The Power Of A Single Tear

“Then Jesus wept”



John 11:35



Before you read on stop and notice the spot at the bottom of the picture above. Most everyone knows the story of Jesus friend Lazarus who had died and just before Jesus raises him from the dead Jesus is seen standing at his grave weeping. Jesus compassion touched the lives of those who stood by grieving themselves and in that moment we get a glimpse into the heart of God, that when we hurt He hurts too. God cares about you and He doesn’t remove Himself from our pain but just the opposite. If we will allow Him, Jesus will draw close to us as our God is a God of compassion.



I read a quote the other day that I had the joy of seeing played out in real life yesterday when I saw that spot on the bottom of the drawing. The quote read, “A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.” Our next door neighbor has a couple of dogs and one of them had to be put to sleep yesterday after coming down with bone cancer. Fritz was half German Shepherd and I would say half horse as he was the biggest German Shepherd mix I have ever seen in my life. Though he was huge he was extremely gentle, a gentle giant you could say and my grandkids loved talking with him, petting him and giving him dog treats.



On a typical day my wife picks up two of our grandkids after school each day and brings them to our house where they get picked up after their parents get off work, so they see Fritz almost daily. He would howl when they would come outside as he would meander over to the fence where they would greet him and pet him. Sadly, my wife had to break the news that Fritz wouldn’t be at the fence yesterday had died and there was an obvious sadness, especially for our grand daughter Quinn. She was visibly saddened by news and began asking all kinds of questions as to how it happened and how old was Fritz. After explaining human years and dog years Quinn understood that Fritz was about 70 years old in “dog years” and that he had lived a good life but her heart still hurt.



A few hours later Quinn’s older sister Reese sent us a text saying Quinn was still very sad and wanted to know if we had a picture of Fritz. I reached out to my neighbor Buddy who was Fritz’s owner explaining my grand daughter was saddened by Fritz’s death and could she have a picture of Fritz. He was touched by her compassion and gladly sent over a picture of Fritz for her to have. Not too long after that we received a drawing Quinn had done that had hearts and a picture of Fritz below them. I sent it to my neighbor telling him my grand daughter drew a picture of Fritz for him.



The picture was cute but what made the gesture so heartwarming and ministered greatly to my neighbor even more than the picture itself was a single tear drop that you can see located on the bottom of the drawing from our grand daughters eye as she drew the picture of Fritz. That one tear drop spoke volumes to my neighbor and sent a message far greater than any words could.



The Bible says to “rejoice with those who rejoice and to sorrow with them that sorrow”. In other words don’t just feel for other people, feel with them. Jesus wept because He identified with the hurts of others and He cared deeply. Just a thought for today that when you come across people who are hurting don’t worry about trying to find the right words to share. Sometimes a single tear speaks volumes and does more than words could ever say. After all It was Jesus Himself who said, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (John 13:35).


I LOVE YOU!