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| Image Source: Rod Ferbrache |
It says in Psalm 34 “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Therefore none of our tears are wasted or overlooked.
The young married couple had dreamt of the day
When a daughter or son would be born.
At last the time came for the wife to give birth
Though the labour was long, and she worn.
Nothing could stop the joy in their hearts,
As she held the young babe to her breast,
A tear trickled down the young father’s cheek,
As he looked at the infant at rest.
So innocent there, untouched by the world,
With a peace that nothing could shake.
He was choked with emotion, full of pride too,
That he felt his heart would break.
The child quickly grew, and to school she did go,
Her lessons she learnt with ease,
A good sense of humour, well liked in the class,
A person who loved a good tease.
In no time at all university loomed,
With all of the study that meant,
She excelled in her work, a degree was attained,
A career in medicine spent.
As her parents watched on graduation day
Their daughter walk forward so meek,
Their eyes filled with water, a lump in their throats,
And tears trickled down both their cheeks.
One day she arrived at the family home
With a young man they never had seen,
“I’d like you to meet my husband to be”,
She said in a voice so keen.
Dad looked at Mum, Mum spluttered out loud,
“We really had no idea”.
“Oh mummy, we’re headlong in love, you see,
You really have nothing to fear!”
The church was arranged, the outfits bought,
The wedding day quickly arrived.
What a picture she made, their own little girl
Was now somebody else’s bride.
Once again they felt that that tear trickling down,
As they let their daughter go.
On the way home, it struck them so hard,
The trickle turned into a flow.
The parents had brought up their girl in the Lord,
She walked with Him close to her side.
But with pressures of family, career, and time,
She gradually started to slide.
At first, - wasn’t much, just her prayer time got dropped
In an effort to fit it all in.
But before very long, she was staying out late,
And then a young man led her to sin.
How it broke the hearts of her parents close by,
As they saw all their dreams disappear.
It wasn’t for joy, pleasure, or pride
That they ended up shedding a tear.
Like the Prodigal son in the story of old,
‘Twas only when nothing remained
She came to her senses, returned to her home,
Begged forgiveness from those she had pained.
There were tears shed that night, for the lost had been found,
They were gripped in a tight embrace.
It mattered not what the neighbours thought,
Or to the family, had brought disgrace.
Their child was back home, to the ones who had loved,
Throughout this crisis and pain.
Tears were a symbol of the compassion they felt,
But their faces expressed all the strain.
Tears are the rain that waters the soul,
As it passes through seasons which change,
Some filled with such joy, inexpressibly good,
The thought of sorrow seems strange.
But all of us know from personal expense,
That grief comes to each one in turn.
Whether it be the loss of a son,
Or a difficult lesson to learn.
Perhaps it’s our way of coping with pain,
Or compassion, or being a friend.
It never hurts to show that we care,
If a few tears on our loved ones we spend.
When Lazarus died, and Jesus was told
His friend had passed away,
He didn’t pretend He was under control,
Or even call it a day.
He came to Bethany, to the home that He loved,
To the place He had eaten and slept.
It wasn’t the words that He spoke that day –
We remember just “That He Wept”.
He cried tears of sadness, just as we do,
There were times of passion He felt.
Remember that night in the garden alone,
There fell sweat drops of blood where He knelt.
The tears that you shed in secret,
The emotions that run so deep,
He sees every drop, He knows every heart,
And near to His side He will keep-
Those who are hurting, confused, at an end.
He promises always to stay-
Until the time comes, as He says in His Word,
“All tears will be wiped away."
Rod Ferbrache
