Moving Through The Valley of Tears and the Matt 6:1-4 Group

Moving through the Valley of Tears, one outpost at a time on pilgrimage to the city of refuge. God has provided natural springs along the way, and unexpected Autumn rain from a group named Matthew 6:1-4.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
I thank you, who ever you are, and pray that indeed, God will rewar you.

When I pray for understanding, so that I can cooperate with what he is doing, God always answers, one way or another. Recently he gave me this verse:

.... Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.  As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the Autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion....

-Pslams 84: 5-7, Biblegateway, NIV


A little background:
 
The Valley of Baca, also called the Valley of Bochin in Judges, was the only passageway into the high hills where Israel’s Cities of Refuge were located. Some scholars state that the Valley of Baca was also representative of the valley that led up to the city of Jerusalem where the temple of God was found. A weary traveler, searching for safety from those who were pursuing him because of an accidental death or some inadvertent sin that he had committed, would have to travel this valley to find refuge and safety in the House of God or the Cities of Refuge.

The Valley of Baca was part of the desert country. The valley was filled with thorns, wild animals, pitfalls, vipers and all sorts of danger. In addition, there were wells of water but they were often far apart and hard to get to. It was nearly impossible to travel this valley without facing extreme hardship and suffering. That is why the Valley of Baca was named because it literally means “Valley of Tears”.

-Sermon Central

-The Word "Strength" in verse 5 as in Blessed are those whose Strength is in You is the Hebrew word  "oz", meaning mighty fortress, a loud powerful stronghold.     
-The Word "Strength" in verse 7,  as in "Strength to Strength" is the Hebrew Word  "chayil" meaning brave, capable, efficient, excellent and substantial warriors. It also is used to mean substantial worth resources.
This verse speaks to me about where we are right now.

(Holman Exhaustive NASB Concordance)


For me and my house, we follow the way, Jesus Christ, who God gave to reconcile us with Him. As we walk through this current valley, He is out fortress, our statement, our place. It is impossible to walk through this valley without him. As we become more dependent on Him, he is an ever increasing source of might strength and resource as we move from one point to the next.  Some sources have been like the wells; rare but naturally provided by God. Some have been like the Autumn Rain, unexpected, and supernatural.

The most notable unexpected way of his provision has come by the hand of an anonymous group called the Matthew 6:1-4 Group. Though I don't know who they are or how they know about our pilgrimage, they sent substance by mail; resources, and even more importantly, encouraging words. I will likely  never know who they are, but they were used by God to provide  pools of Autumn rain in my  family's pilgrimage through the valley of tears.

So I praise God because of this group's sacrifice; may God reward them with peace and every spiritual blessing.

 -Lee

Posted in: Walking the Valley