"Don't they know Dad is gone", I said as I walked through the mall, hours after burying him on that fateful Friday. Tears were welling up again and I stepped away from the escalator so that I didn't trip on that first moving step. I got myself together enough to get on and it did feel good to release some of the emotion that had been running through my mind and body that day.
Forward Friday takes a look at When The Tears Flow. In this summer of people getting around and enjoying the season after 2 summers (years for that matter) of disruption, there are many who are dealing with the pain of loss of different types. Precious family and friends passing away, job losses, pain, injury, broken relationships, memories that still cause an ache that doesn't go away and the list goes on.
There may be no easy fixes but there is help and hope in this week's blog/post. Be encouraged and as always, there is good news at the end!!
Let's Get Into This:
It's crazy the tension we at times live in. We have "High" moments and then we look and there are the "Low" or "Other" moments. Some take our breath away and others seem to wear and grind on us but the result can be that there is no other release other than for tears to flow.
“We need never be ashamed of our tears.”
Tears have a language of their own, and they need no interpreter. In some mysterious way, we've been built with this inner communication system that knows our verbal limitations and the tears do come.
Eyes that in one minute were sparkling and excited become flooded.
Tears are not self conscious. The moments can spring up on us when we are in a crowd or beside those who are looking to us for strength.
Tears can flow during the singing of an incredibly powerful song or when we have a sentimental memory or we are wrestling/fighting with soul searching moments with God.
Did you know that God notices our tears and it isn't just a passing whim on His part?
There is a verse in Psalms 56:8 that speaks of "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle."
"You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle."
Whatever had been going on in David's life when he wrote these words had driven him to tears.
Can you imagine that a single teardrop gets the attention of the King Of Heaven. It is quite an interesting thought to know He is not ashamed or disappointed but He actually knows when our hard times are drenched in tears.
When we allow Him to, those moments can be those of tenderness. Those moments in our lives, he never forgets.
One of the missteps of our society is the notion of reluctance to show tears.
For many years, men have been conditioned to think that tears are a sign of weakness.
And a lot of people including women would feel that to cry is a sign of immaturity.
How sad that this has been a prevailing thought for far too long!
Tears are a safety valve of the heart when too much pressure is laid upon it.
One consequence of this reluctance is that we place a "Guard Dog" named "Restrict" in front of our hearts.
The "Guard Dog" has been set to snap, bark, scare away any emotion that wants to reveal itself in our life.
The end result is a well-guarded, highly respectable but controlled heart surrounded by bars of confinement.
Without realizing it, we create a prison more than a home of refuge in our hearts; a place to find rest from the hurts, cuts, wounds that we face.
Interestingly enough, David was different; and he was a man's man.
In fact, it was said that he was a man after God's own heart.
The truth is we all have struggles at different moments that cause brokenness to affect us.
We can never feel the comforting touch of God's mercy until we send the "Guard Dog" out and away so we can let tenderness run in.
“Come to God with our broken heart. He is not only the doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears.”
God carries us and wants to carry our tears, our hearts and is available to us.
The Things I Think:
Many of us feel ashamed of our tears, especially if others see them. In a culture that prizes strength and grows uncomfortable with prolonged grieving, many of us respond to our own tears with a quick wipe of the sleeve and a quick “Get over it.”
Last Thoughts:
But it's not so with God, whose fatherly compassion compels him to draw near to the brokenhearted and wash and close their wounds Psalms 147:3.
The same God who said, “God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh. Luke 6:21
He is one who will not look down at us with anger for the tears we shed as we walk through the ruins of our broken world.
Never forget; He keeps track of all of our sorrows; He has collected all of our tears!!
Maybe we're okay at this point and it's all good; this is a great reminder that we don't have to face "The Moments" alone when they do come.
Maybe you know of someone who is walking a hard road right now; share this post with them today. You never know how we can help someone's outlook on life shift by spreading some "Good News."
Walking the road of life with you......
Dave
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