He Who Wept

I was listening to Jeremiah today, and it struck me how often he talks about his own crying. I've always heard him called the weeping prophet, and I know he wrote a long lament as a eulogy to Jerusalem. But it suddenly struck me today just how often he mentions his tears. In fact, he cried so much that God actually told him to dry up. All the crying in the world was not going to change his reality, and the reality of Jerusalem's impending doom.

It made me mindful of my own tears. I'll admit I cry easily, for any number of reasons. I have been known to cry over Hallmark commercials and Wal-Mart openings (well, not really that second one). I seldom cry for long when I'm sad, as I see no purpose in it. Sadness is the result of a broken heart, and I prefer to let Jesus bind up my broken heart and heal its wounds. I'd really rather laugh and be happy, but sometimes my happiness produces tears of their own. Today, I was listening to some old-timey music in the car and just began to cry along with the testimony of the songs. Later I wept to the words of a powerful sermon I have listened to numerous times.

There is a time and place for tears, or so says Solomon in Ecclesiastes. But I'm also reminded of the Psalmist who said, "Weeping lasts for the night; but joy comes in the morning." Even Jeremiah knew that God would turn his mourning into joy and comfort him. And in eternity, when we dwell in that city where the lamb is the light, John saw a time and a place where there will be no more crying, no pain, no parting, no death, and no more tears. For God and His Son would wipe away ever tear!