Baca

“Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well,” Psalm 84:6. The Hebrew word Baca carries with it the idea of weeping and sorrow. “The valley of Baca” is a literal valley in the Holy Land; by way of application it is a valley of deep sorrow in a person’s life.

When Moses and Israel were poised to depart from Egypt, God said to Moses, “The land, whither ye go to process it, is a land of hills and valleys,” Deuteronomy 11:11. Wow! That’s life: always ups and downs, hills and valleys everywhere, hardly ever any level ground! Everywhere I go there are tales of sorrow and suffering. So many people are hurting: sickness and death, debilitating diseases and injuries, financial stresses, addictions, shattered dreams, marriages in deep trouble, injustices everywhere, a world in which political sanity seems to have gone away. No doubt many of you who read these lines have a sack full of stories. You know what it is to be in “the valley of Baca.”

There are always two ways to react to trouble. The more common way, even for Christians, is to gripe and complain. It is so easy to see nothing but the bad. Lots of people blame God and get mad at Him about where they are. They forget that all of the miseries and troubles that we face in this world were the decision of man, not God. God warned of the consequences of failure to live life His way; Adam didn’t listen. We are all caught up in the mix; we’re in a world of troubles. “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble,” Job 14:1. Look around. Like it or not, that is the way it is; no one can escape trouble. People who think they will get through their lives in only ease and comfort are dreamers, out of touch with reality. Griping and moaning doesn’t change a thing, but that’s how too many people do it.

Every now and then someone in “the valley of Baca” digs “a well.” Instead of continuously sucking on his thumb, he decides to do something positive. Yes, really! He decides to leave the pity party, and make a difference for the better. He knows that in time some other life traveler will pass through the same valley where he is. So, he digs a well. Maybe like blind Fanny Crosby, he writes, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long; this is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.” That’s not the only well she dug.

How refreshing it is to stop by an old well! Somebody was there, hurting with sorrow and full of tears just like you; but he left a well, a place where you can be encouraged and refreshed. Out of his necessity came a tool; out of his tears came a song or a book or a sermon that has touched the lives of countless weary travelers including you.

Are you digging wells? You are not the first person to pass through your valley, and you won’t be the last. Make the most of where you are. Don’t just sit around and cry; dig a well.