Weeping With Jesus

Since my firstborn son died from a cancerous tumor in the brain, I was called upon to visit distraught sister who had learned that her son had a similar cancer.  Her son had recently graduated from high school where he had played basketball and had been a track star.  She was expecting me so when I arrived she had a pot of coffee brewed and a plate of cookies set out.  Not knowing her, I had been a bit apprehensive, but her pleasant greeting and the smell of coffee had a calming affect.  I began to suspect this was not going to be so difficult as I had been lead to believe.  With enough coffee and the right kind of cookies a man can endure a brief conversation about anything, even an emotionally charged subject.    

However, no sooner had we sat down when her son passed through the room announcing that he was about to wash the car. She smiled and answered him cheerfully but the instant the door closed she began to weep uncontrollably and she would not be consoled. As she told his story between sobs. She bemoaned the fact that he was being struck down in the prime of his life; that he would not be able to give her grandchildren and much, much more.  In the hour that I was there I said very little.  I just listened to her outpouring of grief, prayed and left.   

It was not until I got back to the office of the one who had sent me that I learned her son was not a Christian. It was that news that has stuck with me all these years.  Of all the things that caused her anguish, there was not one word of concern about his eternal destiny.  The pain she felt was all related to this temporary world without a thought of his eternal destiny. How can we see those we love passing through this brief and uncertain life without shedding a tear for the millennia of suffering and anguish they will endure away from the presence of God.  Where are our tears for the lost.  As Jesus looked down on the city He wept. ( Luke 19:41f ) Why are our eyes dry ?