A month ago one of our church's leaders lost a son and two grandchildren in a tragic auto accident.

The heartbreak is deep.

The agony of grief is real.

And the tears are many.

Some Christians feel ashamed when they cry.

Very often when I hug a crying person, they whisper to me, "I am so sorry I am crying" or some variation on that theme.

I tell them, "Your tears are precious to God. Don't be sorry. He puts them all in a bottle, and who knows what wonderful thing he will do with them someday."

Now obviously, I don't literally believe God literally collects all of our literal tears and puts them in a literal bottle.

But the words and the truth of Psalm 56:8 mean something powerful about our tears.

This is what King David writes,

"You have kept count of my tossings; (for a person who sometimes tosses and turns at night, this is immensely comforting)

put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in your record?"

Isn't that just beautiful?

The next time you cry, don't apologize.

Simply picture your heavenly Father collecting each and every precious tear for some purpose grander than we can currently imagine.

Crying is good for the soul.