2024年9月8日 牧者之言

Elinda West

        We are reading some scripture today about Jesus’ weeping!  I am so touched by tears, but I’m even more moved by Jesus’ tears and what that means!  We know what Jesus has done for us and we’ve already believed and are so grateful that we want to live for Him every day and share the Good News of Jesus with everyone who will listen! Especially our family members! In Luke 19: 41-42 Jesus is coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday the week before his crucifixion.  As he approaches Jerusalem, he sees the city and we read that Jesus wept over the city. Jesus feels sorrow that his people didn’t recognize who He really was and missed the chance to have eternal peace. They were blind to the truth. The essence of sin is blindness and ignorance. People still are blind to the truth.

When I was 9 years old, I came under great conviction of sin for 3 days. I was miserable and I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t understand it.  I believe that it is significant that my conviction of sin was heavy for 3 days. Our church was having a REVIVAL meeting, and the pastor was preaching the gospel every night. My mother noticed I was being very quiet and troubled during those days.  I was not sleeping well in fact I was so afraid I would die and not go to heaven. My mother talked with me and took me to visit the pastor.  One night during the revival meeting during the singing the pastor asked if anyone would like to come and invite Jesus to come into their heart. I was so nervous, but I couldn’t wait any longer …I walked down to take the pastor’s hand and told him I wanted to believe in Jesus. I cried a lot of tears that night….my tears were my sorrow over my sin and immediately when I said YES to Jesus, I felt the most wonderful PEACE in all my life. I can still remember that moment so clearly. It was the first time I experienced the “peace that passes all understanding” I knew Jesus forgave me and I received Jesus into my life. The tears of sorrow over my sin became tears of joy over my salvation!

There was another time I want to share about that I shed tears that was very meaningful to me.  We had been in Taiwan for about 2 years and my father passed away from cancer.  It was the first time I experienced such a great loss of someone very dear to me. I could not return to America to attend the funeral. Our missionary friends had a service in their home to comfort me and Ron and our boys. They invited our Chinese Church friends and pastor.  It was early in the morning, about 5 A.M., of course there were a lot of tears on that day. I expected I would cry, and I expected my missionary family would cry and it comforted me.  But I was most moved by our Chinese Church brothers and sisters who came, and tears were coming down their face as they took my hand and expressed their grief with me.  It was like they knew my father, but they didn’t.  It was such a beautiful comfort to me to see their love.  We had only been in Taiwan for 2 years and yet their love was so real and comforted me so much.

Sometimes our tears come in deep sadness, sometimes in overwhelming pressure and circumstances.  Sometimes our tears come when other people cry. Sometimes our tears are happy tears.  My mother told me that my daddy cried on that night I surrendered to Jesus.  She also told me daddy cried on my wedding day. These were happy tears! I never saw my daddy shed those tears.  He was very private. But I’m thankful my mother shared with me about daddy’s tears because it assured me of his deep love.

Tears can be such an expression of love! Great love! When we read today about Jesus shedding his tears, we are overwhelmed that God loves us so much. He is a God we can trust when we hurt, when we feel frustrated, overwhelmed. When we suffer, we can have God’s arms around us and our tears fall on His shoulder.  Praise the Lord!  When Jesus’ good friend Lazarus died, we see in our scripture that “Jesus wept.”  This is the shortest bible verse in the bible. It is significant with only 2 words! Why did Jesus cry when he knew he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead?  I think he was weeping because his friends were hurting.  We can identify with Mary and Martha; we can see their hurt and grief! “IF ONLY YOU HAD BEEN HERE…Mary said.”  Maybe by his tears he was saying, “I’m sorry I had to let you go through this.” It didn’t matter that the pain would soon be over.  The pain of his friends mattered to him.  Jesus hurts with us. Even though he knows better days are coming, He hurts with us today. Wherever we are… at home, at our desk, in our car, beside the hospital bed, standing in front of the tombstone. He weeps with us. Because our pain is real.  That is LOVE. This is a God who loves us so much. We can trust Him no matter what we experience! Isn’t it amazing that our Creator created us with a way to express our emotions in such a tender way with tears coming from our eyes. Our tears speak words that cannot be said! They are another gift of God’s Grace to us.

What are we focused on when we face sorrow? Am I focused on what I feel God SHOULD have done differently? Or am I anchored by the truth of how very deeply he loves me and that He is with me?  God’s tears remind us that God cares. He remembers every sorrow, every tear.  When King David was going through a dark time, he said in Psalms 56:8, “You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle (list my tears on your scroll) (or your wineskin …CHINESE TRANSLATION says put my tears in your leather bag). We don’t understand God’s ways sometimes, the things he allows but we should pray the Holy Spirit impresses on our heart to the deepest level that God loves us with an everlasting love.  The Lord never intended for us to live in a broken world full of wars, suffering, and loss. In the story of Lazarus, we are caught up in what is about to happen and how Jesus is going to change everything… we might miss the middle part of this story. Jesus stops to weep with Mary and Martha.  He knew he had the power to fix this. He knew what he was about to do but he took the time to stand near Mary and Martha and grieve with them.  He met them in their grief.  He also loved Lazarus dearly.  Since he knew he was about to bring Lazarus back to life, there had to be more to his tears. He wept because those around him had great heartache. Some people say He wept over the brokenness in this world. Maybe He wept for the fall of creation, he wept over the heartbreak of death. It’s not supposed to be this way. We can only imagine this might be going through Jesus’ mind.  There is going to be a day when Jesus comes back and restores everything.  He will wipe away every tear from our face.  He will make all things new again. He has loved us with an everlasting love and with lovingkindness he has drawn us to Himself! Amen! PRAISE THE LORD!

(Mrs. Elinda West’s sharing at 5:00 am early morning prayer on August 29, 2024)