Eternal Perspectives: The Healing Gift of Tears
Studies prove that weeping produces healing of body, soul, and spirit. Not that we should go around crying over every little thing, but we should not hinder our tears. Even Jesus wept on one or more occasions. Tears are truly gifts from God, whether they’re tears of joy or sorrow.
Eternal Perspectives by Sally Bair
The gift of tears
A large oak stood along the fence line during my childhood on our farm. As the oak grew, the fence’s top strand of barbed wire became embedded into the tree trunk until, years later, the cut had healed and left only a scar.
Many trees are injured from lightning strikes or by falling trees. Some are injured by humans. At first, the trees bleed sap to cover their wounds. Once covered, they develop protective, new growth over the injury.
God, who is always involved with His creation, designed the trees to bleed sap. I call it their tears. They weep first and then begin healing their wounds, layer on layer, until they become stronger and more resistant to further injury.
God loves every part of His creation, to the point that He knows when a sparrow falls, as the Bible tells us. During Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem before His crucifixion, the people shouted long and loud in honor of Christ the King. They shouted so much that the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke them. In reply, Jesus told them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:40)
Imagine stones crying. Imagine trees crying. And we already know that animals cry. God has given nature in all forms the ability to express emotion. What a gift!
He’s given us that ability, too. Tears come easily when we hurt. Our hurts may be physical, emotional, or spiritual, but they all bring tears to our eyes—or to our hearts—and God sees every one. In fact, David wrote, “You number my wanderings [and] put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” (Psalm 56:8)
God allows our tears to start the healing of our wounds. Each time we cry, we feel less pain. After a time, we are left with nothing but a scar. He can even remove our scars.
God’s gift of tears is meant not only for our healing but also to draw us closer to Him. He sees every tear we shed and promises to be with us during our recovery. He wants us to talk to Him and listen to Him speak through His Word and Spirit. The closer we remain to Him, the faster we can heal and be used by Him.
Lord, thank You for giving all of us, nature and humanity alike, healing tears. Use us to bring healing to others, through Your Word and prayer, even as Your Son Jesus healed us by His own wounds. In His name we pray, amen.