WHY TEARS MUST FLOW...
Not so long ago, I was praying, siting in my prayer chair. I had been in an intense trial that had gone on for some time. Suddenly I was aware Jesus had knelt down in front of me, and was washing my feet. It took the Holy Spirit to keep that pride in me from pulling away, "this was Jesus, my beloved Jesus, and He was washing my feet. How can allow the God of all to wash my feet"! Then I remembered the scripture...“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” The tears began to flow intensely as I sat there overwhelmed by what was happening. I heard in my heart, that the LORD was washing the world, the dirt of the trial, off my feet. I sat there...and I let those tears flow.
Often we don't really fully grasp what takes place in these Holy Spirit times. I have noticed that it can often be months later when we start to contemplate what happened in a Holy Spirit moment like this, that the truth hits us. The closest deep Hebrew word for the idea of God Himself washing the disciples feet is 'rachatz'. It carries the dual meaning of thorough washing and spiritual purification leading toward holiness. To wash thoroughly or immerse, to make and maintain purity in a spiritual sense, cleaning that prepares for holiness. I believe that day I entered a new season of my life with Jesus. I also believe those tears that flowed, immersed me in a new revelation of my beloved Jesus.
One day I will talk more about this particular moment, but today I would like to focus on the tears that fell. The word (dimah) meaning "to weep" or "shed tears". It refers to the actual droplet that forms in the eye when emotions overwhelm the heart, encompassing sorrow, grief, deep joy, or earnest supplication ref: Bible Hub. The plural form is (demaot), and it appears frequently in poetic and prophetic texts, especially in Jeremiah, Psalms, and Lamentations. The tears I have experienced, and have often experienced in the presence of Jesus, come through the overwhelming revelation of who Jesus is. Let's look at some scriptures.
Revelation 21:4 — “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" This is our gracious gentle Jesus. In the vision of the new heaven and new earth, where Jesus declares, “I am making everything new"! Tears flow as we rest in a knowing that, He is The One, who indeed can and will make everything knew...we cry as our longing has been heard, and this absolute, is made known to us. In Revelation 7:17 — “God will wipe away all tears from their eyes", we cry because Jesus does not only make everything new again, He will also personally wipe away our tears. This earlier promise anticipates the same final comfort, showing the Lamb (Jesus) leading His people to life. We see such overwhelming love that it can not be measured or even spoken, and yet we have a God given desire in our whole being for release of this deep emotion, and we see water flow up from within us, and are told this is then gently wiped by the hand of God, and kept in a bottle. Oh the depth of meaning within this bottle of tears.
“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.” Psalm 56:8, King David expresses deep distress, fear, and trust in divine care. The bottle holding tears, speaking to us that no pain, grief, or suffering goes unnoticed by God. We also see tears point to intimacy with God. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, collecting tears symbolized profound emotional connection. The psalm uses this image to portray God as intimately aware of human sorrow. Justice and restoration is also seen, as suffering is not meaningless; it will be acknowledged and ultimately addressed.
So who ends all sorrow, Jesus does, fulfilling Isaiah 25:8. Jesus himself is very familiar with sorrow. In John 11:35 we see Jesus himself wept. His love for Lazarus, and those who love him, bought out Divine compassion in Jesus, in the form of tears. He then called Lazarus out of the tomb, and "wiped every tear away', as they rejoiced in Lazarus coming back to life. In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus also engaged in love and forgiveness and restoration .....and, in a women's tears, as that women washed His feet with her tears. Imagine how the Holy Spirit used those tears that day. Those tears fell from that women onto Jesus's feet, from a deep, deep place. She had felt love from Jesus like no one had ever given her. The very person of Jesus lavishing her with His love and forgiveness, caused tears to flood, that told the tale that, "one who has been forgiven much, loves much".
We are not the only ones that cry out to the Father with deep deep tears. Jesus also offered prayers, "with loud cries and tears" to the Father in Hebrews 5:7, again showing us His full participation in our sufferings. We see that through forgiveness and through Jesus's tears himself...a blessed road was paved to our salvation. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says — “Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation.”
So tears must fall. Yahweh has graciously and lovingly given us tears that flow as our Holy Spirit softens our heart. As we repent with all our heart, it gets messy, yet oh so beautiful. Tears expose us. Tears reveal us. Tears develop and grow us. Tears humble us. Tears reveal our love for The One, who loved us first. When our eyes fill with tears, we must allow them to flow. Allow the Holy Spirit to heal us. Allow God to do His redemptive work. Maybe they are as salty as the sea, and sting our pride for a reason. Let pride go. Let Holy Spirit flow.
EVENING - Meditation
Spend some time tonight meditating on the verses in this mornings devotional. And let those tears flow.