A Well-Watered Garden

Have you ever heard the old 50's tune, "Big Girls Don't Cry?" No, not your era? Okay what about the 80's song, "Gonna Harden My Heart?" Maybe, but most likely you've heard the most recent by Fergie also called "Big Girls Don't Cry." Believe it or not there are plenty of other songs throughout the decades that seem to bring the message that crying is something only weak people do. Especially when you have no good reason to cry! So often I heard my parents say, "Stop that crying or I'll give you something to cry about!" So for most of us, it's pretty easy to grow up with the message embedded in us that crying is somehow wrong or at least sends a message to others that we're a weanie & we don't handle life well.


But I'd like to shine a little light on this area in hopes that it might set someone free. Years ago I made the discovery through my relationship with Jesus that crying is both a truly beautiful & cleansing thing to do, for women & men alike. Crying actually reveals, depending on the timing, our weakness & our great strength. It is authentic humanity in action & illuminates the truth that you possess a heart & soul.

For over 21 years I've researched & observed people & their feelings about crying. And honestly crying has gotten a pretty bad wrap. Personally, I cry very easily. Even a sad or touching commercial can have me "boohooing!" But in my teens and early twenties I literally despised crying with a passion. Because whenever I cried, especially if I felt there was no good reason or others could see me, I felt stupid. I think many times if we grow up with any level of dysfunction in our upbringing & those around us felt threatened or angered by our tears - as a result we received the negative message that only babies, kids and weak-minded people weep.

So does the Bible mention crying, weeping and sobbing? Yes quite a bit actually. A well-known man of the Bible, King David -aka "A man after God's own heart" cried so much he mentions it over & over in the portions of scripture he wrote. Here are several verses to get you more familiar:
Psalm 30:5 Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 126:5 They who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing.
Psalm 56:8 You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle -- are they not in Your book?
Psalm 18:6 In my distress [when seemingly closed in] I called upon the Lord and cried to my God; He heard my voice out of His temple (heavenly dwelling place), and my cry came before Him, into His [very] ears.

What awesome news! The Lord hears our cries! He cares so much about our tears He puts them in a bottle! 
So what are some reasons that we might find ourselves tearing up or even weeping heavily?

•Overwhelming Joy

•Pain - Emotional or Physical 

•Motive/Reason Unknown

Emotional pain comes in different forms:

•Grief

•Fear

•Disappointment

•Weariness or exhaustion

•Lonliness

•Pride/Ego

•Rejection

•Selfishness/Manipulation

There are quite a few reasons people cry but what about when you find yourself crying and you have no clue why? That's when we really feel silly huh? But I would like to suggest to you that is exactly when you should allow yourself the time & space to release your soul to experience a cleansing process of renewal. I sense very strongly that God is working through us as well as in us during those times. If we believe & know His Spirit lives in us then we should be totally accustomed to this way of living - it's part of our calling & our purpose, no matter how difficult it is to understand. It's during those times I myself feel closer to Him than ever - His overwhelming Presence taking me over to work His will in the earth. It brings Him joy when we surrender our emotions in this way.

One last scripture I leave you, Romans 8:26-27- "So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaning a too deep for utterance..."

Not all the time, but sometimes when we feel like crying & yet have no clue as to the reason - yes, it could be hormones maybe but it could be the Spirit of God within us moving us to a place of intercession for others in this earth who are in pain & in need. You've been looking for a place for God to use you. And here it is. There's nothing more loving & powerful than praying for others - laying down everything to care for people you may have never even met. 

"....And you shall be like a well-watered garden & like a spring of water whose waters fail not." Isaiah 58:11

God bless you as you seek Him & His will with all your heart!

~DustyFaith