“The soul would have no rainbow, had the eyes no tears.”
John Vance Cheney

There is a situation in 1 Samuel 30 where David and his fighting men return to a town, where they had settled, to find their wives and children kidnapped and their homes burnt to the ground by the Amalekites.

It says in verse 4 “they wept until they could weep no more”.

Then in vs. 6 it says, “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

Afterwards he called the priests to bring the “ephod” (a vestment by which they would discern God’s will”). God tells David to pursue the raiding Amalekites and he would be successful in rescuing all the families.

Have you ever been in such distress you had to have a “good” cry? I have . . . hey if David and his mighty men can admit it so can I. There is something about a “good” cry that just lets you get it all out. It’s one of the places we are most honest with God. Ecclesiastes says “there is a time to mourn.” When I have a “good” cry and I get to the point where I can’t shed another tear. It’s then I focus on the fact that God is still in control in spite of my circumstances and I am strengthened by it. No matter what my circumstances of distress are, that brought about the emotional response, God remained sovereign through it all. This enables me to focus on- “what’s next?” God what would you have me do now?

Now that I have had my “good” cry, and You remain in control and I need your direction. This is what I call looking for the “ephod.” We don’t have that Item at our disposal in this era but we have something greater- God’s word and His indwelling Holy Spirit. God gets us through the “good” cry and onward to His solution of rescue and deliverance from distress. I don’t like the events that bring about a good cry” but I’m thankful that there is a process to get me through it. It makes me seek God and depend on Him which is where I should have been from the beginning .

“Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into heaven.”
Henry Ward Beecher.