Where do you go to have a good cry?

We need a place to cry...

Life has its ups and downs, and no matter how emotionally or spiritually strong we are,
at times we all need to just let go and cry. 

Have you ever been so heart broken that you just needed to find a place to be alone and just cry?  

Have you experienced rejection, loss, pain and despair?
I am sure the answer is "yes," for these are things we cannot escape in this life. 
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I read a story today that just broke my heart.  It was about a woman that was heard on a front door video frantically screaming for someone to help her. In the video, you can hear the desperate screams of a woman saying over and over, "Somebody help me please!"

This was all caught on a neighbor's doorbell security system and as neighbors came outside and looked around they saw a car speeding away and could hear the woman still screaming.  As of yet, they have not found her. 

This story just pierced my heart.  So often today, we hear more and more horrific stories that cause us to shake our heads in disbelief at what society is becoming. It sends pulsing fear in our hearts that a nightmare such as the one this woman experienced can happen to anyone of us. 

In a world that is ever showing increased signs of personal anxiety and threat,  we can all say that it is comforting to have a space or place of refuge, a place where we feel safe.  There in that space we can find relaxation and calm, protected from any harm. 

Within our place of refuge, there are times when we also need to be alone.  It may be a chair we sink into allowing all the tensions of the day to be released. It may be a place under a tree where we can ponder our concerns.  Many times our car is our place of isolation where we can voice our concerns and no one can hear us. 

But how many of us have a place we can go and cry?  Strange you say?

Through the years, the shower has been my place to cry. Whether it was as a struggling teen, coping with motherhood, children in college, illnesses...the shower is a place that I could be alone with God and pour my heart out.  There no on could see my tears or hear my sobs.   I have shed many tears in the shower over the years, and I am sure there will be more in the future. 

This evening as I stepped into the shower I struggled to hold back the tears for the desperate screaming woman. Her pleading voice echoed in my head. I stepped into the warm water, I closed my eyes and prayed for her safety.  Oh Lord, this world is filled with so much heartache and no one can escape it.   For Jesus has clearly told us...

​ "These things I have spoken to you, that in ME you may have peace. In this world you WILL have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

We all have had our moments when the tears just need to flow. 
And it's good to cry and let it out.
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Yes, our God is so amazing. ..
Did you know that research now backs up the theory that crying is good for us? 
Studies now show that emotional tears contain high levels of stress hormones than do
basal (aka  lubricating) tears.  Our emotional tears also contain more mood-regulating manganese than other types. 

​Stress tightens muscles and heightens tension, so when you cry you release some of that.  Crying activates the parasympathic nervous system and restores the body to a state of balance.  Amazing. . . the wonders of the human body.  How exquisitely HE has made us. 

Some women God clearly wanted us to identify with...

• Mary is crying at the tomb of Jesus... when she hears, “Woman, why are you weeping?

• The women following Christ as he made his way to Calvary, mourned and wept.
• A woman wiping His feet, and as her tears fall, she wipes them away using her hair. 
• The woman dragged and taken in adultery, surely was sobbing knowing she would be stoned. 
• I believe the woman struggling to touch His hem had tears streaming down her face as she reached out to be healed of her bleeding that she endured for 12 years. 
• Peter was surrounded by the friends of Dorcas (women) who were crying because their sweet friend now laid death  (Acts 9:39). 
• And there are SO many others whose tears are given mention in the Bible. 

Tears express what we cannot speak. 

Yes, my friend, Jesus know exactly the words that are contained in each of your tears. He hears the words that our tears express, the words that our lips cannot speak. But take heart, for we are given a glorious promise from the lips of Jesus that is found in John 16:22: 
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“Now you are having sorrow, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

Cling to this promise found in Revelation 21:4: 
 "And God shall wipe away all 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."

Remember, Jesus too wept. 
At His friend Lazarus' grave (John 11:35), the heart of Jesus was broken. The tears streamed down his face and his heart felt the loss.  He understands the brokenness we feel and he understands loss. Some of us may feel we are given too many circumstances of tears, yet we must find peace in knowing that one day HE will wipe every tear from our eyes.  Imagine that one day, there will be no more crying, no mourning, no pain and no more death. 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4).

The God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation (2 Corin. 1: 3-4), is there by our side.  So if you feel that your tears come too frequently, find comfort in the knowledge that one day we will be free of tears. There in our heavenly home, God himself will wipe away every tear.  Imagine, just imagine, that He himself will wipe your tears!
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Psalm 34:17
​“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; 
​he delivers them from all their troubles.”