I confess "tears" caught me.
I know tears bring healing.
I know Jesus catches our tears in a bottle.
I did a deep dive.
There are 3 kinds of tears.
1. Reflex tears to remove irritants to protect the eyes.
2. Continuous tears that provide cleansing hydration that nourishes the eyes.
3. Emotional tears that release stress hormones that provide healing as toxins release through them. Crying actually decreases both the heart and breath rate calming our body.
Did you know emotional tears are thicker and stickier because of the chemicals in them?
Wait... tears protect, nourish and heal.
So, Why do we fight crying?
Well, Greg says I cry all the time. Eeck! Lol!
This made me ask, "What are the types of emotional tears that I cry?"
In order as they came to me...
Angry, sad, frustrated, mad...
Silent, lonely...
Happy, joyful, awe, bliss, laughing...
Surrender, fearful...
Release, relief...
Compassion, hope...
Grief...
Blessing...
Connection, affection, bonding, Identifying...
The word "Identifying" made me think of the shortest verse.
Jesus wept! (John 11:35). He identified and cried just knowing someone was grieving.
There have been moments in my life when I could not cry. The depth of of the moment was either protected or frozen. Probably, in some circumstances the protection was so I could get through it. And the frozen moments were my own brokenness needing a break through. But what always allowed those tears to eventually flow was identifying with another. It was the incredible gift of empathy. It is was in this holy connection that release would finally come and healing release would flow through my tears.
I would discover...
Comfort
Binding
Release
Balance
Connection
Dancing
Healing
Fellowsip
Love
Love is known through tears!
I love that God keeps track of every single tear. I imagine His unseen bottle gently catching my tears cascading down my cheeks. They fall in His bottle carefully captured. I imagine His bottle being biggger than any ocean because our tears are many for the human race yet small enough to be unseen and not felt. His love is shown by His holy collection of tears. A memory of our story. Precious enough to be His holy keepsake. Go read Psalm 56:8.
God sees every tear and hears every cry (Ps. 34:15).
God will wipe away every tear (Rev 21:4).
God will bless and comfort those who mourn (Matt. 5:4).
Sow in tears and you will shout with joy (Ps. 126:5)
He will turn mourning into dancing (Isaiah 61:3).
I guess praying for "tears" is quite a good word. God ahead and let them flow! Male and female alike go ahead and cry. Remember, the gift of healing that each tear brings and that God is keeping a record in His book and storing them in His bottle.
How precious are the tears of His children! Why, because He loves you!
