My Own Valley of Trouble

I'm still pondering the implications of the connections between the Valley of Achor in Joshua 7 and the Valley of Achor in Hosea 2 (see my previous post, "The Valley of Trouble."). I'm so grateful for seeing this glorious hope this morning. My friend Julie had simply made a remark about the sobering punishment for sin in Joshua 7, and the Holy Spirit connected it like a lightning bolt to Hosea 2 in my heart, and I've been awash in the revelation of mercy ever since.

I've been in "the valley of trouble" the last couple weeks. It's largely been an internal struggle, probably hidden from everyone except those closest to me, but it has been very hard. I'm still dealing with the fallout of my senior seminar class on the New Perspective on Paul from last semester, and feverishly working and praying to reestablish the precious truth of justification that somehow got dislodged in my heart. On top of that, as the job market has continued to deteriorate and my job prospects for next year have remained bleak, I've been struggling with doubt and fear and worry about the future. That's a very unusual struggle for me (not because of any particular godliness, but just because I'm generally a laid back dude), and it demonstrates the depth of the weakness that I'm dealing with in my heart. Those two two trials cascading through my life culminated last night with a heart-wrenching argument with my fiancee. So to put it mildly, I was really hurting this morning.

And that's why this connection has been so sweet to see. I'm right smack dab in the middle of my own valley of trouble, much of it brought about by my own sin (just like Achan), and there was not a whole lot of hope to be seen this morning. But the Holy Spirit came blasting into the darkness with this revelation this morning: God transforms the valley of trouble into the door of hope. It was precious, much needed encouragement.

And then, a few minutes after God revealed from His Word that He remakes the valley of trouble into the door of hope, He revealed that in my life. An email came from the Christian school that I had applied to work at but hadn't heard from in over a month-- saying that positions were open and that they wanted to set up an interview. Right in the middle of the Student Union, I sat at my table and cried. God had just opened a door of hope in my valley of trouble. I'm so thankful for His grace.