Tears in a Bottle - Part 1

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? (Psalm 56:8 ESV). I once again returned to this verse recently and it really got my attention. Of course, knowing that God understands and feels our pain is not in question, but the statement of the psalmist is that he collects them “in his bottle.” I began to wonder, “What does the bottle look like? Do each of us have our own bottle? And, what is this book? Don’t the pages get wet?” I know these may seem like silly questions, but they are real to me. I want to know all I can about a God who would collect tears! What does He do with them? Why are they so important to Him? Does He measure the size of the drops? Does He analyze the chemical makeup? Does He catch them with His hand or with the bottle? Has He ever dropped one? The Bible talks a lot about tears. I suppose that is because tears are such a real part of life. The more I read this verse, the more I began to see a wonderful truth. Tears can be a wonderful thing, especially as God catches them! Look at 2 Kings 20:5 – Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, “This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the LORD.” God does see our tears! The Bible is very clear about that. In this story, Hezekiah was told he was going to die. He cried out to the Lord and the Lord healed him. God added fifteen years to his life. Sometimes we just need to cry out before the Lord. We need to be willing to approach him, holding nothing back, with honesty and humility. When was the last time you shed tears before the Lord, crying out to Him with your needs? Not long ago, a client of mine, who was crying, said, “I don’t know why, but I just can’t get over my disappointment.” They shared some of the details with me and afterwards, I prayed with and for them and they seemed so much better. I don’t know if it was the prayer or the tears, or possibly both. They felt closer to the Lord after! My dear friend, don’t “bottle up” your tears! Let God bottle them up! Pour out yourself, including your tears, before the Lord. Show yourself openly and honestly to Him! And, no, it does not make you less of a man to shed a tear. There are times to cry and times to be strong, but when your life is caving in, or you are facing something far bigger than your own abilities, cry out to God! Shed some tears! He’ll catch them! And, you’ll catch more of Him!