Does God care about the bitter tears I am crying?

April 7, 2014: Does God care about the bitter tears I am crying? Please SHARE this new Precious Prodigal Post: http://bit.ly/1jWaj2p

2 Kings 20:5 "...I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears..."

King Hezekiah was sick, and God sent Isaiah to tell him, "...Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die…” (2 Kings 20:1) Hezekiah was young, probably less than 40 years old, and he did not yet have a son to sit on the throne.

Taking a look at our own mortality isn’t easy. When death is imminent, it’s likely going to get our attention and sharpen our focus. But facing death isn’t the only thing that will do that. Those of us who love a prodigal know about the kind of pain that can consume us until we can’t see anything else but that pain and what brought it about.

Hezekiah “turned his face to the wall and prayed.” (2 Kings 20:2) His sorrow was so great that nothing else was important to him: not his spouse, not his kingdom, not his wealth, not his power. Facing the wall and praying showed he also knew there was no help for him in any of those things. Only God could change the outcome.

He didn’t just pray either; he also “wept sore.” (2 Kings 20:3) That doesn’t mean the tears just trickled from his eyes. It is better translated that he “wept bitterly with a great weeping.” I immediately identified with this because I’ve been there…not just crying, but weeping with a great and agonizing bitterness when there seemed to be no end to the tears nor relief in shedding them.

You’ve probably been there too. You may even be there now. Let me assure you that the same God who heard Hezekiah’s prayer and saw his tears is no respecter of persons. He knows you are without hope, and He hears every desperate prayer and sees the bitter tears you are crying and have cried. He hears, He knows, and He understands.

In spite of his sorrow or maybe because of it, Hezekiah prayed with boldness, asking God to do the impossible. Although he couldn’t predict the outcome, he prayed with the confidence that God would see his pain and hear his plea. And, in fact, God did exactly that. Before Isaiah had even reached the middle courtyard, God told him to return and tell Hezekiah that God had heard his prayer and seen his tears and was going to give him 15 more years to live.

I can rejoice in Hezekiah’s prayers and my own being answered and God granting what has been asked. But I can also rejoice when the answer is not what I had hoped. Why? Because whether or not I understand what God is doing or the things He has allowed, I can know that He hears my prayers. I can also know that He sees every tear. He’s not some distant God, untouched by my sorrow. He knows, He cares and, when the time is right, He will answer in the way that is best for me.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, look past the bitter tears you are weeping and believe that God hears, He sees, He knows, and He cares?