I don’t remember crying as a child. Whether I did or not, I do remember coming to a place where my response to the anguished tears of my mom – tears borne of the burdens no mom should ever have to carry – tears I understood and tears I listened to – those tears brought a still young child to a place of denying her own tears and refusing to ever share them with others. The emotions that should have elicited tears were still there, but just like so many of the happenings that created those emotions, those tears were stuffed in the proverbial box I was so good at packing and re-packing, and then tightly bearing down on the lid.
I recently did a biblical word study with the word “tears” and also, “wept.” One is the anguished cry and the other is its result. Although I knew the tears of God’s people were recorded frequently in His Word, I was surprised by how often the tears in Scripture parallel the tears the believers of today also weep. The consuming, paralyzing tears as we watch our child or our spouse suffer, and sometimes those tears usher in death. Tears that reflect our losses – financial, material, relational. Tears of agony over our wrongful choices. Tears that hide us in shame, attempting to hide from the God we know we have failed. Sometimes, it’s the taunts of “what if?” Misunderstandings. Jealousies. Victimizations. Tears of fear and inadequacy. We can weep for ourselves and we can weep for others. We can weep alone, but prayerfully, we will weep before our God. And sometimes the tears come when the brokenness finds healing. Tears of joy. Tears of hope, and a fresh start.
Jesus gave a blessing on our tears and promised comfort. He accepted tears as an expression of love and gratitude, and He saw the brokenness that brought tears. He gave comfort Himself, but He also was aware that the brokenness of our world wasn’t going away, and He promised His Spirit of Comfort as a constant companion for those who would believe. He gave purpose to our tears – tears that found their comfort in His Father, and tears that could sense and feel and respond to the brokenness of others. He is our compassionate example to imitate, forgiving others when their tears are repentant; finding a oneness with others by extending love, tenderness, and encouragement. Jesus Himself wept for those He loved, singularly, and when He saw the “many” His Father had chosen as His special people. But it is His tears in the garden that most profoundly touch my own spirit. The Message paraphrase says, “He plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, ‘This sorrow is crushing my life out.’” Those were the tears He shed just before He carried all of my sin to the cross, and died for me.
Tears. God gave mine back to me, and I am thankful. I have learned they are the expression of what is happening in my own life and what is happening in the lives of those I love. They are good. They are God-given, and God promises His comfort. And I am assured too that my tears are never in vain. They give expression to what is within me, but they also draw me to my God. As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?” ...... Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God! ...... each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. Father, thank You for my tears.
--Bev
(Related Bible reading: Psalm 42:1-11)
