RWM SERMON- 05-20-09 I Don't Wanna Cry
By Bishop Rick Wallace
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes....”(Rev. 21:4 and 7:17)
“And the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces....”(Isa. 25:8)
If you are anything like me, you have those moments in which tears begin to well up in your eyes. You make abortive and bootless efforts to suppress the inevitable tide of physically manifested emotions. Tears can be brought on by many ardent and effusive forces. There are tears of regret; when I take a retrospective glance at my life, tears began to flow as I am reminded of the pain that has come to others because of my selfish actions. There are tears of pain. The same retrospection that produces regret also paints the malevolent and inclement portrait of abandonment and heartache. There are tears of Joy, sadness, emptiness and loneliness. Tears are most often associated with negative emotions, so this is what we will address today.
It is a natural human instinct to hold back tears. Nobody wants to cry. I took some time to stop by and tell you that it’s okay to cry, your tears are temporary.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory...”(2 Cor. 4:17)
Jesus promised it, mama confirmed it, and experience has consummated and solidified the fact that this world will bring pain to those that inhabit it. There is no circumvention of the trials and tribulations of this life. You will inevitably take some wrong turns that consequently lead to pain. You will at some point in time experience the heartache brought on by the neglect and betrayal of those you love and hold dear. There will be a time when you will, just as David, say, “In return for my love there are my accusers...”(109:4) There are men that with every ounce of their being attempt to stem the tide of tears that flow as a result of pains that run deep. There are women that have sworn that they will not shed one more tear over a man that has repetitively wounded their emotional stability. Yet, in both instances, these people wake in the morning to find their pillows drenched with tears.
Tears are as natural as the instinct to suppress them. They are a physiological response to invisible emotions; emotions that the majority of us don’t want exposed. In our culture, tears are considered a sign of weakness, especially when it comes to men. However, our emotions were never meant to be suppressed, but expressed. David, Jeremiah, and Jesus all wept. Very few people understand that crying and weeping are part of the healing process. Suppressed emotions are never conducive to proper healing.
The most awesome truth about our moments of weeping is that no matter how hard we try to conceal our tears, our weeping is never a solitary experience.
“And the Lord said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.”(Ex. 3:7)
God acknowledges that He has seen and heard the cries of His people. He establishes the point that He is not some distant God that is cold and aloof toward His people. Exodus 2:23 informs us that as the cries of the children of Israel rang out, God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remembering His promises, God looked upon the children of Israel and acknowledged them. God has promised us that He will never leave nor forsake us. This fact should bring solace to every believer. Though the vault of your emotions has been breached and a medley of emotions cascade through the hollows of your existence, do not despair. No matter how lonely the moment, irrespective to the current darkness, you are not alone.
Not only has God promised never to leave us alone, He has promised to act on our behalf.
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”(2 Chron. 16:9)
“When the enemy comes in like a flood. The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”(Isa. 59:19)
God did not simply acknowledge the children of Israel and their circumstances, He became personally involved.
“So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians...”(Ex. 3:8)
Not only have “I’ heard their cries and seen their oppression, “I” am going to intervene on their behalf. The God we serve is completely responsive to the needs of His people. He does not sit idly by while they face the vicissitudes of life. God responds to those tears with a decisive force, bringing power, joy, and peace.
In fact, it is those moments of mourning, weeping, and crying that God moves most awesomely in the lives of believers. When the pain of the moment has taken control of your life; when the loneliness has consumed you and the manacles of depression has seized hold of you; when no one else seems to care, God hears and God answers. God responded to the cries of Job, David, Jeremiah and more. It was the weeping of Mary and Martha that moved Jesus to tears and prompted the resuscitation of Lazarus. It was the weeping of the nation of Israel that caused God to speak through Ezekiel and promises to bring them up from their graves of despair. God moves in moments of desperation.
Let us look once again at the book of Exodus so that we might closer examine the dynamics of God’s movement in the lives of His chosen. It begins in Chapter 1.
“But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty....Now there arose a new king over Egypt...and he said to his people....come, let us deal shrewdly with them....therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens....and they made them serve with rigor.... Then the King spoke to the midwives...and he said, when you do the duties of a midwife to the Hebrew women, if it is a son, then you shall kill him...”(Ex. 1:7-6)
The God we serve is a “show up” God, and the show up process begins at the moment of need. Up to this point, God had sustained His people through providential care. They had increased abundantly and grew exceedingly mighty, but the moment the Egyptians moved against them, the show up process began. God’s subtle movements are revealed in His providential provisions. There is nothing subtle about the show up process; when God shows up He shows out. He is completely radical in His movement. He leaves no doubt as to who has brought deliverance. Your tears are a visible sign that God is about to bust a move.
Every oppressive move of the Egyptians drew God closer to His people. Every lash of the taskmasters whip, every drop of sweat from the brow of an enslaved Israelite, every vociferous cry of a Hebrew woman brought closer the day that God’s inimitable and unsurpassed power would be displayed on behalf of His chosen. The tears of the believer are like a magnet that acts as a spiritually kinetic force that draws God to the center of the struggle. Sometimes all you can do is cry. Your ability to reason has dissipated, rendering you dysfunctional. You want to pray, but you can’t form the words. All you can do is cry. Your soul sinks within you and the questions of why, how and when press their way to the surface. Why is this happening to me? How could he/she do this to me? When will it end? All of these questions have their place; however, the most pertinent question is not why, how, or when, but who? Who can I turn to when my attempts to ebb the tides of the tribulation proves futile? Who can I trust when no one else seems to care? When those who are normally the pillars of support in my life are being crushed under the weight of life’s realities, who can I turn to to be the buttress that sustains me in the midst of the storm?
“When I cry out to you, Then my enemies will turn back; this I know, because God is for me.” (PS 56:9)
“And it will be for a sign and for a witness...for they will cry to the Lord...and he will send them a savior and a Mighty one, and He will deliver them.”(Isa. 19:20)
“Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep....So David recovered all...and nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great....David recovered all...”(1 Sam. 30:4, 18-19)
When there is nowhere else to turn, even when there is “no more power” to weep, God hears our cries, even the silent cries of a desperate soul. Its okay, go ahead and cry. Your tears are a release of the pressures, hurts and disappointments of the moment. Your tears are a clarion sounding to God that His child is in need. Your tears are not meant to be quenched or suppressed; they are an expression of the heart’s yearnings. Your tears are a part of God’s show up process.
Isn’t it awesome to be in Love with a God that loves you; a God that becomes personally involved in our lives. I can’t promise you that there will not be tears, in fact, the one you hold dearest may yet break your heart; the expectations for tomorrow may go unfulfilled; In return for your love, they may become your accusers. Yet, God, in His bountiful love, sees, hears, and responds to the cries of His people.
God, through His Word, has not only promised temporal relief from life’s struggles and disappointments, but an eternal acknowledgment and comforting for every tear shed during this ethereous journey of Christianity.
“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”(PS. 46:1)
“For the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”(Rev. 7:17)
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”(Rev. 21:4)
In Psalms 46, we find that God is a present help in trouble. He is there during those bouts with loneliness. He is there when you are grieving and mourning the loss of a loved one. He is there when all you possess is taken away. No matter what you are going through; no matter how dark the moment, God is there. Not only is He a present help, but he has promised to bring eternal peace and comfort. He has promised to wipe every tear permanently away from your eyes, after which there will be no more death, no more sorrow, nor crying. He has promised that He will personally take away forever, every pain, every heartache, every tormenting struggle.
Isaiah 25:8 says, “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. Isaiah 35:10 says, “And the “ransomed” of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and singing shall flee away.”
“The “ransomed” refers to those who have been purchased at a price; those whose debt has been expiated by the Son. “The ransomed” are those who have been redeemed by the precious “Blood” of the “Lamb”. Ransomed and redeemed are words meritorious of our concentrated attention. These words remind us that we have been released from the prison of sin; we have been rescued from the pit of hell; we have been preserved for all eternity; we have been liberated, set free, and cut loose from the shackles of eternal damnation. God in His matchless love has said,”I will ransom them from the power of the grave...(Hosea 13:14)
When we keep in view the fact that we are creatures redeemed by the creator; when we are able to apprehend in full the understanding of the magnitude of the love required for God to redeem us in our sinful state, we will view our trials, sufferings, and disappointments in a different light. We will view them as Paul did:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”(Rom. 8:18)
“We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed....for our light affliction, which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4: 8,9,17 and 18)
Your tears are a momentary response to the reality of the moment. Your tears are a physical expression of an emotional state. It’s okay, go ahead and cry, the pain won’t last forever. God’s on His way and He’s bringing joy with Him. He's coming to wipe away ever tear. You may be crying now, but weeping only endures for a night, for joy comes in the morning. Cry if you must, but do not despair; the God we serve is a show up God. He is on His way to deliver, to heal, to liberate, and to exalt. So, let the tears flow when they come, for soon God will wipe every tear away!
May you be richly blessed!
Sincerely,
Bishop Rick Wallace
Founder and President
Rick Wallace Ministries
100 Men of Purpose
We pray for gentleness, and there comes a perfect storm of temptation to harshness and irritability. We pray for quietness, and every nerve is strung to the utmost tension, so that looking to Him we may learn that when He giveth quietness, no one can make trouble.
Can your Heart endure? That is a gut wrenching question. The very question points to pain and suffering. When you are asked the question: Can your heart endure? The first thing that comes to mind is, endure what? Endure the abandonment of those you believed to be dependable, financial strain that causes you to buckle under the weight of its inexorable force, the heartache of losing a loved one, are all things that the believer will experience. You will be hated for no apparent reason. David said, "In return for my love, they have become my accusers.
What is this question: Can your heart endure? What God is asking is, Can I trust you with trouble? You see, very few believers want to here this, but the christian life does not become effective and useful until it has been tried by trouble. The believer does not advance until he has withstood the flames of testing. I often say that the phosphorescent light of the Christian shines brightest amidst of the fierce winds of adversity. A Christian is not revealed in comfort and prosperity. The Christian is revealed in his response to adversity. A Christian is revealed when, after losing everything, he falls to his knees and says, "Naked I came into this world and naked shall I return. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." The Christian is revealed when He says, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. The Christian is revealed when he says, that I will glory in my distresses... When it seems that God has forgotten about you and that His awesome hands of protection have been far removed from your life, yet, you say without waver, "I still trust you", does your identity shine forth.
