Bottled

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? (Psalms 56:8 KJV)

I read those words last night.  In fact, I was listening to my Bible reading (thank you, You Version, for the free audio Bible!!).  I stopped the reading and returned to that one verse, imagining the bottle that God would make to hold our tears. Then I remembered a photo in my collection.  I do not know the source, but found it appropriate.

I gave no thought to the blog that would accompany the verse and the photo.  As with all of these, they simply come together.  This one did with an e-mail this morning from a dear cousin who wrote:

“While I was driving home, I had to pull off the road because I was crying so much.”

She wrote about why she was crying – over loved ones and specific events in lives.  The same reasons most of us cry.  For lost dreams, plans, hopes and lives.  For those we love and cannot help.  For ourselves, and cannot help, either.

This particular Psalm was written by David before he was crowned King, while Saul remained alive and searching to slay him.  Twice David had opportunity to kill Saul, but could not bring himself to slay the man anointed by God to be Israel’s first king. David has lost his home, his place in the palace, his first wife and is surrounded by “distressed, discontented debtors”, as written in Samuel 22:1-3.

God not only collects our tears and writes a book about us, He is compassionate and will provide comfort.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 KJV)

That does not mean all of our prayers will be answered when and how we expect.  Jesus prayed to God that the cup of pain and sorrow, sin offering and death, might pass, yet He ended that prayer as we should, too:  “Thy will be done.”

True peace comes when we know our lives are in God’s hand, we’ve kept close to him in prayer – both asking and praising – and we’ve heeded His plans for our lives, responding to His will.

Unfortunately, we have not heeded nor responded to all He has asked of us and there are consequences for those errors when we decided our happiness or a few moments of pleasure were more important than His words. Those consequences are painful, and tears flow.

Thank God that He is there, collecting those tears, able to return us to the solid footing of the path He lights for us.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalms 119:105 KJV)