Our Tears Are Precious To God

Are there any collectors out there? Let’s face it, most of us like to collect something. For some, it is stamps, coins, thimbles or comic books. For others, it is angel figurines, stuffed animals or cow knick-knacks. Some people even collect things without realizing they’re collecting them—things like clothes, books or instruments. But did you know that God has a collection too? Yes, that’s right, there is something that God, with all the splendor of Heaven at His fingertips, treasures enough to keep in a special place. It is our tears.

“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book.” Psalm 56:8

There is nothing wrong with shedding a few tears. In fact, there is everything right about it. The psalmist, David, cried. The prophet Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. Even Jesus, while living in this earthly flesh, found it necessary to express His grief through a stream of heartfelt tears (John 11:35). God created us with the ability, and even the need, to cry. And according to the passage above, our tears our precious enough to save.

It’s an interesting concept to think about. I mean, does God save each and every tear? If so, I’d have to believe that some of us (definitely me) would have much bigger bottles than others. And what about the book mentioned in that passage? How does God save tears in a book, or is it possible that the book is a log of every tear we’ve cried and the reason for those tears? In the grand scheme of things, it’s not important how the process works. What is important is that we realize that tears are a language that God understands.

There are times when there are no words to describe our deep hurt, and only tears will suffice. That’s okay. God knows what we’re feeling and what we can’t think to say. Our tears speak to His heart in a way that our mouths never can, and believe it or not, they draw us closer to Him.

“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18

As if there wasn’t enough proof of how precious our tears are to God throughout the Bible, take a look at one of the last mentions of tears in the Word of God. In describing the New Jerusalem, the book of Revelation says,

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:4

This is a list of things that will be no more in that wonderful place, but did you notice that there are three different references to tears in that list? Death is mentioned. Pain makes the cut. But notice the rest: no more tears, sorrow or crying. Aren’t those all related? In fact, aren’t they pretty much the same thing? I believe that God is reminding us in this verse that the sorrows that have plagued us for so long will all be gone. He is informing us that our tears, though precious to Him, will no longer have a place. We won’t need them, for never again will we find ourselves in a place where we cannot express how we feel. And never again will we feel sorrow. It will be a land of eternal joy—a land where tears do not belong.

Which leads me to this question: What happens to God’s collection of tears? Will He keep it? Will He need to? Will we want Him to?

What do you think? Do you have any thoughts, suggestions or ideas about our bottles of tears or the book in which those tears are recorded? If so, I’d love to hear them.