Tears in a Bottle

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the past.  Being a journaler for many years I went and pulled one from 20 years ago off the shelf.  That was a particularly trying time in my life where I found myself crying out to God over and over for relief from a situation of my own making.

All of those tears.  All of those unseen cries.  All of those moments when I questioned "why." They are all contained in His book.  Every tear that I cried is held in His bottle.  Tears of sadness, tears of anger, tears of relief, tears of sorrow, tears of joy....all of them collected in His bottle and written in His book.

Why does God care about these tears?  Why does He collect each one?  It is because He is a Father who cares about even the smallest detail of our lives.  He sees us when we are hurting and He grieves with us.  We wonder at times why He does not stop the pain.  We wonder why He does not bring an end to the discomfort.  We wonder why He does not remove the thing which is keeping us from walking in His path.  All of these things I have wondered about.  Sometimes I can honestly say I have shaken my fist in anger toward Him.  And yet, He continues to love me and to collect my tears.

My tears always seem to be right at the surface.  At times I have wished I could hold them back.  But, that is not the way I am wired.  I am just so thankful that God in His sovereignty knows the purpose behind all of the pain, all the wounds, all the heartache that we experience in this life.  Some day it will be clear to me.  But, for now I am just going to remember that when I am sad or hurting He is there just as He is when I am feeling happy and joyful.  He loves me with an everlasting love and He loves me enough to collect every tear that I have cried.