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.

Responding to Bad News

Today, my fiancee Sarah got word that her grandmother was diagnosed with advanced esophageal cancer, and has been given just a few months to live.  She had been having trouble swallowing and eating, and had a few tests done-- and got back the alarming and unexpected results.  It has been a rough month for Sarah's family, as well as a time of uncertainty for my family.  Her dad is going through chemo for colon cancer, and her other grandmother is struggling with declining health and mental faculties.  My dad will be getting back MRI results tomorrow after undergoing tests to figure out the cause of some muscle issues.

In light of all of that, how am I supposed to respond to bad news when it inevitably comes?  And it is inevitable-- Jesus promised as much: "In this world you will have trouble."  Yet even so, He also said that He has overcome the world-- so how should that influence our response to tragedy and bad or unexpected news?  I'm absolutely by no means an expert on suffering-- compared to even the normal tragedies of life, I have led an incredibly sheltered existence-- but I want to know what Scripture has to say on the subject, so that I will be prepared with an anchor deeply rooted in truth when the storms come.  So here are my thoughts, from Scripture, on a biblical response to bad news:

1) Don't be afraid of bad news, because God is worth trusting in  ~Psalm 112:6-7
          For the righteous will never be moved;
               he will be remembered forever.
          He is not afraid of bad news;
               his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.

Oh, that I would live this out-- to never fear bad news, because God is a trustworthy and firm foundation!  His sovereignty is my assurance, His mercy is my plea, His love is my hope.

2) Grieve with Gospel-centered, hopeful grief  ~1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
          We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep.

I want the Gospel to be driven so deeply into my heart that when tragedy or heartache comes, my natural response is Gospel-centered hope.  That's going to take some more significant construction work by the Holy Spirit.

3) Cling to the absolute sovereignty of God  ~Deuteronomy 32:39
          See now that I, even I, am He,
               and there is no god beside Me;
          I kill and I make alive;
               I wound and I heal;
               and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

In the midst of blinding pain, the greatest hope I can imagine is that even in the midst of that, there is no one who can deliver me out of the hand of my sovereign God who is directing my pain for His glory and my good.

4) Comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received  ~2 Corinthians 1:3-5
          Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

The comfort that God extends to us in the Gospel is not meant to stay with us; God uses our sufferings to make us conduits of grace to others in similar trials.

Another quote about sovereignty and suffering

C.S. Lewis from The Problem With Pain:

"My own experience is something like this.  I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends... or a bit of work that tickles my vanity... when suddenly a... headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down.  At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys.  Then, slowly and reluctantly... I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times.  I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that... my only real treasure is Christ."

Amen.