On one occasion, a man whose son was demon possessed brought him to Jesus’ disciples, but they could not cast the evil spirit out of him. By this time, the father was having trouble holding on to what hope he had left, once he saw that even Jesus’ disciples could not help him. Oh, the tears that this father had cried for his son throughout the years. No one knew the depths of his anguish. No one, that is, but One — the Lord. No one knew the number of tears this dad had cried over those years; tears without number. But God knew.
The dad of the demon possessed son is going to learn a very valuable lesson through his encounter with Jesus — there is joy beyond the tears. Weeping is for a season but joy is eternal. This father had tried everything to help his son, even taking him to Jesus’ disciples, but to no avail. The last hope (actually the only hope for any of us) was to see if Jesus could do anything. Can Jesus do something to help this dad’s son? Jesus can do anything! He told the dad that very thing, “All things are possible if you believe”, to paraphrase it.
But, at this moment, through his tears, the dad can see the potential for Jesus to do something but it is a challenge for him to really believe that He will, for one’s vision can be limited during the time of tears. You want to believe because you know God can do anything and what you are asking is easy for Him. Yet, here this dad is, standing before Jesus and declaring his faith in Jesus and at the same time asking Jesus to help him believe!
In Psalm 56, King David gives us words of hope and encouragement as he goes through one of his many times of testing. In the midst of this Psalm, he reveals an important truth: The Lord sees every tear you cry and He stores them up and writes them down in His book. Why does God have a book of tears?
The Lord keeps very good books. He has a record of the deeds done in this life so that each one can receive their reward in that day. The Lord has a book called the Lamb’s Book of Life in which is written the name of everyone who has ever trusted Christ for the salvation of their soul. He also has a book that records every tear and, of course He has a reason for it.
One day, God will wipe away every tear from your eyes. He knows each one; He has them written down. There have been and there will be times for tears in this life, but the Lord always has something good beyond the tears for His children. Ask God to give you His sight so that you can see beyond the tears!