What Was The Last Thing You Cried About?

This is the Word of The Lord:

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. 

You know that under pressure, 

your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. 

So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. 

Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭MSG‬‬

There are many times in your life when you cannot fully control the tears …BUT  – it’s always in our best interest that we must choose to control HOW we respond to those crazy stuff that so often breaks us down. 

Here’s a peek into the personalities of my four girls and myself: 

• One of my daughters cries at weddings, funerals, parties, births, and at any function that brings her great joy or sadness. She cries at a ‘drop of a hat’. Don’t ask her to make a speech, she will never get through it without crying.
• I’ve got another daughter that doesn’t cry easily but instead uses critical thinking and words to express her emotions. She ALWAYS has it under control.
• Another daughter is proactive – no tears…she quickly rises to any occasion and performs any given role that is needed to resolve a matter. We call her ” The first responder”…she responds then thinks.
• I’ve got another one that hides her emotions and skillfully has the ability to appear to be unaffected by any circumstance. It’s a unique disposition. 
• Now on to me: Whether it’s personal or just watching the news, I can quickly go into an ugly cry meltdown. It’s so ridiculous that I got Shingles watching 9/11 all the way here in Canada and many other news stories like Elian Gonzales… or a story being related about someone else’s misfortune. I think the worst sight is seeing mothers cry. But somehow mothers have enough fortitude in them that they can quickly pull themselves back to functioning again. 

Let’s be realistic: A good cry can provide a feeling of relief, even if our circumstances remain the same. Crying is better than punching the wall or hiding your feelings which lead to high blood pressure or headaches. Crying is a safe way to deal with pent up emotions and frustrations.

Now that I’ve gotten over dealing with crying, let me move on to some hidden truths about those things that brings on the ugly cry syndrome in our lives.

This morning I woke up in time to catch a glimpse of the early morning sunrise, and what a beautiful sight it was. The sunrise was a gorgeous brilliant orange color loaded with splendour and majestic glory. It was the first view I had as I opened my eyes, but in less than five minutes, dark clouds completely covered the sunrise and everything quickly went grey. 

To the multitude of people who rose up late this morning – they would have missed the gorgeous sunrise and only saw the grey skies completely oblivious of the fact that there was a spectacular sunrise. 

Stay with me now – I’m going somewhere with my thoughts. 

The gorgeous sunrise was still there but the dark clouds were now hiding it. The rain began to fall and everything on earth was wet with teardrops as I would like to interpret the rain. Remember, moments before there was a gorgeous sunrise. 

In our lives, the spectacularly beautiful things that we experience in the happy days before – like the birth of a child, the graduation, a wedding day, the birthday parties etc are still present in our lives… but the dark clouds of stress, frustrations, sadness, funerals, heartaches, separation, divorce etc are blinding our views from the true reality of our once happier days. 

If you are a late responder of accepting God’s truth, rising above your expectations and living the abundant life – has nothing to do with wealth but everything to do with accepting our tests and challenges in faith…you can remain fooled and blindsided by those dark clouds that suddenly crept up and cover your happiness. 

Those happy feelings you had a long time ago or just yesterday are still there waiting for the passing clouds to roll away. To everything there is a season. 

What shows your true colours? God never promised days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain, BUT He did promise STRENGTH for the day, COMFORT for the tears, and LIGHT for the journey. One thing I know for sure, “If God brings you to it, He WILL bring you through it.”

What’s the last thing you cried about? Whatever it was – it was only the dark clouds that blinded the gorgeous beautiful orange sunrise that woke your spirit up many times before. Weeping may endure/last for a time BUT joy comes in the morning. Hold on! 

There’s great value in tears and great victory in holding on! 

God helps us handle whatever He has given to us. 

Our FAITH BLOSSOMS UNDER PRESSURE!

Remember, your power lies in how you respond to what’s happening. “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that your faith-life is forced into the open and it shows it’s true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”