“You’ve kept track of all my wandering and my weeping.
You’ve stored my many tears in your bottle—not one will be lost.
For they are all recorded in your book of remembrance.” – Psalm 56:8
Tears must really mean something to the Lord if He feels the need to record each one into His book of remembrance…
The Lord has been teaching me about tears, and what our tears can mean.
He’s been teaching me about what our tears can do within us, what tears can do that goes far beyond ourselves… and what tears mean to the Him.
It’s easy to forget that the Lord Himself wept. He is tender-hearted.
“Jesus wept.” – John 11:35
A lot of people think tears only represent a bad thing, or a person who is not in a good state of mind. Tears do represent a state of lowliness and humility. I think that’s part of why it’s hard to allow ourselves to cry — because of what others may think of us, what might be assumed about us.
Why is the Lord teaching me about this right now? It’s like He’s zeroing in on teaching me about this thing that not only has been going on in my own life, but it has intensified in and around me in others.
This morning the Lord took me back through my old journals again, as He does from time to time. He’s showing me something new — a new pattern, a new part of the puzzle that I’m able to put together and see now. This morning, as He showed me how a lot of pain, a lot of time of uncertainty, a lot of mistakes, a lot of mess has gone into this plan of His that He’s been working on for a long, long, long time, and how He knew all along that He would have me to be part of His plan, I was just overcome with thankfulness and I just wept.
That’s just one example of how the Lord is helping me to understand what tears do, what causes tears, where they come from, what they show and represent, and what they can do in the unseen realm.
Here are some things He has been showing me that I don’t yet fully understand, I just have a few pieces and thoughts that are starting to form. I am going to type them out, even if they don’t fully make sense to me yet, so please keep that in mind as you read this…
Our tears can carry things — they can carry a kind of wordless prayer.
Our tears can birth a breakthrough, not only in us but in others.
“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” – Hebrews 5:7
Our tears cleanse us and lead us into more life.
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” – 2 Corinthians 7:10
Our tears bring us closer to the Lord. He hears our cry. He hears our tears.
“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.” – Psalm 34:15
Our tears move God.
“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.” – John 11:33
Our tears and the intensity we feel can come from sensing the Heart of God.
“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it…” – Luke 19:41
The Lord transforms tears into joy.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” – Luke 6:21
Sometimes tears are more for others than they are for our own selves.
“Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” – Jeremiah 9:1
“For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.” – 2 Corinthians 2:4
There is a time for weeping.
“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” – Ecclesiastes 3:4
Our tears carry an intensity and cleansing fire that the Lord can transfer to others.
“He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” – Psalm 126:6
“He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!” – Hebrews 12:29
Tears are more powerful than we know, and can be used by God.
“And standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.” – Luke 7:38
“As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.” – Psalm 84:6
Tears can bring us to a place of humility and brokenness where the Lord can take it over from there.
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” – Psalm 34:17
Tears can bring freedom.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Tears can have much more depth and purpose than we realize.
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations…” -Revelation 22
The next time you are moved to tears about something, you might consider that Jesus wept. He let His tears flow. Consider that it may be more than just about you. Consider not trying to shut it down and see what the Lord does.
Consider that the Lord can use your tears to do things you cannot even comprehend.
-Heather ?
So intensely invigorating to my soul. Wow, I hadn’t thought about all the verses concerning tears and certainly never connected their meanings in such a beautiful way. Thankyou and God bless you
I love finding something the Lord is highlighting to me and then just digging into the Word to see all the things the scriptures say about it. Feels like a treasure hunt 🙂 Bless you, Nikki!