God’s Bottle of Tears
Dear Friend,
I am so grateful to have been brought up in a Christian home where reading the Bible was encouraged and where I was nurtured in my faith. I have a love for God’s Word which is grounded in my Christian upbringing.
When going through difficult times, my go to book in the Bible is the Book of Psalms. I love the raw honesty with which the psalmists write and so often they express in written word what I am feeling in my heart.
For many years now I have loved the following verse which is found in Psalm 56.
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. (v8, NLT)
The Voice Translation puts it this way:
You have taken note of my journey through life, caught each of my tears in Your bottle. (v8a)
I find so much comfort in this verse, especially as the journey right now is hard going. What a precious thought that God has collected each of my tears, he’s caught them all. My tears, which are many, are safe in his bottle.
For me, it’s an indication that God is close beside me on my journey, close enough to catch the tears that run down my face.
This verse also tells me how much God cares for me, for my pain and my sadness. He sits with me in my pain and allows my tears to fall. My tears are special to him and out of his care for me he collects them all.
He sees my tears and my pain and he understands. Isaiah refers to Jesus as “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.” (Isaiah 53:3, NLT) If anyone knows what it means to suffer and experience deep grief, it is Jesus, the Son of God.
In my imagination I see a beautiful bottle – like a special perfume bottle, intricately decorated, with incredible patterns all over it. And God keeps it just for me. I can also see a room in heaven with shelves upon shelves full of bottles, each unique and individual, made specifically for holding our tears. A bottle for each one of us.
I don’t know what you are going through right now. You may feel like no one sees the pain you are going through. You may feel alone in your sorrow and that no one cares or understands. You may be crying on your bed alone at night or trying to hold in your tears, feeling like you need to be strong and that crying is a weakness.
Can I tell you that you are not alone in your pain. That crying is not a weakness and you don’t need to keep all your tears in. You are not on your own. This verse tells me that God sees you right now. He sees and he cares about what is causing you so much pain and distress. You can be honest with him and you can cry your tears. He is there for you. Not one of the tears you have cried, or will cry, are ever forgotten by God. He keeps each of them. He knows and he understands. You don’t need to be embarrassed or ashamed of your tears with him. You can let them all flow and receive healing and comfort from him in the process. You can be yourself with him. You don’t need to pretend any longer.
To Think About:
- Spend some time with God meditating on Psalm 56:8. What does God want you to know? What is he saying to you? If you journal, write about it. If you are creative, why not draw a picture of God’s bottle which is holding your tears.
- What does it mean to you to know that he has collected all of your tears in your bottle?
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