(Continued from yesterday:)
How can tears be food? Is there a nourishment that flows to the spirit of a man or woman from their tears? All tears? Or just certain types of tears? How can the tears of anguish and loneliness and longing nourish? And how can sustained eating of such food, “day and night” nourish and sustain a beleaguered heart? I’m not sure I know---but I have some thoughts.
1. The tears of our sadness and loss drive us to the realization that we need, desperately need, others. That is a good thing.
2. The tears of our hurt and injury remind us of our fragility and need for God’s redemption and protection. That too is a good thing.
3. The tears of our disappointment and longing are God’s megaphone, calling our hearts to value ultimate things. That is perhaps our greatest need.
4. The tears of our failures and fears cause us to run into Him whose arms are always open. That is our only hope.
But perhaps more than all of these, our tears, when they are centered in a righteous defense of God and His truth, which is at least part of the context of Psalm 42-43, nourishes the soul precisely because those tears are all the believer has to hold on to at times. They are the expressions of love and commitment that the loving and committed heart gives when there is nothing else left to give. They nourish because in the heavenly abode of God they are received, remembered and bottled (Ps. 56:8).
And because they are remembered, they will be recompensed. So the righteous, who live by faith (Habakuk 2:4), are nourished by their tears because they know on the basis of the all seeing eye of God and the promise of His word that every tear is recorded. Every tear is valued and treasured by the God who is worth standing for when the taunts of unbelievers are mockingly loud.
“Where is your God?” Our tears declare our hope in Him. And in the supernatural and paradoxical plan of God, they nourish our souls. Your tears, every one of them, are precious to Him. Remember that, and comfort one another with your tears.
2 comments:
I think the tears that result from situations as described in Ps 55:12-14 are the saddest of all. But, they are purifying in a way. They teach you to depend on God solely rather than on the closest and most dear of friends.
I have never considered tears as a positive thing--certainly never hopeful! But in the context of these verses, they are just that. Of course, many of the tears I've shed are not hopeful ones -- does God keep them too? ;-)
Thanks for sharing these thoughts.
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