Grief

Drop for Drop

by H.B. Floyd
05/16/08
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Drop for Drop

“You number my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?”
- Psalm 56:8 (NKJV)

Just as God uses river waters to carve out majestic mountains and sculpt fertile valleys, so have wandering flows of tears been used to cut and define my very soul.

Recently, the Lord handed me a gift—a bottle of tears. My tears.

These were the tears that I’d shed when I was a child—hurt, scared, alone, confused, weary and spiritually lost.

As I opened the bottle I was immediately enveloped by its heavenly bouquet. Captivated by the fragrance, I peered inside. To my amazement, my tears had been given new refreshing life! I stared into the bottle and instantly knew that the sorrows of my youth were not spent in solitude and that my tears were not shed in vain.

I saw how Jesus stood beside me when I was a small child trying to escape the constant assault of verbal and emotional abuse in my home. I saw how Jesus had stood beside me on the night my Daddy died. He had not abandoned me like I thought He did.

Instead, in all these times, He was holding me close and drawing me to Himself as I anguished in my sorrow. I saw that He was always with me in the days, weeks, months, and years of tears that followed my father's death.

Never once did He let go.

And He saw my every teardrop fall.

In His compassion, before any one tear could hit the ground, He reached out and caught it in His nail-pierced hand. Then He tenderly placed it in His bottle and added to it a tiny drop of His blood.

In each drop of blood was all the power of God.

In each drop was the power to overcome the sting of death and heartache of sin. In each drop was the power to transform my life.

Drop for drop, He matched each one of my tears. Not one escaped His notice.

I shed a lot of tears.

He shed a lot of blood.

While my tears tell of the sorrow and frailty of my humanity, broken and beaten down by death and the woes of this world — His blood tells of His love, compassion, mercy, grace and power to mend all that is broken.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
A broken spirit and a contrite heart
These, O’ God, You will not despise.”
- Psalms 51:17-18

To Jesus my tears were precious. So much so that He kept them in His bottle and cherished them over the years. Into them, He infused the power of His blood, transforming them from the stench of death and all that it brings, into a sweet aroma of new and abundant life.

This new fragrance, born of the adversities of my childhood, is a special gift to me, for it has brought healing, comfort and transformation in my soul. In my weakness, He proved Himself strong.

This fragrance is also a special gift to God the Father, from His Son. For the work that Christ does in my life, glorifies God.

And He is doing the same for you, right now. Take comfort in knowing that your tears are not shed in vain!

Your Lord and Savior has good plans for you. And He is standing right beside you, catching every tear… and matching them drop for drop.

In time, he will present you with a bottle of your own, filled with a delightful new fragrance, showcasing the healing and transformation He has done in your life through these sorrowful times.

My friend, trust in the power of Christ’s blood.



And He said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you,
for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9


© 2008 H. B. Floyd