Today, as I was reading Psalm 56, verse 8 drew my attention:

8 You have noted my lamentation; put my tears into your bottle; * are they not recorded in your book?

A friend of mine gave me a pottery jar one day. It’s replica of a piece that women used in ancient times, and what they would do is this. As the men would go out fighting wars, when the women would cry over their men being gone, they would cry into the pot. And then, when the men came back, supposedly they could show their tears to their beloved as a sign of much they missed then and how loved they were.

I think that’s a great story about love and longing and that is what I think of when I read that passage today.

We have a God that loves us enough that no only does He notice our tears, but He gathers them up in His bottle. We have a God that loves us enough that our tears matter to Him.

Sometimes we can let our feelings fool us into thinking that God is only there during the good times.

That only when things are going great that His presence is with us.

That only the laughter is blessed.

That only happiness counts.

Today, we see that God gathers our tears. God knows our pain. God cares for our hurts.  God knows our longings. God mends our hearts.

God is not just god of the good and the easy. God is not just god of the carefree and the happy.  God is not just god of the easy valley and smooth road.

He is God, even when we walk through the shadow of death. He is the God when the tornado comes and the oil slick is headed our way.

He is God, even in the tears.

Today, He will gather up our tears. Because they are precious to Him. Because we are precious to Him.