No More Tears

Years ago I had to travel from Nashville to Memphis for an important meeting that would affect my life in a way that would bring me great happiness, I thought or would shatter my dreams in the worst way. I had been earnestly praying for a specific outcome and was expecting the very best, which, I believed, was what I was asking for. But our ways are not always God’s ways. He sees what we do not. The meeting did not go the way I believed it would, and it was one of the most devastating experiences of my life.

I went back to my in-laws’ house where I was staying and went to my room to cry. I picked up my autoharp and began to softly play a song I had written. But the song needed a chorus which, try as I might, I hadn’t been able to come up with. I softly played, half singing and half crying. When I came to the place where a chorus should be, words suddenly came. As I softly sang, I distinctly heard a voice singing in harmony with me, and my heart was filled with wonder. “And when I rise to meet You, You’ll take me by the hand / And where You choose to lead me I may never understand. / But I’ll follow close beside You, for I cannot see the way / And the path is growing sweeter every day.” I do believe the angels were bending close that day to catch my feeble and prayerful words as I sang, and doing their best to comfort my broken heart.

My Search for a Song

As I drove away from Memphis the following morning, I turned on the radio and found a station playing religious music, the kind of station that plays recorded music on a loop, with no live person attendant at the studio. A song came on that described what I was feeling exactly. I was approaching the town where that station was located, and without a second thought, turned off the interstate and found the religious book and music store they advertised.

I wanted that music, and as I recited the words I remembered from that song, I couldn’t keep back the flow of tears. The sales clerk was sympathetic but had no clue about the song.

I had a dear friend in Nashville. We could always share our most intimate thoughts and experiences with one another. I told her about my attempt at trying to find that song and could only remember about one line of it. She sympathized but never again mentioned what I had told her. About a year later, she handed me a cassette tape of a ladies trio, and that song was on it. It seemed God had brought me full circle, reinforcing my faith that He was with me that whole time. His angels were present through my whole ordeal.

Why do I ever doubt that He knows what is best for me? I still don’t understand it all, but my faith grows stronger with every glimpse of His leading in my life. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6), and I am convinced that I have nothing to fear, no matter what stumbling block may appear in my path.

God Will Make a Way

He will always make a way and lead me to that place where there are no more tears because He has promised that He Himself will wipe them away. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4, NIV). We are not promised that the journey of faith will be easy, but we do have His manifold promises that He will travel with us until we reach our journey’s end.

Sylvia Sioux Stark writes from Tennessee.

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