Few more days before this year ends and many people are grateful to reminisce the wonderful things that they have experienced — new car, new job, new places visited, new relationships built, old ones rekindled, and more.
On the other hand, there are those who barely had a good year — their difficult circumstances outweighed the seemingly happy ones. They can’t seem to wrap their head around the reality that this bad year can actually be the best one that they could ever have.
Whether you belong to the first group of people or to the latter, surely you’ve shed tears more than once this year. And if you belong to the latter group, those tears probably came along with bumps and bruises. Some might be hidden and unknown, too.
Maybe you’ve lost someone or something this year…
You’ve lost your job. You’ve lost a friend over a conflict. You’ve lost a family member to a sickness.
Or maybe, if not losing, you think that you have never gone very far in life this year…
Your goals are still left unchecked. Your prayers are still unanswered. Your job is still something that you’re not passionate about. Your family is still broken.
In some or all of these, you could count the moments when tears of grief were more than tears of joy. And you wonder, “How much longer do I need to cry over this?”
Unfamiliar, Uncomfortable, UnsafeBecause of Israel’s idolatrous acts and rebellion against God, they were captivated by the Babylonians. While they were in exile, they waited for God’s prophets to tell them that they can finally head back home (Jeremiah 28). One of the greatest plot twists in the history of Israel happened when they received this letter from Jeremiah after receiving a false prophecy about the shortened duration of their stay in Babylon:
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives He has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce… You will be in Babylon for seventy years.” – Jeremiah 29:4-5, 10a NLT
The false prophecy came from Hananaiah who said that God’s people will be free from captivity after two years. Two years are long, 70 years way much longer. This message was far from comforting for Israel. God wanted them to stay in an unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and unsafe land for 70 long years. They probably never stopped wondering and counting day after day, month after month, year after year.
In all those times, God wanted Israel to build homes, plant gardens, and eat the fruit of their labor. Even in their exile, we can see that God was after their welfare. Even in their punishment, God granted them grace. Even in the unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and unsafe, God wanted them to grow, bear fruit, and live.
The tears that you’ve cried this year might have come from unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and unsafe situations, too. You may be going through something that neither your family nor friends know about. You may be carrying a burden you think you can no longer bear. These events may have only happened this year or maybe it had been there for quite a while now. Maybe you feel like you have been sent to a place of exile and you are starting to believe that God no longer cares.
The Promise For Your TearsEven in their exile, God was after their welfare. Even in their punishment, God gave them grace. Even in the unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and unsafe, God wanted them to grow, bear fruit, and live.
Love, I pray that this portion of history will remind you that even in these things that you are going through right now, God has not forgotten you. He is not indifferent to your fears, your loss, your pain, and your tears. Even when you feel like you’re in a place of exile, He is actually there with you! When God allows you to experience difficult circumstances, He does so out of love, not hate. Jeremiah’s letter continues:
This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
– Jeremiah 29:10-11 NLT
The Lord said to Israel that they will be staying in Babylon for a long while but He did not leave it at that. He sent His people away to a foreign land having in mind the good things that He had promised them and the plans that He had for their future. Although their exile was long, it was but for a season. It did not put a stop to their God-given destiny. While it might have been mind-boggling for the Israelites after hearing the message from Jeremiah, surely, most, if not all of them, trusted in the sovereignty of their God.
God sent His people away to a foreign land having in mind the good things that He had promised them and the plans that He had for their future.
For 70 years, Israel struggled but still believed that God’s sovereignty will grant them refuge and security, even in the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable, and unsafe place of Babylon. Even if they would keep on ranting, complaining, and crying out, at the end of the day, Israel knew that God has a view of the bigger picture, one that they can only try to think of or imagine.
Reaping What You SowGod’s sovereignty will grant you refuge and security even in unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and unsafe places.
“You have kept record of my days of wandering. You have stored my tears in your bottle and counted each of them.”
– Psalm 56:8 CEV
Israel was told by God to plant gardens in Babylon and eat the food that they produce. Little do we know that they were weeping as they were planting. Little do they know that all those tears didn’t go to waste. Little do you know that God collected their tears, and He has been collecting yours, too.
Maybe you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve cried this year, even more how many tears you’ve shed, but God didn’t. He knows every story of despair, of sorrow, of hopelessness behind every single one that fell from your eyes, and His Word still stands — He will come and He will do for you all the good things that He has promised, and He will bring you home.
God has been collecting your tears. He knows every story of despair, of sorrow, of hopelessness behind every single one that fell from your eyes.
Oh, and just so you know, He has already come. 2,000 years ago, the Promise of Hope came down from heaven and held His arms wide open on the cross to bring you home. You see… More than being in a “physical” exile, one’s greatest pain is the separation from God forever. Which is why, God, being so loving and gracious towards the world, did not allow us to be put into a spiritual exile that will last for eternity.
More than being in a “physical” exile, one’s greatest pain is the separation from God forever.
If you would remember, Israel was sent to Babylon as punishment for their sin. You and I ought to be punished, too. But again, God chose to spare us out of His loving kindness. The punishment that was due us He placed on His only Son, Jesus. The Father “abandoned” Jesus for a little while that we might be brought back to Him through His Son. And so, love, even before you’ve lost something or someone this year, even before you’ve shed buckets of tears, God, the Father lost His Son and Jesus lost His life first that you may gain yours.
God, the Father lost His Son and Jesus lost His life first that you may gain yours.
Don’t you find this promise so beautiful?
When you have a relationship with Jesus, you can be assured that your tears and trials, all those twists and turns, are never in vain. One day, when the former things have passed away, God Himself will wipe away the tears from your eyes — every single one of them (Revelation 21:4).
As Israel returned to their land 70 years after, they began to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and a song was written in their rejoicing. A portion of that psalm went like this:
“Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.”
– Psalm 126:5-6
Israel wept as they planted gardens in Babylon, but they returned to Jerusalem in singing. God wants you to experience the same thing. So, love, here’s to all the tears that you’ve sown this year and to all the tears that you will sow in the next! You are greatly loved!
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