A dear friend shared with me that he cried himself to sleep every night for years; not knowing whether his estranged addicted child was dead or alive. He cried so much that his pillow was wet when he awakened every morning. The following scriptures attest to the hope that arise out of his incessant cries to God! His child did ultimately return, much like the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15 did.
11 To further illustrate the point, he told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 When the younger told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die!’ his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there wasted all his money on parties and prostitutes. 14 About the time his money was gone a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. 16 The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the swine looked good to him. And no one gave him anything.17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired men have food enough and to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.”’20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming, and was filled with loving pity and ran and embraced him and kissed him.21 “His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you, and am not worthy of being called your son—’22 “But his father said to the slaves, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. And a jeweled ring for his finger; and shoes! 23 And kill the calf we have in the fattening pen. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has returned to life. He was lost and is found.’ So the party began. Luke 15:11-24 (NLT)
“When we cry out for help to God, he hears our cry. He sends angels who get us out of (our) Egypt.” Numbers 20:16, (Msg.)
I called to God, to my God I cried out. From his palace he heard me call; my cry brought me right into his presence— a private audience! 2 Samuel 22:7 (Msg.)
As each night watch begins, get up and cry out in prayer. Pour your heart out face-to-face with the Master. Lift high your hands. Beg for the lives of your children who are starving to death out on the streets. Lamentations 2:19 (Msg.)
“His anger lasts for only a moment. But his favor lasts for a person's whole life. Sobbing can remain through the night. But joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5, (NIRV)
Tears are a conduit of the spirit. They’re the integration of soul and body, where what’s going on inside is authentically expressed outside. Often, you don’t even need words when you have tears. The presence of the tears themselves become a way to communicate without trying to form it into language. They are beautiful in God’s sight.
The older and more tender I get; the more present tears are. When I cry or feel those emotions, I know it’s evidence of brokenness and empathy. Of course, there is a stark contrast between how we respond to tears and how the weight of scripture teaches as to how God answers any cry for help.
Instead of responding to a cry for help, we tend to fall short of compassion. Our reply is to classify people and pre-judge their motives. Why! I think part of why we like to pigeon-hole people and put them into boxes is because we don’t have to know them. All we have to know is what the label is and then we can excommunicate the label or annihilate the label without having to get to know a real person. This is why relational formulas don’t seem to work—because they operate on the notion of people as equations to be solved instead of mysteries to be explored.
“God is love and love that stoops is called grace. The gospel of grace is really the gospel of his love. Grace is what God’s love looks like from our side. Grace is love come down.” “The Gospel in Ten Words, by Paul Ellis.
21 Yet there is one ray of hope: 22 his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. 24 My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him. 25 The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him. 26 It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:21-26
Never lose hope! Hold on to God with all your authentic cries. Why? Because hope is the gate to God’s mercy, grace and love. When you receive the harvest of patient hope you have the grace to keep going, no matter what the circumstances are. My prayer is that we place faith into our loving God. He alone sees and hears our cries perfectly. He grasps better than we exactly what our need for help is.
Ron Ross
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