I absolutely love the rain! I am most content when the clouds are thick and gray and droplets of rain are falling all about me, illuminating the green of the trees and the grass, making the dark bark of a tree even darker, the paint on a house brighter, the colors of flowers more brilliant. And the sounds…the steady rhythm of the clear beads pattering the ground softly and the occasional tiny melodious chirps of a bird. I enjoy the low rumble of thunder reverberating through the sky, and the sweet smell of the earth and plants that the rain evokes, aromas so deeply fragrant. And the air…so cool and refreshing. To me, the rain makes everything around me come alive. It makes everything feel new again.
Our tears tend to do the same job as the rain. They seem to clear things up—the smog of confusion, the fog of depression, the scorch of a struggle, the weariness of the dried-out terrain of our hearts… They renew, bringing clarity and release—release from the weight of our misery, from the weight of our pain.
King David makes a profound statement about tears in Psalm 30, one that most of us are familiar with: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (vs 5 b) In fact at the end of the Psalm he says, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,… O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.” (vs 11, 12b)
Tears are a part of our lives and the processes we go through, but the good news is that the weeping will not last forever; circumstances will not last forever. Joy, dancing and gladness will come. There will be an end to our difficulties and the Lord God will see us through.
–Katie Botello
