The Gift of Tears
January 6, 2019
Washington Irving said this about tears, “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.” We all know what tears are biological, and when things are working right, they lubricate our eyes that the eye can look around without friction. But that’s not all there is to it. In fact, our tears are also a gift from God to the physical man that in grievous times can metaphorically help shed pain and sorrow. Tears of sorrow help us to grieve the loss of a loved one. Tears of sorrow help us cope with moving away from family, beloved brethren. When one loses their job or life savings, or home due to some disaster, tears help the heart to reset and prepare for the new journey. The shedding of tears helps in the healing process. On the flip-side, tears are a gift from God in the sense of expressing great joy. Tears of joy are shed when a man kneels and says, “will you marry me”. Tears of joy are shed from both husband and wife when they see their first child born into this world. Today and in the past, tears of joy are shed when a loved-one comes home from the battle field. Tears of joy are shed whenever a loved one, lost in sin, obeys the gospel. A motivational speaker, Rita Schiano said this, “Tears are God’s gift to us. our holy water. They heal us as they flow.”
Now we know that there is no such thing as holy water, but in the sense that our tears help us rise up out of grief: I would attribute our tears akin to holy water only in this: —for they are—seen and saved by God. In a Michtam of David he wrote: “You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? 9 When I cry out to You, then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me” (Psa. 56:8-9). No one really knows for certain what a “Michtam” is. Some scholars see the word michtam as meaning “golden,” a definition that would assign great value, so a michtam could be “a psalm as precious as stamped gold”. God thinks so much of His children – stores up our tears – writes them in His book – God is for us! Indeed, we lift up our voice in praise to God because He—cares—so—deeply—for each one of us! We must remember our God is an awesome God who first hand understands our tears (Heb. 4:15). The psalmist wrote “…to You all flesh will come” (Psa. 65:2). All will one day stand before Him, both the saved and the unsaved. Some with tears of inexpressible Joy (1 Pet. 1:8) to be wiped away by the hand of God (Rev. 21:4) and others with tears of great sorrow that will continue on for eternity. We Must Never forget this!
As for tears they are a gift from God, and powerful in that they often move God to act on our behalf. Consider by way of remembrance the relationship between tears and the hand of God. Remember the slaves in Egypt God said, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows” (Exo. 3:7). It was king Hezekiah’s tears that God saw that brought about his healing and added 15 years to his life. Remember God said, “I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you.” (2 Kings 20:5). Solomon wrote, “For He will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper” (Psalm 72:12). Jesus healed a young boy with “a mute spirit” because of his father’s faith and tears, as “the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Do you think that father’s tears of sorrow where turned into tears of joy? I think so!
What do these things teach us? For one thing, God hears and sees our weeping and our tears. Also, God cherishes them, and they move Him who is able (Eph. 3:20), to lift us up out of our troubles when we can’t seem to go on ourselves. He is always there because He is eternal King (1 Tim. 1:17).
Please let me be clear, there is no such thing as “Holy Water” period. But I see in these scriptures and many others, a truism in this metaphor, that tears are “Our holy water” that reaches out from our inner soul, all the way up to God in heaven.
It was Paul who wrote, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). Again he wrote, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
All Christians are part of the family of God. Thus, we are to embrace one another, love one another as God designed the family. In times of trial we give strength, comfort and encouragement. The tears we experience in our own lives prepares us to lift up others who weep, even as our Heavenly Father comforts us in our tribulations. The first time I actually realized that I was “a member of the Family of God” I wept bitterly! I no longer have to imagine how it feels to receive visits, calls, cards and letters in times of trouble. My family has been an overwhelming source of comfort, help and encouragement.
Don’t think tears are just for the weak, for Jesus was not ashamed to weep, and did so on a number of occasions. Jesus wept three times that we know of during His three-year public life. John 11:35 “Jesus wept”. Luke 19:41 Jesus Wept over Jerusalem and speaking of Jesus our High Priest, Paul wrote, “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear” (Heb. 5:7). Of the Messiah Jesus, king David wrote, “For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard” (Psalm 22:24). No greater man ever lived than Jesus Christ—and nothing is recorded in the Bible that is not important—therefore, there was purpose for His tears—there is purpose for ours.
When we consider Epistles that Paul wrote, one could easily conclude there must have been some marks of his fallen tears. “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you” (2 Cor. 2:4) “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ” (Phil. 3:18). Read (Acts 20:29-31), THREE YEARS! Tears have a way of teaching us of the importance of life. Solomon wrote, “Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; And the living will take it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” (Eccl. 7:2-4). In reality, who would rather go to a funeral than a party, yet the reality is that though parties are fun—they don’t teach us anything. The house of mourning teaches us of our own mortality – yes, we will die! Some funerals are for the old, but some for the young, thus we learn that death can be both expected and unexpected. The most important lesson we learn is all will be there one day, not as a spectator, but as the one in the box. That will be my body lying in that casket. Though many false teachers have tried to “preach the dead up into heaven”, our eternal destiny will have already been sealed prior to our last breath English Proverb “As a man lives, so shall he die”, or as Paul puts it, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7).
We’ll all receive that “summons” some in the flower of youth, others in the later season of age, we will all fly away (Psa. 90:10). This we know, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
One question we must all ask is this; When will the Tears Stop? The answer is twofold. For those who are in Christ it will be when, “…the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev. 7:17) For those who are not in Christ we learn from Jesus who just before describing the final Judgement, tells a parable of the talents, and concludes it this way, “And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”, (Matt. 25:30). The “unprofitable servant” is one who has received something from the master and wasted it. In the spiritual application, that would be me or you, and the master would be Jesus who has given us an invitation to be saved.
The real question is what have you done with it?
In Love
David Scarpino