Tears in a Bottle
How precious are our tears!
Have you ever stopped to consider that God is keeping track of all your (and my) sorrows? Not a tear falls that goes unnoticed. God has been present every step of your life and mine. He knows the heartaches we have endured. As we have called upon God in our darkest of times, as tears have cascaded down our cheeks, in his great compassion, God has taken notice. David recorded in Psalm 56:8,
“You (God) keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (NLT).
What a magnificent image of God’s love for us! While being hunted down by Saul, David was running from place to place. Desperate for his life, he cried out from the depths of his soul, through tears, to God – the only One who could transform his future from impending death to life. His trust in God’s faithfulness and care gave him hope.
Most all of us have shed tears over a situation that seemed hopeless. I know I have. There have been tears of grief, tears of frustration and tears because of betrayal to mention a few. Yet thinking about God being so intimately involved in my life (and yours) that he could catch my tears, reminds me of just how close God is all the time. I am never away from his presence. God knows me intimately and my tears (and yours) are important to him; so important, in fact, that he keeps track of them. God always has our back!
Life challenges us. One day everything seems fine and the next we have a mountain of misery to climb. When this happens, tears often well up and overflow, stinging our eyes. Like David, we can trust God’s love and imagine our tears being caught by God in his special bottle. The tears are no longer ours but are being touched by God’s heart of compassion. What comfort it is to know that God, who is as close as our heartbeat, who understands our pain, is walking with us on our journey and is always at work on our behalf to turn our mourning into dancing and our grief into joy!
God collects my tears in His bottle and writes them in His book.
One day He will redeem everything I have been through.
My story will end well.