God’s Tear Bottle
“It’s as though each one of our tears carries a microcosm of the collective human experience, like one drop of an ocean.” Rose-Lynn Fisher
I couldn’t save him. His little hands reached for mine, but I was stuck . . . completely frozen.
The panic is his blue eyes twisted every fiber in my being as he slipped under the icy water. I couldn’t reach him. He drowned right in front of me.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I practically catapulted out of bed.
It was just a nightmare.
My son was sound asleep in his cozy bed . . . not on the bottom of an icy pond.
I laid there shaking in fear, tears streaming down my face. It was just a nightmare.
After what seemed like hours, I was able to speak reason to my troubled heart. I wondered from where such a dream could have come.
This year has initiated more than just anxiety. 2020 could be called the year of tears.
For some in our circle of friends, worst fears became realities. Family friends suffered the loss of their sweet little boy. Two other large families with small children are grieving the loss of their dads due to COVID.
With such intense suffering around us, it is not surprising that nightmares frequent our dreams. Tears threaten at random moments in the day.
Psalm 56:8 has spoken so much comfort to my heart during this past year:
You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?
This verse speaks of the great attention and care God gives to our lives. The Lord has recounted my aimless wanderings through painful seasons. The Author is keeping tracks of all the tears shed from my birth to my death.
Such attention is extravagant. No one has paid attention to me with such detail and care.
Recently I visited the Biblical Artifact Museum. On display were glass unguentaria, also known as “tear bottles,” from the late 1st century A.D. Mourners would fill these bottles with their tears and leave them at the grave of a loved one. Each tear that escaped the bereaved eyes and captured in this thin, handheld bottle displayed how deeply the departed were loved.
Science shows us each tear is structurally different. Under a microscope, tears that were shed during a transition or change in life look much different than tears of joy.
Photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher captured microscopic pictures of different types of tears when dried. One looks like an aerial photo of a massive rose garden. Another resembles a Picasso painting of exploding flowers. The tears of grief look much like shattered glass under the microscope. “Onion-peeling tears” appear as frost on a window.[1]
How incredible is our Creator! This simple example shows the depths of detail He went to when He formed us. Each tear is like a poem of our experience in the form of biological substances: enzymes, antibodies, and proteins suspended in salt water but beautiful in design . . . and precious to the One who is collecting each tear from our lives.
Thankfully, our experiences here are changing us – hopefully more into the image of Messiah who wept at a friend’s grave and had compassion for the downtrodden. Those moments test us. And if they’re given into the capable hands of our attentive Creator, He will make everything beautiful in His time.
Until then, we hang on with hope. We can trust the One who died for us and remains attentive to the finest details of our lives.
Look for Him in the details. That is where He dwells, treasuring even our tears.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:4-5
Written by Kori, LIFE Staff
What has been the greatest source of your tears in 2020?
What has been the greatest source of your comfort amidst the tears?
The promises of God in Scripture provide assurance and hope to many. To what verses do you turn when life becomes a nightmare?
Footnotes:
[1] Photos may be seen at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-microscopic-structures-of-dried-human-tears-180947766/.