Reflections on Valleys in Troubled Times

Because of this week's unrest, we weren't able to have church at our normal place today with everyone, so our church met in various places around Bahrain in people's homes.  Our flat was one of the gathering spots, and we had a couple people come.  It was a good time of worship, reading scripture and praying.  


The Valleys  We looked at a few verses from the Bible about the valleys - the difficult spots in our lives - and our response to those.  One of those verses came from Joshua 7:26 - "Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor [trouble] ever since."  This verse ends the story of Achan, who stole gold that was intended to be given to God.  The valley itself was named the "Valley of Trouble" as a reminder of what happened to God's people that day. 


Hosea's Take Fast forward to Hosea's time, a prophet who prophesied during the Northern Kingdom of Israel's troubled times.  They had turned away from God.  They were worshiping idols.  God is calling them back, and all of chapter 2 of Hosea is God's warning of punishment for deserting God, but a promise from God that He will allure them:

¹⁴"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
   and bring her into the wilderness,
   and speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵And there I will give her her vineyards
   and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
   as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

We also looked at Psalm 23:1-4

¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
   for his name’s sake.
⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
   I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
   your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.

There are lots of applications that we could take from these passages, but we made a couple of observations and applications, particularly in light of our current situation in Bahrain.

Our Responsibility  There are two things we picked out from Psalm 23.  First, we don't hide from Valleys.  We shouldn't be paralyzed.  We shouldn't rush through them.  We are to walk through them.  And as we walk through them, our Shepherd walks with us. Second, we fear no evil.  Why?  Because our Father is with us.  Of course, Psalm 23 does not promise to be delivered from the Valley - only that God's rod and staff will be a comfort to us.

When Are We Done?  The Coombridges, who were with us today, did an across-Europe bike trip this summer.  As they went over hills and through valleys, they sometimes just thought they needed to make it over the hill to get out of a valley.  When they got to the top of the valley, they found that there was still more to go.  Often we can't see the end.  But God  promises that there is hope.

Dependence on Christ  The Valley of Achor became the door of hope that God brought his people through.  What hope do we have in this situation?  At the very least - and most important - we have the hope of Christ.  Whatever happens in this world, whatever happens in Bahrain, this valley pushes us to depend on Christ.  Scripture never promises that children of God will have an easy life.  In fact, God promises trouble.  But whatever trouble we face, our hope is Christ.

One of the songs we sang was Matt Redman's "You Never Let Go".  A very powerful song.  Enjoy.

Relfections in Psalm 91

(A guest post from Alison - who I wish would write more guests posts and become a regular poster).

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust.”

 ³ Surely he will save you
   from the fowler’s snare
   and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
   and under his wings you will find refuge;
   his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
   nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
   nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
   ten thousand at your right hand,
   but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
   and see the punishment of the wicked.
 ⁹ If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,”
   and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you,
   no disaster will come near your tent.
¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
   to guard you in all your ways;
¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
   you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
 ¹⁴ “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call on me, and I will answer him;
   I will be with him in trouble,
   I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life I will satisfy him
   and show him my salvation.”

This week has been filled with a lot of uncertainty in Bahrain.  Earlier, Josh and I sat down together to pray for the village behind our flat and afterwards we read this Psalm together.  This psalm has been meaningful me in many different situations and stages of life, and no less today. 

On days when terrors by night and arrows by day seem a little closer to home than usual, what a comfort to know that God is still absolute monarch over all the happenings of people.  I don’t interpret this psalm to mean that God will always spare me from every discomfort, disease, or even death.  But I do find refuge in the fact that God sees all the perils that come near me, and that no stone is allowed to dash against my foot but that an impenetrable God has allowed it to according to His good will. 

I am also reminded in this psalm of the Jesus, the great King who rules with all authority and power over kings of this world.  How his deliverance from the destruction of sin is complete and unending for those who make him their refuge.  I’m grateful in knowing that by calling on his name, he satisfies me with eternal life and shows me his salvation. 

My Own Personal National Anthem.

Alison's words, not mine.  But true none the less.

#UniteBH Video

Below is a video put together that encourages people to see Bahrain as united, and encourages Bahrain to be united.  Its well done, and I thought I would share it.  For the record, I have no idea what the "#" stands for - I think it's some sort of twitter deal.  Someone can fill me in.

Thoughts on the Protests: News Sources

It has been 11 days since the first protests started on February 13.  A lot has happened.  Lots of new experiences, emotions and decisions that have to be made.  I've been reading "1776" by David McCullough recently, a book about George Washington's first year leading his army in the American Revolution.  I've been a little taken aback in how I've responded to some of the events - things I never would have responded to before. So I thought I'd put together some of the thoughts I've had over the last week and a half.  This first one is specifically about where we've been getting our news from.

My Facebook news feed is literally my news feed:  Things happen and change so fast - and the mainstream media doesn't keep up.  I found that CNN, the BBC and the NY Times were always about 12-18 hours behind.  Therefore, to check the news, I first went to Facebook and checked status updates, and the pictures and links that people posted.  It was on Facebook that I learned about the tanks rolling towards the Pearl Roundabout - about an hour after it actually happened (someone had uploaded it to YouTube).  Eventually, Al Jazeera (out of Qatar) started a live blog that was pretty up to date (though they've since shut that down and focused their reporting on Libya)

Even though the military has pulled out, there have been large demonstrations (both pro-government and pro-reform) and so I often check Facebook to see if/when protests are happening.  Even tonight, before we went to the mall for a coffee and a stroll, I posted a status update asking if anyone had any pertinent information on traffic and protests.  Not 5 minutes after I posted, I received a call from a friend who updated me on the security report he gets from his company.

I still check the news networks, though I find their articles a little tedious (often the first paragraph or two is the "new" news, and the rest is background).  They are great if you don't live here, but since I do, much of the background information is kind of like me picking up a book and the book starting out with the ABC's.  Its also been interesting to see how they portray the island. Here are some of the things I've noticed:

1. Pearl Roundabout:  The BBC, NY Times and CNN just can't get away from calling it the Pearl "Square".  It's not a square in the sense that it's a natural place where people congregate.  It's a big roundabout with a monument in the middle.  Until the last week and a half, I've never seen more than three or four people standing there.  I'm trying to decide if they still don't know its not a square, they now now after making a mistake but don't want to look stupid, call it a square to make the connection to Tahir Square (in Egypt), or have decided that it is now functioning like a square.  
2. Population:  News sources are still saying that Bahrain has a population of about 750,000-800,000.  Those reporters are still getting their information from the out-of-date CIA world fact book.  In the last year or so, the government has admitted that there are about 1.1 million people here, and only 500,000-600,000 are Bahrainis (a sore point for many as there his a relatively high unemployment rate among young men). 

I imagine that a lot of the observations about outside news organizations are commonly found in any situation. People in Egypt and Libya are undoubtedly thinking similar things.  And I think that the reporting is a necessary way to break down a very complex situation into pieces that are easily digestible (I have found CNN's similarly formatted reporting of the Wisconsin demonstrations particularly helpful).  Really, correcting the reporters makes me feel intellectual.