THIS I BELIEVE:  GOD COUNTS OUR TEARS

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Psalm 51:5-6, 8

My enemies make trouble for me all day long; they are always thinking up some way to hurt me!  They gather in hiding places and watch everything I do, hoping to kill me. . . .  You know how troubled I am; you have kept a record of my tears.  Aren’t they listed in your book?

The writer of the 51^st Psalm is deeply troubled.  He recognizes his enemies are all around him.  He knows he is out-numbered.  And so, he cries out to God.  In the middle of his lament he makes a statement, and then asks God a question.  He believes God has gathered up every tear he has shed and placed them all in the record.  And then he asks God, Isn’t this so.

I believe it is so.  I believe God sees each tear we shed and knows each hurt we feel.  He knows, gathers them up and holds them until it is time to reshape what was meant for evil and use it for good.  So beloved, when evil befalls you, when bad things happen, know that God takes hold of it all until it is time to redeem the injury and bless us in ways we cannot imagine.  No tear is wasted, no hurt ignored, it is only “in waiting” for God’s time of redemption and renewal.  May we believe this and may we be blessed.