In Psalm 84, King David declared, “Blessed are those whose strength is in God. Who passing through the Valley of Baca, make it a well; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength” (verses 5–7, paraphrased).

You can transform your “desert” into a beautiful place.

          You won’t find the Valley of Baca on modern maps of the Holy Land, and it isn’t clear whether David was referring to an actual geographical location or using Baca (derived from the Hebrew word bakah, which means “weeping”) figuratively. If figuratively, Baca is a place where all of us have been at some time or other. It’s a place of suffering, a place of sorrow, a place of hardship. It’s a dry, dusty, desert place, this Baca.

          The rest of the Psalm brings out the beautiful thought that whenever we pass through such a place, we have an opportunity to turn that difficulty or disappointment, that sorrow or hardship, whatever it may be, into a blessing.

          I’m reminded now of a friend of ours who has done just that. Some time ago he became gravely ill, and it looked like the end of the active, productive life he had always led. It looked like the end, but he turned his Valley of Baca into a great blessing. He “dug a well there,” and as a result he has become even more loving and patient and sympathetic and an even greater blessing to others. He let his “Baca” bring out the best in him.

          When you find yourself in the Valley of Baca, get down and dig deep in your heart to find out why God has brought this thing into your life, and if He wants to say something special to you about it. Do some real digging. Dig a well there, and then dig in God’s Word until He reveals His precious truth to you. You can become victorious in any situation, even one as seemingly hopeless as this Valley of Baca. You can transform your “desert” into a beautiful place, like my friend did.

          Someone has said that a well doesn’t look very appealing beside a running stream, and I would have to agree. I once sat by a mountain stream in a magnificent forest, and I can’t imagine any well looking nearly as refreshing as that beautiful, bubbling, crystal clear stream did. But if you put any well out in a dry, dusty desert, the water in that well will look mighty good!

          When, in time of sorrow and distress, you can stand on the promises of God and trust in His goodness, others will see your faith, and it will be to you and them as a well in a hard, dry, dusty place. That’s when your faith shines brightest: when it causes you to rise above difficulty.

          But some people just settle down in their sorrows, they sort of luxuriate in their misery or “martyrdom.” They stay in the valley of weeping, in the Valley of Baca, like one woman who came to me for sympathy. True, she was having terrible troubles, but she saw only herself, only her sorrow. She wasn’t dwelling on God’s faithfulness or His promises or stirring up her faith at all. Her faith could have transformed her valley of suffering into a place of blessing and refreshing, but she didn’t let it.

We can live above it all, because we have a loving, all-powerful God and all of His wonderful promises.

          The Christian life is supposed to be one that is superior to circumstances. We can live above it all, because we have a loving, all-powerful God and all of His wonderful promises. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

          We are not to stay in that dry, desolate valley, nor are we to merely endure troubles. Just to endure isn’t victory! We are to praise God and shout the victory even before we see it. We are to stand upon God’s Word and prove His promises. That is how we get victory out of seeming defeat! And when we overcome that way, we find many divinely given living waters springing up. “The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength.”

          So the next time you find yourself in the Valley of Baca, reread this passage from Psalm 84 and put it into practice.