God Bottles Up Our Tears
Taken from a Red Rock News Article (10/4/24)
Rev. Dona Johnson | Oct 6, 2024
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. –Psalm 56:8
It’s difficult to watch on the news right now the people who are crying out for help from the vast devastation left by hurricane Helene—the deep
pain and sorrow you see in survivor’s eyes as they experience a gut-wrenching sense of loss.
When was the last time you had a good cry? Did you ever think about this: human beings are the only creatures whose feelings enable them to cry—surprise, grief, joy, sorrow. Scientist believe tears are a heightened emotional response. Before you cry, basically, your body is getting riled up and emotions reach a peak. But when the tears begin to flow, your body actually starts to relax. Your heart rate slows down, the parasympathetic nervous system gets involved, which suggests that tears are something that actually may allow our nervous system to mellow out and recalibrate. Thus, crying can be both a release and a cleansing experience.
Henry Ward Beecher, a pastor who was vehemently against slavery wrote, “Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into heaven.” Oscar Romero, a priest in San Salvador who was gunned down while officiating mass said, “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” Crying is thus a holy act. Crying allows us to release our hurts and disappointments to God and by doing so, God speaks his truths deep into our souls. Frederick Buechner wrote on tears, “YOU NEVER KNOW what may cause them.
The sight of the Atlantic Ocean can do it, or a piece of music, or a face you’ve never seen before. A pair of somebody’s old shoes can do it…Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go to next.”
Throughout Scripture, we are told over and over again how God not only hears but listens to the cries of his people, and through our tears God speaks to us. There are some people who chose to stay home from church when trauma strikes because they fear cry during worship. Many of us feel embarrassed by our tears, we’ve been conditioned to think tears are a sign of weakness. In a culture that prizes strength and grows uncomfortable with prolonged grieving, many of us respond to our own tears with an apology, thinking we need to get a grip on our circumstances. However, God invites each of us to bring our tears to the altar. Our suffering is never wasted. God remembers our suffering and records each tear we shed in his book.
Scripture tells us that our tears are important to God. God actually bottles up our tears. David while in the midst of his enemies wrote, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book (Ps. 56:8).” David trusted that God would remember his suffering.
Jesus also wept several times: over the death of his beloved friend Lazarus (John 11:35). He felt sorrow deep in his bones. And with his tears, he reached down into the darkness of death itself and raised Lazarus out of the tomb and redeemed his life. Again in Revelations 21:3-4 we are promised, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” To know in your heart that the God of the universe cares enough about you to wipe away ‘every’ tear from your eyes and also values every tear and bottle them up, makes living in this world a little more bearable. Amen.