Connecting During DeploymentSample

Tears Matter to God

I will be surprised if you get through this deployment without any tears. 

Tears when your spouse left. Tears during the long months of separation. Tears at special occasions when your loved one’s presence is especially missed. 

But in order to be strong during deployment we sometimes declare a boastful: “Don’t cry—look on the bright side—you’ve got this!!” But deep inside we know what is deep inside—and we want to cry. 

But tears matter to God. Are you surprised that our Christian faith actually values tears? Instead of trying to overcome them, read these Scriptures and share with your spouse how God views our sorrow:

Psalm 56:8: “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”

2 Corinthians 2:4: “For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.”

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.”

Let yourself be sad. Those tears are precious to God just as you are precious to him. 

But don’t stay there. It is interesting how the psalms are filled with instances where the writer starts by crying out to God, but then turns everything around by proclaiming God’s goodness and faithfulness.

In Psalm 31, for example, the writer laments, “For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away” (verse 10). But then he declares, “But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand” (verses 14-15). 

Trust that the faithfulness of God is the hinge on which our heart turns. Lubricated by tears, we can turn from despair on one side to an almighty God whose love is powerfully unshakeable yet tenderly compassionate. 

And we find hope on the other side.

1. When have you cried during this deployment? Did you sense that God cared about those tears?

2. Think of a time when you have turned to social media or friends or TV when you are brokenhearted or lonely. What does Psalm 119:28 encourage us to do instead?

It’s not easy to walk in faith when you discouraged. Read “Overcoming Discouragement.”