As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. Psalm 84:6-7

Life is filled with mountaintops, plains and valleys.  But when you’re in a deep, dry valley, you can’t remember much else.

In Bible times, pilgrims journeyed over dusty, desert roads to worship in Jerusalem. So, there are times in our lives that feel very spiritually dry. Prayers seem to bounce back; Scripture fails to move us. It’s discouraging. God knows this.

He said, “When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them… I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground” (Isaiah 41:17-18).

Here, God says “I will” four times! First, He says He will answer. “Call to Me and I will answer you” (Jeremiah 33: 3) and “You will seek me and find me” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Second, God says that He will never abandon us.  Jesus assured His followers: “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).

Third, God says that He will give refreshment to the poor and needy.

Finally, God says that He is working in your dry valley. “I have always felt grateful for distress,” wrote the preacher, Charles Spurgeon, “because the spade of agony digs deep trenches to hold the water of life.”[1]

Are you in a dry valley now? Ask God to do what He says He will, in your life!

 

Resource reading: Isaiah 41:13-20

[1] C. H. Spurgeon, “Beside Still Waters: Waiting for Mercy,” The Root and Bud. June 8, 2011. http://therootandbud.blogspot.com/2011/06/waiting-for-mercy.html, accessed December 3, 2016.