Tears

This past week has seen many tears and I expect today and tomorrow to follow down that path. For those I love, whose hearts are broken beyond endurance, I know their tears will continue for years to come. These are the thoughts that brought me to do a Bible word search on “tears”. There is so much there that one could get lost in the significance of it all. Here is just a little of what I found.


2 Kings 20:5
“This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you.”

I thought and prayed about this verse. God sees our tears. He sees the tears of my friends. The tears they cry in front of friends and family. The tears they cry together as they grieve the son they lost. The tears they cry in private when no one else is around, not even their spouse. Yes, not one tear falls from their eyes that God is unaware of. This verse comes with a promise from God as well, “I will heal you.” We don’t know or understand what that healing will look like. We can’t comprehend how this deep pain can ever be healed. But God is bigger than all this and so I have nothing left but trust Him at His word.

Psalm 56:8
“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.”

Again this affirms what the previous verse stated. God sees each tear. But this verse goes a little deeper. God not only sees each tear He treasures them. He collects them in His bottle. We read about Jesus’ tears in Hebrews 5:7 “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death.” And the famous verse where it says “Jesus wept.”, John 11:35. There are others verses as well, but for me this helps me know that God understands our sorrow and our pain. Perhaps even more than we do. He understands it so well that he treasures it by recording it in His book.

And while today and tomorrow will days filled with many tears, there is hope. Not because of some undefined optimistic view of life but because God Himself tells us of it.

Revelation 21:4
“He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain.”

That day is not here yet. But it will come. In that day we will know God more. In that day we will understand events in light of eternity. But today, we live a temporal existence that is limited by time. For those who grieve, today can feel like eternity. Each minute can feel like eternity. So I will not hold back the tears. I will and not be ashamed of them, nor will I look on them as a weakness. If Jesus, who was and is God can cry…God eternal all-powerful…then tears are not weakness they are a form of profound strength and feelings. As I look in the eyes of my friends I will cherish each tear they share and know that God is holding them in the palm of His hand.

I was wrong...and I'm okay with that.

There are times when I relish the fact that I was wrong. This morning was one of them. To understand why I need to take you back to Sunday morning...

I was up early, very normal for me, and decided it looked like a nice morning to take a walk before getting ready for church. So by 6:30 AM I am out the door and the minute I walked outside it just took my breath away. It was almost 70 degrees, no humidity, the sky was a perfect shade of light blue and I couldn't see a cloud no matter what direction I looked. My walk takes me past a pristine golf course, into a park, past two small lakes in the park, into the woods, and through a rose garden. The scenery and the weather was spectacular. I thought to myself, "this is the best weather to walk in". I was so content that the thought of returning home didn't appeal to me much. But I knew that I was expected back and so staying in the park and enjoying the walk longer was not an option.

Then I got lazy and didn't walk Monday or Tuesday. This morning, I looked outside and saw the heavy clouds and knew it would be very wet out there due to the almost four inches of rain the day before. I remembered back to Sunday morning's walk and felt a great sadness knowing that this morning could not compete with the experience of that walk. Reluctantly I got up and put my walking clothes on.

The minute I stepped outside I was hit by the heavy wetness that filled the air. Soggy is a completely inadequate word to describe how wet everything was. I began my walk in my usual fashion which consists of crossing the street, getting on the sidewalk, and glancing down the path ahead of me. I frowned when I realized it was garbage day and that I would have to maneuver around the garbage cans and recycle bins set on the sidewalks awaiting the garbage truck's arrival. Oh well, I had my book with me and knew that once I started reading while I walked I would get lost in the story line and not even notice these distractions.

(Okay, before you judge or think you read that wrong. YES, I read while I walk. And NO it isn't as dangerous as it sounds, even for me. I find it far safer then texting at sixty miles an hour while driving a vehicle that could easily cause the death of others if not operated attentively. And NO I do NOT text while driving that is merely an example that I think others can relate to.)

Back to my walk. I made it about one block when I had to close the book. It started to drizzle. While reading and walking isn't overly challenging for me, reading while the book is getting wet is. Disappointed and not in the mood to listen to my music I just walked. As I did I started to realize what an incredibly beautiful morning it was. The rain that came down in buckets the day before had completely cleaned every leaf and flower of any Kansas dust that had been covering it. The grayness of the morning disappeared as I saw the crispness of the yellow flowers, the thousands of different shades of green in the trees and grass, the deep purple flowers that I never noticed before, and heard the joyous chirping of birds rinsing themselves off in the myriad of puddles available to them.

My thoughts turned to my Lord who created all I see. Who brought beauty through His creation to an otherwise gloomy morning. By now, the drizzle had turned to a steady light rain. Very fine but steady. It was so soft I could barely feel it hit my face and arms as I just stood there, face up, arms stretched out, and let it cover me with what one could only describe as peace.

As I continued my walk I scanned the scenery taking in every detail my eyes and brain could process. I happened upon a very large evergreen tree with long pine needles. The needles went out from the branches in every direction and on the end of each individual needle was a droplet of water. The clouds had gotten lighter and each droplet was reflecting back the whiteness from the clouds. The beautiful dark green giant looked like it had thousands of tiny white pearls placed with loving care on the end of each needle. I marveled at this treasure before moving on.

Other trees that decorate the path I walked were so spectacular to see. The bark was dark because of the rain and that made the green, shiny leaves stand out even more. HD TV could not even begin to compete with the vivid colors of nature this morning. WOW!

I rounded the last corner that would bring me back to my humble little house on a quiet corner lot. I reflected back on all I had seen this morning and tears of complete humbleness gently flowed from eyes. "Thank you God" is all I could think. So happy I didn't let that first thought of not taking my walk today because of the weather be my driving force this morning. So happy that I was completely proven wrong that only on a sunny day will I see nature's full beauty. This morning was truly the most incredibly beautiful morning of any walk I can remember. It will forever be in my memories for me to pull up and reflect on when I'm in need of a ten minute mental mini vacation.

I had at one point on this walk turned on my music. The radio station played a song by Audio Adrenaline called "Ocean's Floor". A great reminder how God removes our sins from us and chooses to see them no more. I walked this same path many times and had no idea what vivid bright colors existed because of the Kansas dust that seems to cover everything causing it to be duller than how God had made it. Then HE opened the skies and let His rain clean every leaf, flower, and blade of grass that I could see. Not only clean them but decorated them with sweet tiny droplets of water that looked like priceless, flawless pearls. This is the picture God has for you and me. Our choices in life that lead to sin dull who we were created to be. They dull our view of ourselves and they dull how others see us. They limit our ability to shine His light so others can truly see who He is. But when we confess our sins and let God wash them away, then and only then, will we be adorned with the beauty that brings God the honor and glory He deserves.

Forgive me Lord. Wash my sins away. Love me Lord. This is what I pray. Amen!