If you know me, you know I cry…often! I used to not like that about myself, but the older I get, I see that God Himself created me to have a heart for others and care deeply about their joys and sorrows alike.

I love that the Bible gives us so many examples of emotions that are to help us through the narrative of our daily lives. I love that in John 11:35 he tells us Jesus wept. He grieved deeply the loss of his friend Lazarus, even though He knew He was going to perform the miracle of raising him from the dead. This is just one of many scriptures to get a glimpse of how our God sees our tears, and how we are never alone in our times of heart-wrenching pain, or abundant joy. I pray this encourages you as it does me.

Tears Bring God Close to Comfort Us

Psalm 56:8, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” In our moments of utter sadness, we can take great comfort that our God holds every single one of our tears in a bottle! Just ponder that for a moment! He not only cares for our every struggle but treasures our tears.

Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Another adjective for contrite would be described as thoroughly bruised or broken. Is that you today? I encourage you, brother or sister in Christ, to know our Savior is so close to you right now as you call to Him in your time of trouble.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called here to come alongside one another and show mercy, compassion, and tenderness in one’s situation. Paul is saying here that God came to him in the middle of his sufferings and troubles to strengthen him and give him courage and boldness. I challenge you to look outside your inner circle and see who could be hurting and be blessed by you in this way today.

Tears Can Be a True Sign of Repentance of Our Sin

When we shed tears of repentance, we allow a beautiful healing in our soul to begin and the deep wounds of our heart to be restored. I don’t know about you, but I can dwell in the heartache of regret. My tongue can get me in trouble with words that I regret towards my young impressionable kids, my loving husband, and perhaps sarcasm that speaks some truth and could have hurt a dear friend’s heart unintentionally. Let us shed the beauty of tears as an offering to God when forgiveness needs to be given and received, and the feeling of regret is cast away.

Luke 7:44,47,48, “…Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head…Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.” Oh, how I love these verses! There are never too many sins that our Father cannot forgive when we bring our tears of repentance and regret to Him!

Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Repent and then rest in our Father's loving arms. He doesn’t want us to stay in our stubbornness of spiritual bankruptcy and the weight of trying to save ourselves by works. The invitation is to come, then rest in His grace.

Joel 2:12, “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning." This verse tells us when we demonstrate genuine repentance, the Lord is ready to forgive and bless!

Tears for Hope and Healing

Even though life can bring moments that seem heavy with grief, through faith, we can anticipate the joy that will come in the aftermath! Our tears today may flow into joyful celebrations tomorrow. God is good and faithful through it all!

Psalm 126:5,6, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." This symbolizes abundance, provision, and the blessings of God.

Psalm 30:5, "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

Isaiah 35:10, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Gladness is to replace sadness across the board in the day of Israel’s restoration."

John 16:20,22, “Verily ,Verily ,I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy….And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” The very event that made the world rejoice and Jesus’s disciples have grief will be the same event that will lead to the world’s sorrow and the believer’s joy. God’s gift of salvation! Nobody can ever rob you of that joy!

There are so many more beautiful life-giving verses about our tears woven in the tapestry of the Word that capture our emotions at the very depth of our human experience. Embrace every emotion, our tears do not define us, yet beyond every tear there is healing, hope, comfort, joy and maturity in our reliance in Him. His grace is sufficient to bring us through each trial and transform each tear into something beautiful for new beginnings. As a body of believers, let us “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Romans 12:15

My favorite Bible verse, and very fitting to end with, is Revelation 21:4-6, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

And he said unto me, write :for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."

Lori Daniska