Let your emotions out and then move on

"You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into your bottle - are they not in Your book?"

- Psalm 56:8 (AMP)

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I placed my face in my hands and cried. I cried because I physically wasn't feeling well. I cried because things weren't going in my life as planned. Sometimes you just need to cry.

An old friend of mine once told me that many times on the days she attended funerals it was raining. She said she chose to believe God was crying with her.

There is scientific evidence proving stress hormones are found in tears. No wonder it feels good to cry; we release bottled up emotions like a pressure cooker pours out steam. After all, God makes no mistakes - he invented tears.

I know we are supposed to cry and then move on. God doesn't want us stuck in self-pity or sadness. But while we're on our way to fulfilling hopes and dreams we also have experienced life's grief and disappointments, so we cry.

The Bible informs us, "Jesus wept," (John 3:11 AMP), and that the God of the universe collects our tears in a bottle. I believe this means he has counted and recorded every tear we shed.

Somehow, in his ability to do so, God will use the things that have brought us to tears to transform us and others around us. God's purpose is to make us stronger humans. His servant Job observed this during his troubled times: "He sends forth the (rains) and they overwhelm the land or transform it." (Job 12:15 AMP).

If we are wise, we will let God use our rainy days to transform us. Instead of being overwhelmed by them, we will release our bottled up emotions in the form of healthy tears and, after a good cry, we will dust off our fears and move on. We will manage our emotions and not allow them to manage us.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. Contact Annettee by calling (847) 543-8413 or email Annetteebudzban@aol.com. Invite her to speak at your event or Bible study group.