“…weep
with those who weep.” Romans 12:15b
Yesterday I got a whole different outlook on what it means
to weep with those who weep. It began
the day before as I came home to a sinking foundation around my pool and water
gushing out of the heating system (cold weather repercussions I guess). Anyways, it’s added pressure that I didn’t
want to deal with especially with the fact that my home warranty had expired
last August and I didn’t have coverage. Fortunately, I was able to renew it and
begin the claim yesterday. I woke up
this yesterday though feeling overwhelmed at the added expense of it and the
continued unknown of what God is presently doing in my life. The pressures of
this life, my life, building up inside broke out in a meltdown of tears while
getting ready for work, which by the way made it very difficult to get mascara
on. The day progressed with more pain
when I dropped a 20 pound box on my face at work as I was lifting it to a
higher shelf. Despite the pain and
thinking I had broken cheek bones and a broken nose, I couldn’t help but get a
smile out of it when I saw my lipstick smeared on the box and dirt marks on my
face. However, I survived the work day and headed home desperately needing a
hug, having a deep desire to crawl into bed with a 3 pound bag of peanut
M&M’s, fall asleep, and not think. But, I couldn’t do that – I had big girl
duties to do! First things first, I had
to call and make the claim on the pool.
So, I picked up the phone and dialed to talk to an automated, fake
person who I had to repeat my “yes” answer 3 times and my issue at hand four
times until I wised up and pushed “0” to talk to a real person. The lady quickly and efficiently took all my
information down and in the middle of the conversation said “I hope I’m not
being too personal with you, but are you okay?” Apparently, she could hear the quiver in my
voice and my sniffles. I proceeded to tell her what a great way this was to
start a new year out – just kidding – but, I did tell her how I’ve been going
through some things and this was just another thing to add to the pile. Our conversation continued and then something
happened…she started to cry with me. She
didn’t offer me words of wisdom, an “I’ll pray for you” statement, or Romans
8:28…she just started to cry with me…in fact, she trembled so much in her voice
that she was having trouble repeating the confirmation information back to me. I instantly felt the heart of Jesus through
this woman and saw Him weeping with me. I was so shocked at the kindness this
stranger gave me that by the time I hung up, I knew I had been hugged by the
Lord through her.
When you cry with someone it shows that your heart has been touched
so much that it has disrupted and impacted your world with sympathy for that
person. I think so many times we try to
find words to heal a heart or fix a situation when words are sometimes not
needed. After the call, the Lord
reminded me how ever-present He is in my life as He chose to use a stranger to
reveal His heart toward me…His heart of compassion, understanding, and concern
for the things that concern me.
“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart”
Ps. 34:18
“He heals the
brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Ps. 147:3
Yesterday a home warranty woman cried with me – not a
family member or a friend but a home warranty woman, a stranger. When was the last time you cried with someone
who was crying? Does seeing someone else
hurt move your heart towards compassion? Does your heart break for the things
that break the Lord’s heart?
