For years I have heard people say Jesus wept when he saw his friend Lazarus dead because he grieved the loss of his beloved friend. But long ago I heard a man say Jesus didn’t cry about the friend he knew he would raise from the dead but that he grieved about the people’s lack of faith in Him. Regardless of why Jesus cried, and regardless of why you and I cry, there is something Jesus did when he wept that serves as a powerful lesson and example for us all.
Jesus did not stay stuck in his crying. Jesus cried, He stopped crying, and He moved on with his life loving and serving God the Father in heaven and loving and serving others in need of Him.
Sometimes we cry and get stuck in our tears. We drown in our sorrow. We get swallowed up in our sadness and can’t move past it. We focus on the reason for our tears and don’t move beyond it. We pity ourselves. Our tears become a bondage. We are driven by them. We live our lives based upon them. Sadness becomes our god. We let it rule us. Tears are like an idol. We think and speak and act based on our crying and what we cry about. Sadness becomes our way of life. There is little and sometimes even nothing outside of our crying. I did this for YEARS.
Please do what God has taught me to do. What Jesus did. I cry when I need to cry, I bring my heart and tears to the Lord, I look to Him and His Word, and I trust Him to give me the comfort, healing, strength, and wisdom I need to press on loving and serving Him with all my heart and loving and serving others in His name. And so it is I press on!
If you are in bondage to tears and sorrow, turn to the Lord, pour out your heart to Him, cry out to Him, receive His love and tenderness, and His wisdom and direction, His comfort and healing. And ask Him for the strength to carry on loving & serving Him with all your heart and loving and serving others for His glory, AMEN!
“And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.” John 13:34-35 NKJV
I encourage you to read John 13:14-45 in the Bible to read the whole story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead – and about how he moved on from His weeping!