Heroes Have Feelings - Monday April 13, 2015
And Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Genesis 23:2
Last November quarterback Carson Palmer experienced deep emotions from his season-ending injury. He said to the media, "It's not easy. I'm not going to lie. I cried like a baby last night, and I'm not an emotional guy." Palmer's transparency was commendable in a culture that teaches boys and men, "Big boys don't cry." That's America. Yet in the Bible, the men who were heroes did cry. They wept; they even cried with loud tears. Look at these heroes.
Abraham cried when his dear wife was gone. Jacob lifted up his voice and wept (twice, after two long, hard trips). Likewise, Joseph cried upon discovering himself to his brothers; he wept so loudly that people could hear him from other rooms! These heroes weren't crying the tears of tantrums. Their tears were expressions of grief or joy.
David had more tears than can be listed here. Jeremiah was the weeping prophet. Job cried. Nehemiah cried. Paul wrote letters while weeping and wasn't embarrassed to tell us. A whole group of elders cried over Paul when they realized they would never see their dear friend again.
Jesus cried. He cried over Jerusalem. He wept at a friend's death. Our Savior cried loudly the night before He faced the cross. He was a man-a "big boy"-and yet He cried.
Our culture says men should bottle up their emotions. Our Father says He'll bottle their tears in a treasured collection. God loves us while we are weeping and responds to our cries. Let's join with God by validating every person's tears, men and women, boys and girls, alike.
Submitted by:
Rita Bergen
Cornerstone Community Church
Overland Park, Kansas
One-Year Reading Plan:
Joshua 7:16-9:2
Luke 16:1-18
Psalms 82:1-8
Proverbs 13:2-3
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.