Tears of Joy

Often my post titles seem to be words of contradiction.  My thoughts about tears of joy are many & Pastor Mark Loughridge from Ireland puts it into words for me (His words are in violet.)  There is something deeply moving about tears. We see someone weeping & it can have quite an effect on us. The stronger the person who weeps the more powerful the effect is upon us. We are more affected by seeing a man weeping than a child. We are told of only three occasions when our Lord wept. This is not just at a great man weeping, that would be touching enough, but here we see the Son of God weeping.
Tears allow us to see what really matters to a person. It is no different with Jesus. The first instance of our Lord's tears is when His close friend Lazarus has just died & Jesus has gone to see Lazarus' sisters. We find this in John 11:33-36
When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
"Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.
Jesus wept.    Jesus is not weeping because Lazarus is dead. He knows that in just a few moments He will raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus knew that in a few minutes Mary’s tears would be turned into inexpressible joy, that delight would wash away the memories of sadness. There is love made silent through tears. The quietness of sympathy.
The momentary sadness of His people matters to Him. Here He weeps at His loved ones having to suffer. Here we see the beauty of Christ's tenderness. Here we see Jesus' love for His people in the midst of suffering. The Saviour who offers Himself to us is a most tender caring &  feeling Saviour. He knows what we are going through & He cares. He wants us to bring our troubles to Him.
These past few days I have wept tears of joy in my sorrow because another friend, Lori, has passed on.  There is only one reason I can find joy in this. In spending time with Lori through her life & illness, I am assured that she is with the Lord & I will see her again on The Other Side. The Bible tells us that "we can know that we have eternal life" which I will share in a later post.
Keep His JOY in trials, tears & triumphs is how I sign my emails & many of my correspondence with others.  Lori did this in her life & I try to do the same.  Isaiah 25:8 ...he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces...   This is His promise & God keeps His promises of that I am SURE.