I always wondered why people cried in church. The churches I have attended had pretty low key styles of worship, so if someone was emotional, I was glued to them with intense curiosity. It may have been the communication student in me but there was such a mystery and sadness around that person. The more I attended church the more I saw these people. Some were crying quietly and some were unconsolable.
The questions begin to fly...I wonder what they did? I wander what happened? Your first thought goes to sin. You say to yourself, "Wow, they must have done something really bad that they are sorry for." This is a huge misconception. Yes, people will cry for forgiveness but I personally don't think that is the majority.
Crying in church is something I had only experienced when I was in college. For the longest time I thought it was because I was living my life in sin and I was in a place that did not accept that so here come the tears. Looking back, I know that was not the reason I cried. I felt exposed in church. Not in a condemning way but in a way where I felt Jesus saying, "I see you...all of you...and I still love you the same."
He see you...all of you and it doesn't matter what you have done or will do because he loves you that much.
Another reason people cry in church is something I compare to "a call from home." When I was in college dealing with finals week and things I thought were important at that time, I would call my mom with the plan to maturely talk about it. She would cheerfully answer the phone with, "Hello Sweetie" which would be answered with instance sobbing. Her voice was all it took to make this 22 year old girl let down every wall she had built for emotional stability. Just her voice. This still happens today but I am 29 and plan ahead for a tear filled conversation.
What if being in church is like a "call from home?" Sitting in the pews, you hear in your heart, "Hey sweetie" and you let it all out. I have had these tears in church. I feel that I am in the lap of my heavenly father and I have no words for him just tears of sadness, anxiety, fear and helplessness.
He just holds you while you cry because he loves me that much.
There is one last reason that I wanted to mention because I think it is the hardest one to express. No one can look at someone and say, "They are crying because they are praising God in the midst of heartache." Tears are rarely seen as a sign of praise. Praising God in the the good times is an easy one but praising him when you are struggling is different. Because it is so hard to praise when you are in the lowest of the valleys.
These tears are tears of surrender. I believe that people avoid church for the sake of avoiding these tears. These tears are the ones you hold inside your body till you have physically lost all strength to keep them inside and they come out unannounced and uncontrollable. God asks us to give him our burdens and I don't know why we fight this so much. Let it go to God.
He asks you to give him, what the unbearably heavy for you to carry alone because he loves you that much.
Revelation 21:4
"And God shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: For the former things are passed away."
Next time you see someone crying in church. Pray for them because it is likely they are walking a difficult journey. If you are the one crying, bring lots of extra kleenex in your purse and just let it out.
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