John 11:35 "Jesus wept."
I was sitting in my Shakespeare class today when all of the sudden, I felt an overwhelming feeling of stress come over me. I have a mound of homework slowly forming, and for this particular class, no book in order to complete some of this said homework. The clock finally reaches 1:45pm, and I exit, only making one stop to ask my professors if they have the book but then shooting directly for my dorm room. As soon as I walk into my door, I feel a knot in my stomach, causing tears to well up from inside the deepest pits of my spirit. What is wrong with me? There has to be a problem with me if I'm crying for no actual, substantial reason...right? WRONG.
I personally have come to learn recently that crying is not a bad, nor unhealthy thing in itself. I will admit that I have gone to a few counseling sessions in order to get my emotions under control and also learn how to channel them when I feel them sneaking up on me. BUT going to counseling for the mere fact that I'm so emotional does NOT mean that being emotional is not of God because guess what? God created females (and even males to an extent) with the intention of making them tender, soft, compassionate, sweet, and nurturing. There is a difference between being completely dramatic or downright overly-emotional and just having a very gentle and sweet spirit. We humans have the grace from God to be able to grieve certain situations and also weep with joy over good news, and that is a BEAUTIFUL thing, not a messed up, tragic, hopeless, and helpless thing.
Even Jesus had a moment of weeping in the garden of Gethsemane. JESUS. The Savior and the Redeemer. The PERFECT one. Yes, even He wept. When His heart felt broken and sad over His great friend Lazarus's death, He also cried then. The reason is because weeping can actually be so freeing. Take for instance the woman in the Bible in Luke 7:38. "As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them." Wow! Within these verses, the Bible tells us that this woman, a sinner, came to the feet of Jesus and worshiped Him with her TEARS! There was freedom in her releasing tears, and when we release our tears, we also release bondage, chains, heaviness, burdens, and so much more. Another amazing thing is that sometimes, even when we don't understand our emotions or why we are feeling certain ways, God is using us and our tears to intercede for others who don't necessarily have the ability to be reached on such a deep and intimate level! Sometimes our tears aren't even for ourselves! When we lay ourselves at the feet of Jesus and weep, He covers us in His blanket of peace and surrounds us with His wings of protection, letting us know that we don't have to be afraid or worry, but we can just be broken before Him. And the best part is, He uses the broken pieces and the tears to mold us back into something even more amazing than before.
Next time you feel yourself getting very worked up and the water works starting to kick in, just remember that there is a time for sadness, a time for happiness, a time for sorrow and grievances, and a time for joy and dancing. It's okay to let it out and let it go because God sees your tears, holds them in His hands, and smiles because He knows your breakthrough is right around the corner!
I'm glad you wrote this. As a 21 year old man I know I'm not supposed to appreciate crying, but I do. When I feel overwhelmed I cry. Sometimes it's stress, sometimes beauty, and sometimes even witnessing strong emotion in another person can pull tears out of me. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad that this affirmed you and how it's okay to cry. Sometimes I think people get too prideful to show their emotions through tears, but I actually thing the strongest people (unless physically unable to) cry. I hope you continue to be unashamed of any tears you have!
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