Torch, Winter 1991

--------------------------------------~1111 ( l by Joni Eareckson Tada From rhe book Glorious Intruder by Joni Eareckson Tada, copyrighr 1989 by Joni Eareckson Tada . Published by Mulrnomah Press, Parr/and, Oregon 97266. Chaprer rirle ''Tears" has been changed ro "Conf idence To Cry." Used by permission. ears ago when I was in the hospital, I noticed some– thing very peculiar. Even though there was so much pain, so much disappointment in the lives of kids my age who were rehabilitating from accidents and injuries--even though you knew they were hurting--no one cried. Sometimes I would lie awake in the middle of the night in my hospital room . I was so near tears, but I fought them back. For one thing, there was no one around to blow my nose and wipe my eyes. But I was also afraid . Afraid I would wake up my roommates and they would hear me. Maybe, just maybe, they would make fun of me the next day at physical therapy. So I kept my tears to myself. That reminds me of something Chuck Colson once told me. "Men and women in prison don ' t cry," he said. "It's a sign of weakness, and weakness can be dangerous in prison." Thankfully, things changed once I got out of that hospital and got my act together with the Lord. Getting closer to Jesus taught me weakness was something to boast in, something to delight in. Even the apostle Paul, who told us he gloried in his weakness, wrote to the Corinthian church with "much anguish of heart and many tears." Then I learned about David--a real man 's man, a waITior, and a king. He cried, too. The pages of the Psalms are salted with this man 's tears. In Hebrews I read of Jesus offering prayers and petitions "with loud cries and tears." Big, burly Peter demonstrated that tears are only natural when one feels remorse or regret, like the time he heard the rooster crow the second time, recognized his sin, and wept bitterly. Leaming about these people in Scripture gave me the courage and confidence to cry! No longer were tears an embarrassment, a mark of weakness or shame. What do your tears mean to you? The Bible tells us that "those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy" (Psalm 126:5). God gives you a reason to hope, even though you find it tough to hold back the tears. Weeping won't last forever. But out of your tears of grief, love, or repentance, God brings a peace that does last forever. Revelation 7: 17 puts it this way: "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes." It 's ironic. In heaven, where I will be able once again to wipe my own tears , I won ' t have to. Joni Eareckson Tada became a quadriplegic following a diving acci– dent when she was 17. She is an author as well as founder and president of Joni and Friends, a ministry of encourage– ment to the disabled.