Thought of the day – Thursday 6th August 2020
I’m not sure where you’re finding hope, optimism and positivity in the current crisis, but sometimes it can be found in the most unlikely places. In the book of Joshua in the Bible, there’s a story about a man called Achan. In his story, there’s a place that the Israelites are taken to, called the Valley of Achor, where an awful event takes place. There is death and destruction and despair. Achor means ‘trouble’. So this place is literally called ‘the Valley of Trouble’.
In the book of Joshua it says it was known as the Valley of Achor evermore. It doesn’t seem like there’s any hope. It doesn’t seem like there’s any way out of that darkness. It says that the Israelites took stones and rocks and piled them up almost as some kind of reminder for eternity that this was a place that would be forever defined by the really terrible things that happen there.
But there is hope. Later on in the Bible when we hear from some of the prophets, there are a couple of verses that mention the Valley of Achor once again. Firstly, the prophet Isaiah writes and says the Valley of Achor will become a ‘resting place for the herds and for all of God’s people that seek Him’. In the book of Hosea it goes further. The prophet says that God will transform the Valley of Achor ‘into a door of hope’. This specific location that seemed like it was going to be forever marked with death, destruction and despair becomes instead a door of hope. It’s incredible isn’t it, that even the places which seem the most hopeless can become ‘hope full’?
As Christians, we are called to a deeper kind of hope. A hope that places and spaces can be transformed completely. That times of complete despair can eventually become times of joy. My hope is that now is one of those times, and I’m thankful that God is a God of transformation. That this time, currently defined by death, disruption and destruction can lead to a time of renewed joy, hope and flourishing for all.
Thanks to Josh Hunt – Felixstowe Local schools Chaplain