Psalm 126:5

by | Jun 9, 2021

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

Mark 14:34

Have you ever felt that way?

Chances are that you have at some point. I did just last week. I was so overcome with sorrow that I couldn’t stop crying! I kept making this horrible sound and at the time I felt despair and didn’t know how I would get out of it.

All I could pray was “Father, help!” in between my sobs.

This weekend I listened to a sermon from Upper Room in Dallas that was so timely and encouraging. They shared Psalms 126:5 “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.”

That verse rocked my whole thought process about weeping. I realized that it’s actually good to let out our tears because God understands and is with us through our pain. He longs to hold us and our desperate tears cause us to lean into Him and seek Him above our current circumstance.

I also spent time learning about olive trees which are found in the Garden of Gethsemane (which is where Jesus was when He said the above verse in Mark.)

There are two types of winds that blow through the olive tree– an east wind that blows dry, hot and harsh winds, and the west wind that blows rain and life. Both winds are needed to produce the fruit (olive).

If you were to pick and eat the olive off of the branch, the taste would be extremely bitter. To become edible it has to go through a long process. The olive has to be washed, broken, soaked, salted, and then left to sit for a month or so. It’s through that lengthy process that it is cured of the bitterness. And then to preserve the olive, it has to be crushed to extract the oil.

The pain is necessary for the fruitfulness!

So friend, if you are feeling the pain of crushing or your soul is overcome with sorrow, know that you are not alone. Your heavenly Father is with you and He is catching every tear you cry.

Though you sow in tears, you will reap with songs of joy.

-Mary Elizabeth A.