Wells and Deserts

Judy Malone

You will notice in our conversations here as we go along that I love the Psalms. We relate to the Psalms because no matter what we are experiencing at any given time there is a Psalm for the situation. Death, even life. Daily living, sickness, loneliness, joy, sadness. If you need a quiet time of rest, you can find a Psalm.

Psalm 84 is one I have read many times. The words that capture me say, “Who, passing through the Valley of Bacca, make it a well.”

There is a long, dry, hard desert valley in the Middle East that at the time of this psalmist, was called Bacca. Nobody now knows where it is; but in those days it was needful from time to time for someone to take that route.

Sometimes in life you must go through a spiritual desert. You can’t take a detour. You know those times I’m talking about–you get sick with a serious illness; your dear friend or precious family member dies; you may have a setback of some sort, a difficult divorce; a tragic break with someone who was once a treasured friend. Maybe someone dies, and they were so dear that you can’t think how you’ll ever live through it.

Wells are few in Bacca. Wells in deserts–how precious. The Psalm says, “Blessed is the one who, passing through the Valley of Bacca, makes it a well.”

So YOU can be a well for someone. God can and does change difficulty into blessing. And in unexpected places, like Bacca, God reveals and becomes real to us.

Wells in deserts! What a powerful message. BE A WELL!

It reminds me of the One who said of himself in John 4, “I am the living water.” And he told the thirsty woman at the well, “Anyone who drinks of me will never thirst again.”