Our pastor is preaching from the book of Hosea. Sunday night, we were in chapter 2 where it talks about the valley of trouble (Achor) and the door of hope. What a wonderful picture! I read back over the passage and read through a commentary on this passage of Scripture. The Valley of Achor is where Achan was stoned for his sin in the camp. He troubled Israel, so God troubled him there. Israel struggled with their obedience to God for many years, and God in His great mercy continued to guide them...through their great trouble. Their trouble came when they looked to other gods and sought to do things their way. Time and time again, God had to bring them to a breaking point. God sent leaders to lead, to rebuke, and to intercede for the children of Israel. Hosea, the prophet, was called upon to do just that.
Sometimes the valleys of trouble are a result of sin.
Other times, the valleys are for our good! To humble us, to point others to Christ, to bring God glory, and to cause us to lean upon Him...knowing He is in complete control. "My Lord knows the way through the wilderness!" He knows each mountain, desert, and valley...He put them there! "All I have to do is follow."
The children of Israel had the hope of the Promised Land...a land flowing with milk and honey. They lost sight of that promise and turned to idolatry...yet again. How often we lose sight of what God has for us...just as the children of Israel did!
"God will by His gospel give to all believers such gifts, graces, and comforts in this life, as shall be a taste of those more perfect good things of the kingdom of Heaven, and shall give them as assured hope of a full possession of them in due time. " Dr. Pocock quoted in Matthew Henry's Commentary of the Bible.
God's grace was demonstrated many years ago to me, when I opened my heart's door. He has continued to give grace and mercy ever since!
So many doors in our lives...some open and some close. I am thankful for the closed doors...they have brought peace and protection...and in some cases, great relief! Closed doors keep things or people inside (or outside) of a space. Doors give privacy and security.
And an open door...to me is an offering of hope!
A hope of who we will meet as we go beyond the door, a hope of what event takes place on the other side of the threshhold, a hope of where the door allows us to go...
Hosea did what God wanted him to do, in the way God wanted him to do it, and he trusted God for the outcome. He took Gomer for a wife to show the mercy and forgiveness of a righteous God toward His chosen people. "...the valley of Achor for a door of hope..."
I am comforted by that phrase...simple as it is!
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