BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

B V O V : 1 7 Verses 5-6 say, "Blessed is the man whose strength is in [God].... Who passing through the valley of Baca...." Did you notice that last phrase? Passing through the valley of Baca. Passing through! The valley of misery or weeping is not meant to be a permanent dwelling place. It's simply a place the people of God occasionally pass through. You've got to remember that. Baca doesn't last forever. So don't lay down your faith and die when you get there. No! Stand up and say, "This is not where I live. This is not God's best for me. I'm just passing through!" Here's something else you need to know about Baca. It can be a place of blessings! Psalm 84: 6-7 says those who trust in God "make [the Valley of Baca] a place of springs; the early rain also fills [the pools] with blessings. They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power]" (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition). Blessings Await You! Did you hear that? There are blessings for you in Baca if you'll trust God as you pass through it. What's more, you can come out the other side stronger than you've ever been. If you'll stand on the Word, that battle with sickness, that financial trouble, that time of misery the devil puts you through will just give you another story to tell about how powerful God is. It will just give you another testimony about how He gave you the victory. You can come out of Baca so full of faith and rejoicing that the devil will be sorry he ever messed with you. You may be thinking, Well, that all sounds great. But I've been in Baca, brother...and it can be rough! I know it. That's why I want us to look at the writings of the psalmist David. He was a man who knew what Baca was all about. He knew what it was like to be betrayed by people he thought loved him. He knew what it was to live as a fugitive under a threat of death and to be unjustly accused. Every aspect of misery that you and I go through, this man experienced in some way or another. In Psalm 3:1-2, he says, "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God." David found that when he was in Baca, there seemed to be a lot of people who thought their call in life was to talk him out of believing God. And when you're in Baca, you're going to find the same thing. You're going to find an abundance of people, most of them sincere Christian people, who are eager to convince you that there is no help for you in God. "All this faith stu• won't help," they'll say. "Why, we know Brother So-and-So, and when he was in Baca, he believed what you believe and he died. We know Brother Such-and-Such, and he was believing God for finances when he came to Baca and he lost everything he had. Went totally bankrupt." David heard that kind of junk when he was going through rough times; I've heard that kind of junk when I've been going through rough times; and you're going to hear it too. The question is, how are you going to respond to it? Start Talking Faith! Are you going to hang your head and agree with it? Are you going to say, "Well, I guess you're right. I guess I'd just better learn to live with this misery. After all, it looks like it's here to stay." That's not what David said! He started talking faith. He said, "Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. BUT THOU, O LORD, ART A SHIELD FOR ME; MY GLORY, AND THE LIFTER UP OF MY HEAD" (verse 3)! As you read through the Psalms, you'll find David always did that. There were many times when he was in such deep misery that he couldn't help talking about it. But his Psalms never end with misery. No, before it's over, he always starts talking about his covenant with God. He always starts talking faith. You can see an example of that in Psalm 6:6. There David is talking about his pain. "My bed is swimming in tears," he says. But then, right in the middle of his anguish, he gets hold of himself. If you keep talking your misery, you're going to be stuck there. But if you start talking your covenant with God and talking faith, you can keep moving on through!

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