Making the Valley of Weeping into a Well

For those who weep...

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. — Psalm 84:5-6

At some point, we must all pass through the Valley of Baca.

There is some debate about what the word Baca actually means. Suffice it to say that the thrust of these Scriptures is that what would otherwise be an unpleasant and treacherous place to be, is transformed by a special provision, and a soul is made happy (blessed). Many would travel through arid valleys to Jerusalem to worship in the "Courts of the Lord" (Psalm 84:2). They would rejoice along the way to see that at times these terrible places to tread were transformed by a special blessing from above — rain. A place that would otherwise be cause for weeping and concern became a place for joy, peace, and abundance.

Life comes in seasons of joy, but also with seasons of grieving. In those moments, we are all easily tempted to things like despair, self-pity, and wrongfully charging God. And it would seem a lie if I said that such feelings are not at least in some way understandable. But the God of peace (Philippians 4:9) Who can grant us a divine ability to have peace that others cannot comprehend (Philippians 4:6) can by His grace cause us to be at peace with His providence. He can enable us to receive grief from His hand in the same way we accept joy from Him. In the midst of these times, He gives a special outpouring.

In that valley, the rain fills the pools, and we are strengthened by them. The place of distress becomes a place of special provision, a place where God's grace falls on us and the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

This is seen in the happy man in Psalm 84 whose strength is in the Lord and in whose heart are God's ways (Psalm 84:5). These dear people can pass through the valley of weeping and make it a well. They take full advantage of God's outpouring. As one writer said, "These indomitable souls can sing in the midst of sorrow and trace the rainbow through their tears."

Our God has equipped us to find a lively spring in what for many others would be a slough of despond. That's one pool. He can fill the heart with gratitude so that we can find the joy in who we lost to be greater than the grief of losing them. That's another pool. He can enables us to sorrow, but not as others who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). That's yet another.

All of these are the blessing of the pools we find. This is not to say we do not feel or suffer anguish. Rather, we find that by God's grace those feelings give way to a more personal understanding of God's loving-kindess as we pause in the valley, look up, and find another pool ("they go from strength to strength"). The pool He brings you to today will get you to the next one tomorrow, and the next, and so on.

In time, we then discover that our grief is a stewardship God has entrusted to us, not a chastisement. It is a gift we can later offer others who grieve (2 Corinthians 1:4-5). And it is a graduation in which our acquaintances with grief can make us more like the One who was acquainted with grief. Our sorrows can make the image of the Man of Sorrows shine forth brighter in us. And then we come forth as gold (Job 23:10). It is precisely when the touch of God hurts that I must revel in His mercies, for those mercies are the pools. And when passing through the valley of weeping, we can make it a well.