The Gift of Tears

In my Dial Hope message yesterday, I shared a story about how a young man who was addicted to drugs had a turning point when he found himself weeping on the street. 

Tears are often turning points.

If you do a word study, you will find that the Bible is actually full of tears. Abraham wept. Hagar wept. Joseph, Hannah, Jonathan and King David, Elijah, Jeremiah all wept. The people of Israel sat down and wept when in Babylon they remembered Zion. Peter and John both wept. Mary and Martha wept, and Jesus wept. Paul wept and was wept over, and he challenged Christians to “weep with those who weep.” 

That word is used 122 times in the Bible! Not to mention how many other times throughout the scriptures people cry out to God. Tears are not only a critical part of life, they are also a critical part of faith.

Great American writer Frederick Buechner once made the claim that tears are essential guides. He wrote, “Whenever you find tears in your eyes, 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 next.”

May you come to see whether you find yourself weeping for yourselves or for others, our tears are a gift. But we don’t grieve as those who are without hope. We weep as those who trust that our tears are seeds of hope. And we weep as those who know the God who brings life out of death, and who has promised to make all things new. 

Let us pray: God of grace, may the tears we shed truly be seeds of hope. May our hearts be open through them to your healing grace and to your gentle nudging. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.