The Valley of Trouble

In Joshua 7, the story of Achan is a cautionary tale about the consequences of sin.  Even though God commanded the Israelites to destroy every single thing in Jericho, Achan stole some of the silver and gold.  God punished the Israelites by giving them defeat at the hand of their enemies, and when it was found out that Achan was to blame, the consequences for him were even more severe:

"And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had.  And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor... and all Israel stoned him with stones.  They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones... Therefore to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor."

"Achor" means trouble.  They named the valley that because, as verse 25 says, Achan had brought trouble on them, and now God brought trouble back to Achan.  At first glance this seems like a very sobering story, and in many ways it is.  But God is not done with the Valley of Achor.  Hosea 2 describes God's ultimate plan for the valley of trouble:

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
And there I will give her her vineyards,
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope."

Isn't it just like God, to take the place where sin brought defeat and judgment and destruction, and turn that very place into a door of hope?  God is always turning the valley of trouble into a door of hope.  He did it with Achor, bringing hope out of trouble.  And we see it most clearly at the cross, where evil was subverted and destroyed and made to serve the infinitely good purpose of bringing many sons to glory.  John Piper writes, "At the all-important pivot of human history, the worst sin ever committed served to show the greatest glory of Christ and obtain the sin-conquering gift of God's grace.  God did not just overcome evil at the cross.  He made evil serve the overcoming of evil.  He made evil commit suicide in doing its worst evil."  This is the ultimate message of the Valley of Achor.

And I know that in my life, God frequently makes the valley the place of greatest fruitfulness.  Often, I think, He brings us into the valley of trouble for the express purpose of demonstrating that He is the One who brings hope from trouble and mercy from sin.