Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring...
While most of you were at Alliance Redwoods for the Young People's Retreat this past weekend, I also got to go to a retreat at a place called Shennendoah Springs, in Virginia, for the College Retreat.
The topic was: "Lord, we love Your dwelling place," and most of the weekend was spent on Psalm 84. It was so enjoyable...but I'll share what I most enjoyed to keep this short (and so I hope more will read) ;)
Psalm 84:5-6
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion. Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring; Indeed the early rain covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength; Each appears before God in Zion"
Baca means weeping. In the church life, we may pass through the valley of weeping, but we can cause this valley to become a well, even a place a springs. The verse says, "Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring." Who is the "they"? "They" are the ones who are passing through the valley of Baca...passing through valleys of weeping. There will be times when we weep and suffer...but it's up to us when we pass through these times to make it a spring.
The verse says, "They _make_ it a spring." What does that mean? It means that the valley of Baca is still there...they are still passing through it...but as they pass through it, they can choose to allow it to remain a valley of weeping, or they can choose to _make_ it a spring.
At those times, it is up to us to chose to make it stay a valley of Baca or to make it a spring...it depends on our attitude.
If we choose to remain in the House of God...to remain in the reality of Zion, which is our spirit...if we make that fundamental decision that no matter what happens...we choose, we seek, to dwell in the house of Jehovah all the length of our days...then we can _make_ our valleys of weeping into a spring...and "indeed the early rain covers it with blessings."
The "early rain" signifies the Spirit, Who will bless us with the bountiful supply...through the petitioning/prayers of the saints/Body...if we remain in our spirit, in the dwelling place of God, in the house of Jehovah...the Spirit as the "early rain" will cover our valleys of Baca, our valleys of sorrow and weeping...will be covered with blessings...and we will go from strength to strength...we will go not from our strength, but from the Lord's...
The Lord is really intensifying His work in each one of us. And as a result, Satan is also intensifying His attacks on each one of us. May we learn to take it step by step, moment by moment, day by day...forgetting the things which are behind...not just last week or yesterday, but even 1 hour, 1 minute ago...forget the things which are behind...and stretch forward to the things which are before...to the All-Sufficient grace, the inexhaustable supply, the strength and source of our life....just to always exercise our will to turn to our spirit...to call on the Lord's name...to partake of the Lord as our feast in the presence of the enemy...
And may we remember to pray for one another, to stand with one another. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but it is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual foces of evil...
"Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand...by means of all prayer an petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverence and petition concerning all the saints..." (Eph. 6:12, 18)
Last, may we be encouraged: "Hence also He is able to save to the uttermost those who come foward to God through Him, since He lives always to interceded for them." (Heb. 7:25)
