A Prayer to See through Our Tears
By Meg Bucher
“When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up in him, and he was deeply troubled.
‘Where have you put him?’ he asked.
They told him, ‘Lord, come and see.’
Then Jesus wept.” - John 11:32-35 NLT
Jesus wept. He felt deep anger and was deeply troubled. His friends were hurting. He was hurting. Fully human, The loss of a friend and all of the feelings wrapped around the human experience of that moment enveloped Him, just like us. He prayed through tears.
It’s so important to understand the humanity of Jesus. Because when we do, we truly embrace the lyric, ‘What a friend I have in Jesus.’ It’s indescribable how it feels to know someone understands everything we are feeling. And yet, He isn’t us; He is fully God. So, in our crumbling heap moments, we know He will sit with us …yes. But we also know He is faithful and will not leave us weeping for long. For joy comes in the morning. The Lord’s mercies are new every day. Pray through the tears, knowing the friend you have in Jesus.
Let’s pray:
Father,
Crying is difficult. It takes a lot of physical energy. Especially the really ugly cries, when the sobs take over our bodies and slump in defeat to their direction. But the wonderful thing about tears is the way they rinse off the brunt of the pain, at least for a little while. There is a release in letting our emotions and thoughts burst out at Your feet, our great God, who can handle the ugliest cry and most dramatic flip out we can muster. You are not rattled by us. In fact, You know us so well. As we smile and nod knowingly at our children when they are upset, wisely knowing from age they will be ok even when they aren’t so sure, You, too, smile and hold us together as we fall apart in our own strength.
God, in Jesus, we have a friend in us and with us who has the power to resurrect our lives from every dire situation, from every notion of despair and ache of pain. Yet, even when it persists, the physical and emotional pain, we have hope and joy, peace and love, which feels like floating on a cloud in an out-of-body experience at times as we let You lead us out of the muck and the mire of our sadness and anger. Joy can be a difficult concept for us to understand, God. It’s hard to have hope when we are feeling so hopeless. Help us to see You through our racing minds and emotions, to find peace and calm through the hope and joy we have in Jesus.
So often, we try to minimize pain and sadness, missing the cue our tears are trying to tell us. The wisdom in breaking down comes from getting back up. Every mistake, hardship, and hard thing in life has the potential to develop our character, faith, and fortitude. Tears make us wise, so why, God, do we try so hard to hold them in …and hide them away? Help us to fall at Your feet, God, as Martha fell at the feet of Jesus. Remind us, Jesus, You are fully human, and You don’t need us to pull ourselves together in Your presence. You are with us as we fall apart and are the glue that holds us together in hard times.
Father, bless our lives with Your perspective when we are trying to navigate hard days. When it feels overwhelming and impossible, help us to remember Jesus weeping for His friend. God, give us the wisdom to listen patiently to Your every word, direction, and movement in our lives. It won’t always be fair. It won’t always feel good. But God, we know there is joy and hope to be embraced every single day. Help us to find it as we pray through our tears. We love you. Help us to remember that You are a personal God, who, through Christ Jesus, we can come to freely …forever. God we ache for the time there is no more pain when Jesus returns to right all things …including our emotionally trying moments on this earth! Until then, what hope do we have? What a joy in Jesus. Move our hearts to remember to pray through the tears.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Cecilie_Arcurs
Editor's Note: We're proud to announce we've just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You'll soon be able to subscribe to receive Your Nightly Prayer via email, or as a podcast, but for now you can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer. We hope it's a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on who God is.
Related Resource: Jesus Calling - Stories of Faith
Kerry Washington. Andrea Bocelli. Reba McEntire. Mark Wahlberg. Tony Dungy. Matthew McConaughey, What do all of these people have in common? They are all people of faith who have leaned on God in both the good and challenging times—and they’ve shown up to tell their story of faith on The Jesus Calling Podcast. The Jesus Calling Podcast provides a place for people from all walks of life to share the heartaches, joys, and divine moments that keep them going.
Inspired by Sarah Young's classic devotional book, the Jesus Calling podcast has brought encouragement and peace to millions. New episodes drop every Thursday! Listen today on LifeAudio.com or wherever you find your podcasts.
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Originally published Friday, 14 June 2024.
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