You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalms 56:8
Broken and alone. That’s how Sarah described herself two years ago. But now she says, “I am healed, peaceful, and stronger.”
Sarah is a young African woman. She knew she needed to leave a relationship that was destroying her but kept constantly asking God why doing the right thing hurt so much. During that dark season, Sarah heard a devotional on the radio. The program told a story about a woman named Laila, whose toddler had a large splinter in her foot. Knowing it had to come out, Laila gently removed it while her daughter cried in pain, unable to understand why her mom was hurting her. Through tears, Laila comforted her daughter, hoping that once the splinter was gone and the pain had passed, her little girl would understand that it had all been done out of love.
“I saw myself in that little girl,” Sarah shared. Sarah learned that God never delights in our pain; He grieves with us and feels every tear. In fact, the Bible says, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Psalms 56:8). Sarah admitted, “The separation was painful, but God was removing the ‘thorn’ that was poisoning my life before it destroyed my future. Hearing that God wasn’t enjoying my pain, but suffering with me, changed my perspective completely. I thank God for giving me the courage to remove that ‘thorn,’ because that temporary pain saved my life.”
In her pain, Sarah was waiting to hear of a Father who cares and can be trusted through all of life’s troubles. She was waiting to hear a devotional like this one. You can send devotionals that share the love of God with millions around the world in their own languages. Give a gift today at guidelines.org.
