WE WILL SOON BE THERE!

When you travel and pass the towns on the way, you always get the notice to slow down when you near a town. 100, 80, 60, and then the board that says you have now entered Riviersonderend. And you grind your teeth as you slow down. You don't want to stop there. You want to carry on. This is not your destination. You are still on your way. And within minutes you get permission to increase your speed out of there. The descendants of Korah were on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. And they sang joyful songs of praise on their way! But somewhere on their journey they passed through a valley called Baca - The Valley of Weeping. Who knows what had occurred there to be named so. But that was not their destination. They were on their way. And yet, they took note, singing, "What joy for those whose strength comes from the LORD ...when they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs" (Psalm 84:7). They did not stop and sleep over. They moved on, but they took note, and those pilgrims on the road heard their joyful songs... Perhaps joined in with new courage for the rest of the journey through the desert. The Valley of Tears is a place where we have all passed through: perhaps even had a prolonged stay in that unforgiving place. But, take heart, Beloved, take heart. We are passing through! We are not pitching our tents in that God-forsaken place. But, look back for a moment. What happened there when you passed through? It became a place of refreshing springs! The autumn rains clothed it with blessings. Best of all, where you hit your lowest point ever in the Valley of Tears, the Presence of God met you there. "For the Lord God is our sun and shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right" (verse11). Tayo Adeyemi said, "Your tears of today will become the rain in someone else's desert tomor-row". Your sojourn in the Valley of Tears will serve as a blessing to those who pass through in future. Onward and upward, Fellow Pilgrim. We will soon be there - HOME with Jesus!!! - Helen du Plessis, 083 332 0895.