Friday

Tears

They really are interesting when you think about them. Normally we have just enough to wash our eyes and keep them clean from small particles of dust. So in that sense, we are always crying. On rare occasions, something makes us laugh so hard that we begin to cry. And occasionally something happens that makes us so sad that we can no longer hold them back.

Jesus wept when His friend Lazarus died. Mary wept as she went to the tomb.I am sure every one of you have wept at some time in your life. Crying is part of the human condition.

I find when I do cry, I feel better and closer. There is some emotional release when I weep that is healthy for my body and soul. Often nothing gets resolved or fixed when I weep, I am just released a bit. Crying is not designed to fix things, but to heal hearts.

It is almost as good to be with others when they cry. A heart that is soft with compassion is stirred within me when someone cries on my shoulder. It calls me to tenderness.

Perhaps wars would cease if we all could have a good cry on one another's shoulder.

Now lets talk about God the Father. When we cry "in the natural man" it may be helpful physiologically. When we cry in the spiritual man it is helpful to our soul. He promises in Psalm 30 that weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Hard to believe when you are in it.

One day, all the tears will be wiped away. That is our hope of glory. That is our hope of eternal joy. For now, we are called to cry, and in some sense, just as tears continuously flow across our eyes, we are call to weep for where we are and long for what is to come. It is called lamenting.

Not that we are to be morose. Our religion is mysterious. We can have sadness and joy at the same time because we do have the hope of glory in the midst of our human condition.

Worship Well