Crying Inwardly

Richard Hollerman

God loves you and loves your heart. He wants to help and bless you, and He will care for you and heal your pain.

Much that I have seen online is presented by various false religions. There are articles from the perspective of Hinduism. Whether it deals with Krishna or another Hindu “god” (a false god), we know that he cannot really save and help. In fact, God says that this idol and those like it are actually false “gods” who lead us away from God and not to Him!

We have also seen articles from the viewpoint of Islam. Sadly, we know that no Muslim can lead a person closer to God and enable Him to find peace and joy in life. In fact, Islam and the “god” of Islam (Allah) can only lead you away from Him and dig you deeper and deeper into the pit of despair and hopelessness.

Then there is the Humanistic “god” that will lead you to a psychiatrist, psychologist, or Counselor. They may be able to deal with the physical (or may not) but they surely can’t deal with the spiritual aspect of your being. They can’t help with the inner you that longs for answers and some degree of relief.

There may be the Buddhist who will lead you inwardly and say that we must live with ourselves and find the answers within. Actually, this the one of the sources of our problems and not the solutions. We will only dig ourselves deeper and deeper into the pit of self-destruction in this way.

There are also priests, counselors and ministers (or pastors) who will promise you a semblance of inner peace but they fail to get at the real solution to our heart’s cry for help and healing. Too often they partake of the same humanistic jargon and ways that we may find in the world but they fail to get at the heart of the matter. They may even point you to God (as they understand Him) but don’t give you the answer to our heart cry. Or they may lead you to a “religious” answer but not lead you to the real answer to our pain.

These and other answers are given as solutions to our depression, our pain, and our hurts. They fail to address the alienation that we must deal with—every one of us.

The psalmist (whoever that may have been) knew the anguish of life that begs for answers. He wrote in prayer:

You have taken account of my wanderings;

Put my tears in Your bottle.

Are they not in Your book? . . .

He then expressed these thoughts that came from His heart:

In God, whose word I praise,

In the LORD, whose word I praise,

In God I have put my trust,

I shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

(Psalm 56:8, 10-11)

We find our heart cravings to be fulfilled in God—and in God alone. Through Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, we can find truth, love, healing, joy, peace, the way, and eternal life. We may hunt for these spiritual blessings in many different places but the One who created you and me knows us best and will lead us to His heart.

Let’s remember that even God, in His Word, speaks of weeping. For instance, we read in John 11:35 that “Jesus wept.” I recall that in school (maybe it was in fifth grade) the teacher had all of the students (there were maybe 30 of them in two classes), memorize Bible verses each day. Miss Singloub may not have known why so many quoted the same verse—in this case, John 11:35 (the shortest verse in English in the Bible). We may not know the full meaning of the term in this context, but Jesus, our Lord, “wept” when He perceived the death of Lazarus, His friend.

We might also remember that Scripture speaks of our Lord’s reaction when He saw the city before Him. The text simply says, “When Jesus approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it” (Luke 19:41; cf. vv. 42-44).  Let’s remember also that Paul wept in regard to those who rejected the death of our Lord (Philippians 3:18). Further, when we read Luke’s description of Paul’s visit with the elders of Ephesus at Miletus, he said that he had admonished “each one with tears” (Acts 20:31). Further, the apostle wrote that he had written to the Corinthians “with many tears” (2 Corinthians 2:4). All of this is a reminder that just as Jesus and Paul (and others) wept in certain occasions, we are to do likewise. God understands our sadness and our willingness to endure crises in our life.

We must see ourselves as God does—sinful, helpless, hopeless, and weak in ourselves. But we can also see that He has the answers and will help us if we are willing to humble ourselves before Him. Yes, we must change our ways, humble ourselves, and seek His guidance and direction. We must trust in Him, believe in Him, submit to Him, and seek His will and direction. And we must also be willing to submit to Him in the meaningful act of baptism (immersion), confessing our sin and confessing the name and person of Jesus Christ, and find our peace and refuge in Him. We must be willing to come to Him in simple faith, in simple change (or repentance), and with a willingness to seek Him for His direction.

This can be hurtful, we know, but it is what we find in Him. Although He requires us to change inwardly, in our heart and mind and will and emotions, we know that it is for our good. He will not let us to remain in our tears and pain and hurts. He will change our tears to joy and blessing. Along with the alleviation that He alone can bring, He will give us meaning, purpose, and joy in life. As the psalmist said, “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” Psalm 30)5).

Won’t you come to Him today? Won’t you find your life and joy in Him, through Jesus Christ, in this way? Come to Him today! Leave your tears behind, leave your pain and crying behind you, and find forgiveness and eternal life in God!

We encourage you to look up the following portions of God’s Word for yourself and take comfort it these promises:

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Romans 5:1-5

Matthew 11:28-30

Jude 20-25

Psalm 23:1ff

Psalm 1:1ff

Matthew 6:1ff

These are only a few. As you might suspect, there are a hundred others that would be good to read and take to heart.