Dare 2 Share - The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry (Psalm 34:15)
Why do infants cry? A Spanish electronics engineer has invented a device the size of a calculator to answer that question. Frustration caused by not understanding his own son's nightly crying drove Pedro Monagas to spend three years visiting nurseries, figuring out the patterns of babies' cries. He built a microchip into his battery-operated "Why Cry" device to monitor the volume, pattern and interval of baby cries. Within 20 seconds after a baby starts to cry, the device displays one of five facial expressions to indicate whether Baby is crying because he's stressed, tired, hungry, sleepy or uncomfortable. (Source: USA Weekend, November 15-17, 2002, http://usaweekend.com)
Too bad we adults don’t have a “Why Cry” for each other. Wouldn’t it be great if we had some sort of way to know exactly what was bothering people who we care about? Or better yet, wouldn’t it be great to have one of those doohickeys for ourselves in those hours of darkness when the world seems like it’s closing in on us?
Maybe you’re not aware of this, but God has already installed a living “Why Cry” in every believer. He is called the Holy Spirit, and He takes up residence in people the very second they trust Christ.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
Since the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, He is intimately acquainted with every single solitary sentiment that we sense-in much less time than 20 seconds! He knows exactly what is going on in our innards much more than we ourselves, which is one reason why He is called the Comforter.
Not only that, but the millisecond we cast our burdens upon God, the Holy Spirit comes alongside us and actually appeals to the Father for help.
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. (Romans 8:26-27)
Isn’t that amazing! When you are depressed, downtrodden or distressed- you only need turn your eyes upon Jesus, and wait for the help of the Spirit. You don’t even have to say the words…He already knows and He is ready to rally round. In fact, the word “plead” that Paul uses in this verse can be translated as “cry”. So in effect, God loves us so much that when we cry, He cries too.
So the next time your times seem less than hunky dory, remember that you have a built-in “Why Cry”, complete with a direct connection to the Throne Room of Heaven, and help is soon on the way.
Questions:
1) How does it make you feel knowing that the Holy Spirit cares that much for us?
2) Are you willing to cry out to God in times of need? Why or why not?
3) Why do you think God cares for us so much? Do you return that love?
