have eaten the fruit of deception.
Nadine and I lived outside of our means for the first 4 years of our marriage. We planted material wants and desires above our want and desire to be close to God. We thought we had “put God” first in our marriage, but that was very clearly not the case.
Because God loves us, he was gracious and patient. We were slowly waking up to a true desire to put God first. Slowly, it was revealed to us what kind of fruit we were planting and that the “evil” harvest was about to be upon us. The “fruit of deception,” a material lifestyle was what we had planted and it was about to come crashing down.
I said God loves us. He does.
As we struggled with our human nature and God waited for us to return, He continued to provide. Somehow, His math worked, and we were able to pay our bills, keep food on the table, etc. We made it through 2009. We had glimpsed God, but were not fully ready to turn back to him.
Our son Tacen was born on December 16, 2009. He spent almost 4 extra days in the hospital because they “thought” he might be getting sick. It was a very stressful and trying time for Nadine and I both. Just a few weeks later at the end of January, Tacen was hospitalized again for 4 days as he battled RSV.
Not only were Nadine and I dealing with financial stress and health stress, we were both battling personal issues we had not given up to God or to each other. I was also dealing with health issues myself.
We look back now knowing things were extremely close to “breaking us and our marriage.”
Have I mentioned God loves us? That he is gracious?
God called. By his grace, we answered. Nadine and I have renewed our committment to God and his plan for our lives and our family.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD,
until he comes
and showers righteousness on you.
We have finally planted the right crop. We have put God first in our lives, before even each other. It has saved ourselves, our marriage and our family.
So what does this have to do with the Ghetto?
Being on the right path, God’s chosen path is difficult. He has provided for us so that we can learn from our mistakes and work through life’s storms relying on him. Now that Nadine and I are in the right place with God, it is time to reap our harvest.
We need to deal with the consequences of our planting, and that means we are in for tough financial times. We are looking at having to file bankruptcy and it’s possible, and highly likely, we will lose our house. We have to learn to live on my meager income with 4 people and make it work.
That means living with less. Less house. Less luxuries. Less amenities. Less material goods.
According to the world’s standards (which got us into this mess to begin with), we are reducing ourselves to living in the Ghetto. . . and we are okay with that.
God first. Family. The Rest.
Nadine and I are happy with God’s path for our lives. We know this road will be more difficult than anything we’ve faced so far. God is with us, and that is a very, very good thing.
