The Place of Tears

Psalm 84:6 "As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools."

The "Valley of Baca" actually means the "Valley of Weeping". It can also be translated as "Valley of the Balsam Tree" or "Valley of the Weeper". It produces a well of tears. We are all on the Journey of life, for some it is deep dark experience, for other’s, it is a shallow journey and well lit. We all start out on the same path, but the events that happen to us, determine what path we take, these events happen for a reason. 

I have been through many painful situations in my life but even at my worst, God was there. He never walks out. He never fails to return. He always give me the strength to keep going and wipe away my own tears. I have discovered along my journey that it's in the times of my deepest pain and greatest brokenness that I found myself face to face with a loving God.

When you feel alone, when you feel as if nobody cares or understands, please know that there is One who has seen everything you’ve been through. He has been there when you’ve experienced pain and rejection. He has seen the hurts you’ve faced. I cannot tell you why those things happened to us, but I do know there is a Heavenly Father who loves us and wants to heal our hearts. He loves you so much and wants you to bring all your hurts to Him, even if you can only bring your tears.

You may have a terrible experience or a painful trial, but once you're through it, you will see a beautiful rainbow that came from it. The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears. Those who sowed in tears will reap in joy. What was sown a tear will come up a pearl.

When you walk through the ‘Valley of Baca’, – a place of tears, a place of weeping and lamentation. When you are in the midst of all sufferings and all the unanswerable questions, if you keep believing and hoping in the Lord, knowing that He is the only source of comfort and He has a bright future in store for you –- the springs that well up in the valley will enable you to go from strength to strength. 

The Valley of Weeping can not become a pool of blessing until you stop focusing on the blessing and start appreciating the beauty of the Blesser. When intimate worship and fellowship with Him becomes your only destination, you'll find that blessings rain down along that path.

 

The good Shepherd leads his sheep through the valley of the shadow, first because it is the only way to the upper plains of fresh grass. As the shepherd leads the sheep through the valley to green pastures and still water, God will lead you through the valley of life to give you His best -- His ultimate Blessings. 

Sometimes the path God lays out before you goes straight through the valley, but you will cross it because God is with you. It's there, in the darkness of the valley, that you learn to walk by faith and not by sight. But no matter how dark the valley, somehow, some way, He will give you the strength to make it to the other side. The valley you are going through can lead you to higher ground.

 

God works in mysterious ways. His ways are not our ways. He can and will redeem your pain for your good and his glory. Even though you live in deep pain within where tears come one day you will reap with songs and joy. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. 

Bad circumstances are not forever. There will be a time in the future when circumstances will change and you will be on the mountain instead of in the dark broken valley. All things work together for good to those who love God. In the end everything will turn out well. Everything will be alright in the end. 

In the passage which follows, Saint Isaac of Nineveh likens these to the wept at-birth. The Mystic who experiences such is being reborn into the age-to-come, and as such is experiencing a foretaste of Heaven:

"The Fruits of the Inner Man begin only with the Shedding of Tears. When you reach the place of Tears, then know that your Spirit has come out from the Prison of this World and has set its foot upon the path that leads towards the New Age. Your Spirit begins at this moment to breathe the wonderful air which is there, and it starts to Shed Tears. The moment for the Birth of the Spiritual Child is now at hand, and the Travail of Childbirth becomes intense. Grace, the common Mother of us all, makes haste to give birth Mystically to the Soul, God's image, bringing it forth into the Light of the Age to come. And when the time for the birth has arrived, the Intellect begins to Sense something of the things of that Other World -- as a Faint Perfume, or as the Breath of Life which a Newborn Child receives into its bodily frame. But we are not accustomed to such an experience and, finding it hard to endure, our Body is suddenly overcome by a Weeping mingled with Joy." 

Dear God,

I've been through a long painful journey,

searching for Your love to complete my being. 

Now I've found the light of Your love, 

I am complete and able to find 

happiness and contentment.

 
You touch my heart, my mind, and my inner being. 

You fill my empty soul. 

Without you I am empty, 

unable to function or find meaning 

in my day-to-day existence. 

Together we are one, a perfect union

that can face insurmountable odds 

and face the uncertainty that the future holds. 

Fear of the future diminishes in 

the light of Your presence 

and I truly believe I can face any obstacle 

if You are by my side.