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              Here’s an interesting bit of trivia:        “Humans are the only species that weep from emotion.”

              In our culture, the shedding of tears is frequently regarded as a sign of weakness particularly so with respect to the male population.  Thus many people supress tears as best they can or apologise when the suppression fails.  It would be interesting to know where and why this perception originated particularly when God highly values our tears.

              In Psalm 56 (NLT) verse eight we read: “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.”

              References to tears appear quite frequently in the scriptures.  Tears were evident in Paul’s ministry, a result of his great love and compassion for his churches.  In II Corinthians 2:4 (NLT) he writes: “I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears.  I didn’t want to grieve you, but I wanted to let you know how much love I have for you.”

  And here is another example from his farewell tour where he writes: “Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you, my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.”

              Tears are also associated with desperate prayer:   In chapter sixteen of Job’s story, we read this in verse twenty: “My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God.”  And in Psalm six verses four to six (NLT) we read this from King David: Return, O LORD, and rescue me.  Save me because of your unfailing love.  For the dead do not remember you.  Who can praise you from the grave?  I am worn out from sobbing.  All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears.   

              But my favourite scriptural reference about tears is from John chapter eleven verse thirty five.  It is the shortest verse in the Bible but perhaps one of the most powerful.  It simply says: “Jesus wept’.  Jesus is confronted with the loss of his friend Lazarus and the grief of the sisters Mary and Martha.  The tears of Jesus shed on this occasion remind us that Jesus was on more than one occasion moved to tears.  It underlines how much he cares for the Lazaruses, the Marys, the Marthas, and people like you and I of this world.

              Secondly our Lord’s example destroys, or should destroy, the cultural concept that the shedding of tears is a sign of weakness when it is really a sign of the strength in our God given ability to love deeply.                                                                        Pastor Dave