Lately I have heard several people tell me they don’t want to come to services because they are so sad and upset that they will just cry all the way through the service. Now here is a feeling with which I strongly sympathize. I cannot count the number of services through which I have cried, often uncontrollably. Sometimes the feelings which brought on these tears were so strong I had to walk out to avoid completely disrupting the service. Sometimes I was able to allow the tears to fall silently as emotions threatened to overwhelm me. Sometimes I knew ahead of time the service would be hard because those emotions were still new and raw. Sometimes, I was caught completely off- guard by a comment, a line in a song, a verse, or even someone coughing.
Crying is not a sign of weakness. Throughout history mankind has wept for numerous reasons. Some, like Ahab, wept for selfish reasons, some, like King David, over the sickness or death of a child. The prophets of old wept over the condition of God’s people. God wept over the condition of His people. Jesus wept over the loss of his friend Lazarus and because he truly didn’t want to endure the suffering and death, he knew he was set to face.
We are a family. If we cannot weep, especially uncontrollably, with each other; with whom can we weep? We don’t judge each other; we only want to ease your pain. When you weep in services, you can rest assured that God has given all of us to you for your support and comfort.
Revelation 21:4 – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Don’t avoid services because you are hurting. Come, let us help you bear that burden which seems unbearable. “A joy shared is doubled while a burden shared is halved.”