Walk Reclaimed
Door of Hope
Sometimes it feels like God has completely deserted us, if he was ever there at all. There is a passage in Hosea that reminds us there is hope because God is a God of redemption and restoration.
Hosea wrote about the nation of Israel as God's bride who has been unfaithful to Him, and in the second chapter God is warning his people of the punishment to come. But, after describing the pain that will come he tells how he will bring them into hope.
Valley of Achor
The word Achor means trouble. God would make the valley of trouble into the door leading to hope. I had often thought of how God could take me out of trouble, but here is something much greater. He doesn't deliver us from trouble as though it were an accident. No, he uses the trouble itself to bring us into the land of hope. That was a powerful realization. I no longer had to think of how to avoid trouble; I simply needed to trust my Lord to redeem the situation.
It gets even better when we look at how the valley of Achor got its name. The seventh chapter of Joshua describes how Joshua led the people against Jericho. God promised them a great victory, but he also commanded them to take no spoils, everything was to be destroyed. One man, Achan, disobeyed and brought punishment on the whole nation. This man was put to death, along with his entire family. Their bodies and all their possessions were dumped in the valley and a huge pile of rocks was placed over them. This valley was named the Valley of Achor, the valley of trouble. Think about that for a moment. The Valley of Achor isn't just a place of trouble, but it is a place of trouble we bring on ourselves through our own rebellion and sin, or even those caused by the sins of others. It is one thing to believe that God might rescue us from problems, but here he tells us that he will use those very problems as the passageway into hope. Regardless of whether those problems were caused by our own actions or someone else's, God can use them to restore us and give us hope.
Conclusion
God is a God of redemption. He buys back and restores what was his, both for our good and his glory. We don't deserve his grace; we can not earn it so he freely gives it. When we have problems, even problems we caused ourselves, we shouldn't sink into the self pity that comes with guilt. Rather we should lean on him and trust him to use all that happens for his glory. Rather than dwell on how and why thing have happened, we should look to him to bring us to a place of hope. Rather than lament the darkness, we can look forward to the certainty of dawn.