Valley Of Weeping

Sounds kind of ominous, doesn’t it?

The title actually comes from a portion of Psalm 84, the Valley of ‘Baca’ or weeping.

The NLT says it like this,

“When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs.  The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.  They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.”

Today I felt really crushed with exhaustion.  It was a long, rough day.  Gabe (our 6 year old) woke us up repeatedly last night.  He has anxiety and gets scared.  He’ll often end up sleeping next to our bed just so we can all get some sleep!  Then this morning he was crying when I was helping him get his socks on.  Why?  Because he ankles are so inflamed and scabby and oozy with eczema that his socks get painfully stuck every day.

When I was treating him last night I told him to not worry, that we wouldn’t give up on trying to get him healed.  He looked at me with his big brown eyes and said, “but what if you did give up?”  I assured him, tears in eyes, that we are his parents and giving up is not an option!

I think about the heart of a parent.  How our hearts ache for our kids when they are suffering.  How we share their joy (probably 5 fold) when they triumph.  It is very reasurring to me that God refers to himelf as our Heavenly Father.  He aches with us when we hurt and he cheers when we overcome.

Going through the valley of weeping is part of life.  We all have heartaches and private pain.  We all struggle.  But it is in those places that God wants us to find our strength.  Those places become springs of blessings to us.  Those places lead us to God himself.  Those places make or break us.  It’s where the rubber meets the road.

But I know in whom I have believed.  I believe in a God that heals.  I believe in a God that weaves all the broken pieces together into a beautiful tapestry.  Often we just can’t see it at the time.  It just looks like a mess.

The pain does remind us that this isn’t our home.  The pain helps us to sharpen our focus and reset our priorities.

The Bible promises, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” Psalm 126:5

And also that, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Cor. 4:17

God is doing something glorious, something eternal.  The good will far outweigh the bad.

My husband told me once that if we knew all the answers from the beginning we wouldn’t need trust.  So we do trust, even without the answers, because our God is trustworthy, in control, and GOOD.