When I was a kid, I was a cry baby. I don’t know if the pain of conflict between friends or picked on at school was the reason for all of the tears I shed. Maybe i was just growing up and the shift in hormones that we all experience in life caused my tear ducts to be a bit trigger happy.
I remember wanting to change that emotional part of my personality. As I grew older, I became less affected by every little thing. I prided myself on not being a ‘cryer’. What seemed to me to be uncontrollable emotion began to look weak and vulnerable. I was somehow learning to keep my emotions bottled up and suppressing the urge to cry, even at times when I was truly hurting. I felt like resisting my emotions was a show of strength and maturity. Not crying displayed resilience under the pressures and disappointments of life. “Never let them see you sweat” became my motto and I had developed a tough skin. My weakness was hidden away deeply from everyone.
I heard somewhere that is not God moved by our emotions. People say it over and over again leading Christians to believe that emotions have no place in our walk with Christ. This is so far from the truth of our loving God. We were created in His likeness and image. He is a God who feels immensely. So we shouldn’t be ashamed to feel emotions as well. He knows the intricacies of our hearts. He has compassion for us and he knows why we cry. In those cries, those tears, those prayers, he hears us. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” He understands our human frailties and greater than just undertanding them, He longs to help if only we would turn to Him.
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
–Isaiah 30:18
Our heavenly Father knows more than anyone (even ourselves) the pressures that have welled up inside of us from our very soul when we cry. Our Father feels the same sorrow that we do. He is a God of perfect compassion. Compassion is defined as sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. (Merriam-Webster) “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.” (Psalm 103:8). Unlike people, our Heavenly Fathrr is more than able to handle any area of distress in your life.
In seeking my heavenly Father, the word of God broke my misconceptions about weakness. It is in our weakest and most vulnerable moments that God’s amazing Grace floods in, making us strong through Christ. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, the bible says, “…My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness…” I desire that perfect strength.
Perfect strength is something we cannot achieve on our own. It’s also not in operation in our lives when pride causes us to hide our emotions and depend on our own resources for strength. God is waiting for us to come to Him without walls, without shame and without trying to hide our vulnerabilities. He wants us to recognize our need for Him. Those tearful moments are fertile ground for our Fathers supernatural strength. It is then that we are broken and vulnerable. Our prideful efforts are thrown away and we can recieve His Grace and strength in our acknowledged weakness.
In Psalm 56, David cried. He was captured by his enemy. The one thing that David did know was that in his time of weakness, God was there. His tears did not go unrecognized or ignored. He trusted the Lord to protect him from his enemies–even while in their midst. David offered up his tears and praised the Lord. In his time of crying out to God, his tears became an offering with his praise. In Psalm 56:8 David cried out to God, “You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not recorded in Your book?” David, a man after God’s own heart, knew that God takes account of our tears and he hears our cry. We are His precious ones. Much like a loving earthly father, but even moreso, our heavenly Father is there to wipe away our tears and rectify whatever situation may be causing us sorrow.
Our tears are an opportunity to pour out our hearts to God. They are a release. We’re not failing or losing faith because we cry. In our deepest times of emotional pressure, tears are a reminder to draw even closer to God. Give Him the pressures of your life. Empty yourself of everything burdening you in the presence of your Heavenly Father. The flowing water of your tears is a powerful exchange in the presence of God. He is there to wipe away our tears and carry our burdens. Our Father tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 to cast (abandon, throw away, forcefully throw into the direction of) your cares (concerns, anxieties, worries) upon Him because he cares (takes a deep interest in your welfare) for you.
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
–Isaiah 40:29-31
Remember, we are alive to God and he loves us unconditionally. He longs to guide us and to all that is good for us. Revelation 7:17, “…for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.” He waits for us with a love that we cannot comprehend. The finished work of Christ has delivered us from our sorrows and tears. Lay them at His feet and pick up the strength that can only be found in Jesus. Where we are weak, He makes us strong.