Weeping

In 1 Samuel 30:1-4 we read,

Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.  So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.  Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

David experienced the sudden loss of his family and it tore his heart out.  Notice that David and his men lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more power to weep.

Feeling sorrow and anguish and expressing it is not wrong.  In fact, it is normal, especially when you have experienced a sudden and personal loss.

Perhaps, like David, you have lost family members.  Or maybe you have wayward children.  They were brought up in the way of the Lord, but they are living a lifestyle that is diametrically opposed to the ways of God right now, and your heart is broken when you think about it.

Maybe you have experienced some other loss in your life, something of value, something that is important to you, something that has meaning to you.  If so, it is okay to grieve!

God has wired us to be emotional beings.  We are not robots.  It is right for loss to affect us on a personal, emotional level.  As the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:4, there is a time to weep.

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

Sorrow has its place and its time, but there is also a time for it to end and to be replaced with something else. 

~L. B. Cowman~