The valley of Achor is rooted in a defeat God’s people suffered as they attempted to possess the Promised Land.  After the miraculous victory at Jericho, a few thousand men went up to capture a tiny village called Ai.  But they were soundly defeated by the men of the village.  Joshua took it before the Lord, and discovered the defeat was because Achan had sinned by taking plunder from Jericho.  At God’s direction, they took Achan and his family and possessions to a valley, where they stoned them then burned them.  Achan had “troubled” Israel, and suffered “trouble” as a result.  So they named the valley “Achor,” which means “trouble.”

    Many years later, God sent Hosea to call a rebellious nation back to Himself.  In the words of the text, God promised He would give them “the valley of Achor for a door of hope.”  Simply stated, God was saying, “When trouble comes because of sin, I will make that trouble a doorway to come back to me.”

    This is still a wonderful promise for us today. 

    Not every trouble can be traced back to a specific sin which we have committed.  But all trouble is the result of sin in the world - our sin or the sins of others.  Time after time we go away from God, and suffer trouble because of it.  Our going away may be sudden, as we deliberately disobey God’s teaching.  Or it may be gradual, so that we hardly realize what has happened until we wake up one day and discover how far we are from the fellowship and joy and peace we once enjoyed.  But however it happens, the promise is there for us.  God offers to meet us in our trouble.  He offers a way back to Him.

    How is it that the valley of trouble can be a door of hope? 

    Perhaps it is because we are so self sufficient that we don’t recognize how far away from God we are, until the trouble comes.  Then we can begin to see clearly where we are and what it has cost us to get there.  It is in the valley of trouble, as we experience the difficulty, that we can determine to correct the situation through repentance, surrender, and prayer.  And when we do, we can walk through the door of hope into fresh fellowship, joy, and peace.

    “And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth.”  An old song for a new day of hope.