October 31st – November 6th, 2024
VERSE OF THE WEEK
You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle… – Psalm 56:8
The Caring God
Essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat Washington Irving was an early 19th-century storyteller (who authored Rip Van Winkle). He once wrote, “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.” People of ancient times thought tears were sacred. In fact, in ancient Roman tombs, lachrymatories were frequently found, vessels meant to contain tears. Today’s verse states that God has done the same thing with your tears. In the New Living Translation, those words read, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.“ Your tears are of value because they are evidence of your pain – pain He wants to comfort you through. Tears you cry before the throne of God are never wasted; not one of them ever touches the ground, for your God catches them in His precious bottle. If He treasures your tears as priceless and stores them up, how much more does He care for all the other parts of your life? So let Him embrace you and hold you close to Him. His caring is deeper than you can know.
