Passing Through the Valley of Baca

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

in whose heart are the highways to Zion.   

As they go through the Valley of Baca

they make it a place of springs;

the early rain also covers it with pools.

-- Psalm 84:5-6

This has been a busy week.  I have to burn a bunch of vacation time before the end of the year.  I can only carry over forty hours.  It would have been hard to imagine on some jobs I have had that I would have trouble finding time to take time off.  I am working extra hours this week, trying to get everything done so I won’t have to work on my vacation days over Christmas.  It seems kind of stupid, but such is my world these days. 

As much, sometimes, as life may seem to be a drudge, it is a pilgrimage with a glorious terminus.  The way to that destination lies within each of us.  In John 14:5, Thomas asks, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus insisted that they did indeed know the way – not only the Way, but the Truth and the Life as well (v. 6). 

The highway that leads to Zion is in our hearts, and though the path is close at hand, the journey is not an easy one for it passes through the Valley of Baca – the vale of tears.  Weeping comes with the territory, true enough; nevertheless, our tears do not fall in vain.  As they soak into the thirsty ground, they seek the like that lies below.  Where you have had to stop and sob, a spring bubbles forth.  The dry road you trod is, behind you, well-watered and lush. 

I think that family and friends can lead us by the known paths to a point.  There are plenty of waterholes until we get to where we must go on alone.  We may find the way on easier because we are sustained by springs where others have suffered.  Perhaps the same will be true of those who follow us.