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Every tear has a purpose
by Adam Bennett I recently encountered again the arresting eighth verse of Psalm 56 which says, "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?" (ESV) God is not unaware of our life experiences, both good and bad. In the NASB the first part of the verse is translated as, "You have taken account of my wanderings" and as we are reminded in Psalm 139:3, "You observe my travels and my rest; You are aware of all my ways." (HCSB) To God our ups and downs are not a distant and academic curiosity. The bible describes Jesus himself as, "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3 ESV) and we are reminded profoundly that, "Jesus wept." (John 11:35) We can also be assured that no tear we shed falls without a purpose. God loves us to much to leave our lives untroubled. Peter wrote, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith... may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6-7 NIV) Similarly, James wrote, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." (James 1:2-3 NIV) Finally, lest God be accused of being callous, this verse from Psalm 56 tells us that every tear is carefully noted and collected in a bottle to be treasured by God. Copyright Adam Bennett 2009. More articles are available at http://godward-thoughts.blogspot.com/ Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |