Author Archives: Valerie Hobbs

The Business of Seeing, The Work of Asking

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:13-14 When God raised us from death in sin to life in Christ, He gave us new eyes (Matt. 13:16-17). ButContinue reading “The Business of Seeing, The Work of Asking”

Heights of Earth, Heights of Heaven

Perhaps one of the reasons that God allows so much time to pass between the last book of the Old Testament (Malachi, written in the 400s B.C.) and the first events of the New Testament is because God’s people needed to feel fully the weight of waiting. And as we know, what God had inContinue reading “Heights of Earth, Heights of Heaven”

High Places

Repetition is God’s signposting. Sometimes it takes me a while to spot a pattern, but then God brings it up again. And again. And again. I’ve said it before, but this textual maneuver means God wants us to do the work of asking Him to reveal what He is saying. And IF I’ve been payingContinue reading “High Places”

The Weight of Waiting

“When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house, 34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave toContinue reading “The Weight of Waiting”

Names and No Names

Bible readers have at times wrestled with anxious thoughts about the presence of so many unnamed people in the Bible. Why is Noah named but not his wife? Why doesn’t God give us the name of the Levite’s concubine? Who are the widows in the books of Kings? What is the name of the womanContinue reading “Names and No Names”

Naomi and the Shunammite Woman

It’s easy to forget the rest and relief of Ruth when you’re knee-deep in all of the violence and betrayal in the books of Samuel and Kings. Reading these books is like traveling through an immense desert, surviving spring to spring. And yet, 2 Kings offers us Ruth again, just when we need it. Or,Continue reading “Naomi and the Shunammite Woman”

Saul and the Lost Donkeys

Saul was never the king Israel needed, and the clues begin, quite powerfully, at the very moment he pops onto the scene. And the first piece of bad news is Saul’s father, Kish (1 Sam 9:1-2). Though some think that the name Kish means ‘bow’ or ‘power’, more convincing is evidence that the name comesContinue reading “Saul and the Lost Donkeys”

Women, Men, and the Principle of Proportion

When it comes to the Bible, bigger and more prominent is not always better. For example, it’s a mistake to think that because women don’t appear as often as men in the Old Testament, they are less important in God’s story of redemption. I heard a Biblical Studies scholar say disdainfully some years ago thatContinue reading “Women, Men, and the Principle of Proportion”

Naaman and Gehazi

The story of the servant girl and Naaman in 2 Kings 5 is particularly important to me. A few years ago, my mentor and friend Bill Dennison wrote a sermon* about this story when I was feeling altogether LOW. When I needed Bill in my life, God brought me Bill. And Bill taught me howContinue reading “Naaman and Gehazi”