What if Hannah had resigned herself to childlessness instead of pouring out her prayers to God with her tears?
What if the father of the Prodigal Son had dried his eyes and moved on, rather than watching and waiting for his wayward one to come home? What if Hosea, instead of grieving over his wife’s unfaithfulness, had proclaimed that this was God’s will and he was probably better off without her?
If these biblical characters had suppressed their pain and put on a happy face, we would be missing the deep bass notes that give the gospel such sweet resonance. If there are no tears, then the promise that God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4) would not be necessary.
-Betsy Childs Howard
Sophie Miller 