In deep compassion, the Father puts all our tears in his bottle. He does it for Jesus’s sake, the one He sent as a man of sorrows into this groaning world. While He was here, Jesus wept, mourning death, brokenness, and sin, and then conquering them by his cross. Now in Jesus’s name, God hears all our laments and helps us in every struggle.

While some of us don’t cry easily and drops of water only rarely appear at the corners of our eyes, hearts can be drenched with hurt. Whether the illness of a friend, the pain of mankind’s brutality, the tired fight against sin, the confusion of life, or simply the accumulation of stress to a breaking point—tears, real and unwept, have streamed down every face.

What gain is there in tearful suffering? Some opine, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But Scripture gives more wisdom than the mottoes of man.

From Scripture we know our struggle against sin will continue until our last breath. We know God disciplines those He loves. We know we don’t walk through the fire and water alone. We know God works all things for the good of those who love him. We know that the Christian’s suffering is inevitable.

Scripture depicts a world groaning as in the pains of childbirth and waiting for the final deliverance. On that day, John tells us, eyes long wet with mourning will be made dry as God wipes away every tear. No tears is a beautiful image of hope, for an accurate portrait of life on this side of the grave is the red eyes and puffy faces of the mourner. Yet one day sad tears will be obsolete—perhaps there will be only tears of joy as we rejoice in the presence of the Lamb.

On that day will we remember the vale of tears from whence we came? Will our memory of this life’s pain be wiped away too? Consider David’s words in Psalm 56:8,

Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

Intriguing to think that there is a tally somewhere of our tears. Is every heartache remembered by God, recorded for posterity? Might we page through his book one day and reread all our old laments?

In Psalm 56:8 David requests that God not forget his suffering and tears. The psalm’s title notes his circumstances: “When the Philistines seized him in Gath.”

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