“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” — Psalm 56:8 (NLT)

After Isaac was born, Hagar and her son Ishmael were sent away into the wilderness. When their food and water ran out, Hagar lost all hope. Unable to bear the thought of watching her son die, “she sat down opposite him… and began to sob” (Genesis 21:16). God saw her tears. He heard the cry of the boy, and “God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink” (Genesis 21:19). The God who saw Hagar’s tears also provided the answer she desperately needed.

Hagar was not the only one whose tears moved the heart of God. Hannah endured years of ridicule from her co-wife because she was unable to bear children. Her sorrow became so deep that even her loving husband, Elkanah, asked, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:8). But while others saw only her tears, God saw her heart. After she poured out her soul before the Lord, Eli declared, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him” (1 Samuel 1:17). In due time, God answered her prayer and gave her a son, Samuel.

In some cultures, shedding tears is viewed as a sign of weakness. People are expected to remain composed even when enduring unbearable pain. Yet many counsellors recognise that tears can be therapeutic. They help release emotional burdens that would otherwise remain deeply buried. Pain that is continually suppressed can eventually erupt in destructive ways or silently affect a person’s emotional and even physical well-being. God created us with the capacity to weep, and there are times when tears become the language of a heart too wounded for words.

Jesus Himself was no stranger to tears. He wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus (John 11:35). He also wept over Jerusalem because of its unbelief (Luke 19:41). Most profoundly, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He poured out His heart to the Father. Scripture tells us, “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God” (Hebrews 5:7). If the Son of God was not ashamed to weep before His Father, neither should we be.

Perhaps today your tears are over the loss of a loved one, a broken relationship, an illness, a financial struggle, a missed opportunity, or an injustice committed against you by those in power. You may feel that no one hears your cries or understands your pain.

But take heart. We serve a God who sees every tear and hears every cry. As He saw Hagar and provided for her, and as He remembered Hannah and answered her prayer, so He will not ignore you. Your tears are precious to Him.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for being the God who sees every tear and understands every sorrow. I pour out my heart before You, knowing that nothing I face is hidden from Your sight. Comfort me in my pain, strengthen my faith, and help me to trust Your perfect timing. Fill my heart with Your peace and hope, and let my tears give way to joy. This I pray in Jesus’s name!