Skinned Knees and Ant Bites
Monday, May 22, 2023
“Your tears are a physical evidence of touching God’s heart.” – C.H. Spurgeon
There’s a line I use when I want one of my grandkids to stop crying. “You have to stop crying or Papa will have to start crying, too,” I say, before breaking out in mock crocodile tears.
My grandkids look at me quizzically and you can almost see the wheels turning in their little minds. “I didn’t know that adults cry,” they seem to be thinking. And, more often than not, that simple realization gets them to stop.
My friend, the sentiment that Charles Spurgeon is trying to convey today is that God is so in tune with the trials, temptations, and yes, tears of His children that when we cry, it gets His attention. Not only that, but it breaks His heart, just like it does mine when my precious grandkids skin their knees or get bitten by a fire ant.
Jesus – God in the flesh – wept at least once that we know of (John 11:35). Whether it was because His friend Lazarus had just died… or because of people’s unbelief… or because sin results in physical death, the Bible isn’t clear. I can also imagine Him shedding some tears over Jerusalem’s refusal to receive Him as the Messiah (Matthew 23:37).
Perhaps there were other times, too, such as when His earthly father Joseph passed away. We don’t know when or how that happened, but it obviously did because Joseph is not mentioned after Jesus was 12 years old (Luke 2); and Jesus would not have asked John to care for His mother Mary shortly before His death if Joseph were still alive (John 19).
Regardless of how many times Jesus cried, we can rest assured that our High Priest can sympathize with whatever we are going through (Hebrews 4:14-16). For that reason, we are encouraged to come boldly before His throne of grace with our skinned knees, ant bites… and all kinds of heartaches.
The bottom line is this: God cares for you more than you can ever imagine.
“You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?” Psalm 56:8 (NKJV)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
