A Door of Hope

“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.  There I will give her back her vineyards and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.”  (Hosea 2:14-15)

My family lived in Amarillo, Texas for a few years.  The dry, dusty land felt barren to me, and the lack of lush green landscapes to which I was accustomed in Tennessee left me feeling parched of spirit.  It was a desert of sorts for my family both literally and figuratively.  Being a caregiver can feel like such a desert.  It is a lonely place where only the ones who have walked a similar path can begin to comprehend the barrenness.  Only those who have been caregivers can grasp the weariness and starvation for fountains of fellowship that seem to dry up as life’s challenges intensify.  I realized in my desert that my fountain of fellowship was not with friends and family, but with God.  God had been alluring me.  God had led me into the desert to speak tenderly to me in ways that no friend or family member could.  God has made my Valley of Achor, that place of pain and loneliness, the door of my hope.  The question is not why you are in this place of pain and loneliness, but what hope is God giving you in the valley?  Only then can one find peace and comfort, not from man, but true peace and comfort from God.

Draw me near to you, Lord, to find my hope in you and my peace in you.  In You, alone, there are springs of peace and joy in all circumstances, in the driest of deserts.  You are there calling my name waiting to reveal these things to me.  Thank, you Lord Jesus.  I praise Your Holy Name!