Heart & FleshSample

HIGH WAYS TO ZION

The valley of “Baca,” the valley of “Weeping,” - every one of us has either walked through this valley or will one day face it. The place of tears and sorrow. Jesus said something incredible about this valley. He said, “in this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.”

I always wondered what Jesus meant by this. If He’s overcome the world, why do I still face pain, sorrow, and trouble? How has he overcome it? Psalm 84 (vs. 5-8) probably gives the best explanation of how Jesus has overcome the world in you and me. It says, “Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.” The strength of the Lord comes from the revelation that you are “the city of God.” You are the dwelling place of the most high - the same house of the Lord. You are His body and His bride! It doesn’t mean the weeping won’t happen, or the sorrow won’t come, but it does mean that your tears will become seeds of joy. As the psalmist says,

“Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.” Psalm 126:5

God’s redemptive nature is most wonderfully on display in the valley of Baca. The place where He takes our tears and turns them into springs of Joy. When we see we aren’t alone in this valley but walking in the abiding presence of the Shepherd, His rod and His staff comfort us, and by His grace, we go from strength to strength, turning a valley into a garden.

Pray this with me:

My Sheperd, you are with me now. You’ve never left me. Today I give you my tears, and I trust you to turn them into seeds of Joy. Your word says that “sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Show me, Jesus, that your city is not a place but a people. Open wide the highways of Heaven in my heart.