“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:5-6
As I read this verse today I could almost feel the heat form a fat wet tear sliding down my cheek. The sensation is all too familiar to me. I have had no shortage of tears in my life. And yet as I recalled those tears an image came to my mind. “Those who sow in tears shall reap in shouts of joy!”
What if those tears are seeds? What if each single teardrop is a seed that produces a crop of joy?
David says, in one of his Psalms, that God collects our tears in His bottle. (Psalm 56) What if He is collecting them because they’re valuable to Him; like seeds to a gardener?
It’s spring and for the last week or so every store I’ve walked into I’ve walked out with a packet or ten of seeds. Each packet has a big picture on the front of what those seeds inside will grow up to be. And I have been collecting those seeds, not for what they are but for what they will become once I plant them and water them and tend their precious fruit. My collection of seeds is precious to me because I know that given the proper conditions they will produce healthy food for my family and friends. But that’s not the end of my plans for them. I plan on collecting the seeds from their produce to plant next year too! These packets of seeds will produce fruit that will produce more seeds, with more fruit, with more seeds…
Do you see where I’m going with this?
God collects our tears because they’re precious to Him. Not because of what they are, but because of what they produce in us! Each tear is a seed that produces a healthy fruit that is good for us and our family and our friends. Yes, we may sow tears, but we reap joy! Your tears are not the end, they’re the beginning.
Tamar Knochel 