Psalm 126:5-6 “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest."
Tears flow after the loss of a child. The Bible says we thirst for God day and night. We only have tears for food when our heart is broken. I remember feeling overwhelmed when I felt the river of grief come over me. The pain of this grief felt like it was going to wipe out my physical and emotional being. The flood waters would try to destroy me. After the release of these tears, I felt a relief of the pain that had been built up. It wasn’t too long before this intense pain would slowly start building up once again and I would find myself releasing the pain again. No bottle was big enough to hold my river of tears. I now know that each tear I shed was being used to plant a new life in my soul. These tears were putting out the fire of grief and planting a new harvest. These tears were creating a whole new person.
Conference after conference, we hear stories that break our hearts. Each mom who shares her story has shed bottlefuls of tears that the Lord has lovingly collected. In that parched land of grief, God ever so slowly waters that tiny seed of hope. That little seed of hope soon will turn into a harvest in their life, if they will allow God to do His perfect work. The results of harvesting, planting and rivers of tears shed has brought forth the beautiful farmland of Umbrella Ministries. The Lord is taking those tears and turning a drought stricken land into something that will feed many souls. We who have planted and watered the seed of hope are now going out to show what is possible after such a tremendous loss. There are new moms we meet each day who have been devastated by the death of their child. There are more crops to harvest and more tears that will be shed. We have work to do and who better to work alongside, but the great tear collector, Jesus Christ.
Lord, what an honor it is to take our tears to water the drought stricken fields of grief. What joy we witness as we see the results of Your harvest.
– Michele
