The Gift of Tears

And I will give them...a new heart---and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God] (Ez. 11:19, amplified).

One of the first signs of the Spirit at work in us is what is called "the gift of tears."  One writer has said that tears are the pearls of God's kingdom.  Men, more than women, tend to be suspicious of any emotional display when it comes to faith and religion, but even women will hold back for fear of making a fool of themselves in public.  But Scripture warns us that a "hard heart" is the sign of major trouble between us and God.

• Jesus told us that hardness of heart is the major cause of divorce.
• The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years because of "hardness of heart"
• Ephesians 4:17 tells us that "hardening of our hearts" leads to futile thinking and darkened understanding.   (Romans 2: 1-5  and Mark 8:17 also) 
• Hebrews 3:13 says that sin's deceitfulness leads to hardening of our hearts.

When the Holy Spirit begins to work in us, one of His signs is a softening of our hearts, taking away our hearts of stone and replacing them with hearts of flesh.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem because it was a city filled with hatred and violence, not recognizing the time of its visitation.  He wept at the tomb of Lazarus because of the sorrow of his friends.

Admittedly, there are tears of rage and frustration, tears of self-pity or bids for attention---none of which are the "gift of tears" that signify the action of the Holy Spirit.  But when He is present and at work, we often do not even know why we are crying.  He is giving us a release from long-held-in-and stuffed-down paralysis of heart.

I once heard a priest whose heart had been touched by the Holy Spirit tell of his experience in a very small town in North Louisiana.  The small town had 4 churches, all different denominations.  The pastors decided that they would take turns preaching at all the different churches once a year.  When it came time for Sam (the priest) to preach at the Pentecostal church, he was prompted during his sermon to make an altar call.  Now, Sam had never in his life made an altar call; he was not really sure what that was.  But the Holy Spirit kept telling him to "make an altar call." 

At the end of his sermon, Sam said to the congregation:  The Holy Spirit keeps telling me to make an altar call, whatever that is.  So I'm making an altar call right now.  With that, members of the congregation started coming to the altar and lining up.  The Pentecostal pastor explained that the two of them would now begin to pray over those who were lining up.  They each started at opposite ends of the line and began to pray.  One lady who Sam was praying for began to cry, almost uncontrollably.  Sam, who knew only controlled Catholic services where people did not show emotion, was disgusted by this display of what he considered "emotionalism."  He went to sit on the altar, leaving the other pastor to finish praying for people. 

While sitting there, Sam was apologizing to God for getting himself into this mess, where religion dissolved into emotional displays, which he considered unseemly and undignified.  The Spirit said to him, Ask her who Jesus is to her.

After the service, Sam found the lady and asked why she had cried when he prayed over her.  "I don't know;" she said.  "Something just came over me."  Unsatisfied, he said, "Never mind.  Just tell me who Jesus is to you." 

He told us that her face lit up and she began to talk about Jesus in a way he had never heard any Catholic express themselves.  To her, Jesus was a real and living Presence, a dear Person in her life.

Sam left that church completely different---he now had a God-given mission to bring the Holy Spirit to the Catholic church, the Spirit who would make Jesus a real Person, a living Presence; the Spirit who would soften hard hearts and bring the gift of tears.  He began to pray intensely for that same action in his own life, and he became a great evangelist and preacher to Catholic audiences in Louisiana. 

Anyone who ever heard Sam Jacobs preach knew that he himself had been touched by the Holy Spirit.  He was truly "on fire" to make Jesus known through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Thankfully, Sam went on to become a bishop in North Louisiana.  God had prepared him to reach the Catholic church through the tears of a humble woman for whom he prayed in the Pentecostal church.