TEARS
“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8). All the tears you have cried have been recorded by God. Even when no one else was with you, He saw your tears and numbered them just as He has numbered all the hairs of your head (Matthew 10:30). We were all made with tear ducts, and all have the capacity to cry, even as Jesus Christ did (Luke 19:41 and John 11:35).
Man is an emotional creature, and we do not all respond the same. Some cry at funerals, and some cry at weddings. There is both “A time to weep, and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). No one likes to be around a cry baby, but if God gives you tears, it is OK. We should not fake them but use them—again it was God Who made us this way. The apostle Paul said, “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31). There are moms and dads who have cried for their children, and children who have cried, and grandparents. I only saw my dad cry one time in my life, and I was the one who caused it. Have you ever caused someone to cry?
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness” (James 4:8–9). I am not teaching that you must cry tears in order to be saved, or that you must have joy. Some have both, but I did neither when I trusted Christ, except I was glad I had finally done what He wanted me to, trust His Son for heaven! I would suspect that many a man and woman have cried in prison, but that was because they got caught, or ashamed, or no longer free to see their friends and relatives. But I also suspect that few have cried about their sin of stealing or whatever they had done to be in prison. Have you ever cried over your sins? There is something about tears that cleanses us on the inside. There is no crying in Heaven: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4). But in hell “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13).
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). The great “Comforter” is the Holy Spirit (John 15:26). Turn to God with your problems. Things often look better on the next day: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” (Psalm 56:8). All the tears you have cried have been recorded by God. Even when no one else was with you, He saw your tears and numbered them just as He has numbered all the hairs of your head (Matthew 10:30). We were all made with tear ducts, and all have the capacity to cry, even as Jesus Christ did (Luke 19:41 and John 11:35).
Man is an emotional creature, and we do not all respond the same. Some cry at funerals, and some cry at weddings. There is both “A time to weep, and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). No one likes to be around a cry baby, but if God gives you tears, it is OK. We should not fake them but use them—again it was God Who made us this way. The apostle Paul said, “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31). There are moms and dads who have cried for their children, and children who have cried, and grandparents. I only saw my dad cry one time in my life, and I was the one who caused it. Have you ever caused someone to cry?
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness” (James 4:8–9). I am not teaching that you must cry tears in order to be saved, or that you must have joy. Some have both, but I did neither when I trusted Christ, except I was glad I had finally done what He wanted me to, trust His Son for heaven! I would suspect that many a man and woman have cried in prison, but that was because they got caught, or ashamed, or no longer free to see their friends and relatives. But I also suspect that few have cried about their sin of stealing or whatever they had done to be in prison. Have you ever cried over your sins? There is something about tears that cleanses us on the inside. There is no crying in Heaven: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4). But in hell “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13).
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). The great “Comforter” is the Holy Spirit (John 15:26). Turn to God with your problems. Things often look better on the next day: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
