If you’ve had a chat with me about Christian fiction, then you know I rate Francine Rivers highly. I was introduced to Francine Rivers by Taiwo (aka Rabbit, the boy really does look like a rabbit) during uni days. He had read An Echo in the Darkness and said I’d love it. He lent me the book, I read it and afterwards consumed everything Francine Rivers had written that I could lay my precious hands on. I do not remember the exact year I read Redeeming Love but it stayed with me as a powerful story of God’s love towards us.

Now, before reading Redeeming Love, I knew Hosea as a prophet and Hosea 4:6, I’m going to keep it real here, that was all I knew. I knew nothing about Gomer, and until the end of the book, I didn’t know it was a retelling of the story of Hosea. As I mentioned, I was on a mission to read every Francine Rivers book I could come across so I did not take time out to meditate on the beauty of the story.

I’ve read Redeeming Love about 5 times since I first read it, most recently in Q1/Q2 this year. It was different this time, I cried a lot while reading it because my eyes were opened to lessons I had missed earlier. The obedience of Michael, his unwavering faith and trust in God, his deep and sincere love and desire for God. Oh, his love for his bride! His crazy crazy love for Angel -dirty sin-filled Angel. Michael’s love for Angel mirrors God’s love towards us, no matter how many times we sin or depart from His ways, he still reaches out to us, he still calls out to us, when we stray from his presence and get consumed by the things of the world, he comes to rescue us, he never stops loving us; he rejoices when we come back to him (Luke 15:1-7).

I always considered Angel to be stubborn and too difficult to love but as I watched the film adaption yesterday, I understood, I got it. From childhood, she only knew rejection and transactional desire, it finally made sense to me why she couldn’t understand Michael’s show of unconditional love towards her. That level of love was unfamiliar to her, it was unimaginable. I also always blamed her for what happened with Paul, but I realised it was not on her, that was the only way she knew.

As I watched the movie, I finally understood it, I got it. I saw what God sees in me, I had a better understanding of my journey with God (I’ll journal about this and/or shed more light on this in the periodic newsletter I share with my friends).

My favourite part of the story has always been Angel giving Michael the gift of her name and what the name meant. God is a God of miracles. Our God is an intentional and deliberate God.

P.S. Redeeming Love is currently streaming on Showmax.

P.P.S. It’s a little over 2 hours long but please stick with it.🥹