Transforming Our Tears

Transcripts for Dr. Wiersbe's sermons are forthcoming. Below is an outline of his message.

There are two tests of a man’s character: find out what makes him laugh and find out what makes him cry.

The further you go in life, the more opportunity you have for joy and sorrow.

If you try to avoid sorrow, you will lose a great deal of joy.

God can transform our tears into triumph.

Sorrow by itself never made anybody better, but sorrow plus the Lord grows us.

When you turn sorrow over to the Lord and He transforms it, you experience the comfort of God.

Understanding three kinds of sorrow will help us face and transform our tears into triumph.

• Natural sorrow
  • Even Jesus knew what it was to sorrow and weep.
  • God made us to be able to cry because it can help heel us.
  • Knowing that Jesus will restore our soul and body at the resurrection comforts us and brings peace.
  • Natural sorrow begins to heal over time.
• Unnatural sorrow
  • Characteristics of unnatural sorrow: isolated from reality, not functioning.
  • Unnatural sorrow can grow from guilt and selfishness.
  • God never meant for us to sorrow ourselves to death or wallow in self-pity.
• Supernatural sorrow
  • Supernatural sorrow comes with repentance.
  • Real repentance involves your mind, heart, and will.
  • Regret is only in the mind; remorse is both the mind and emotion.
  • There are degrees of repentance: sorry for the consequences, sorry for your sins, sorry for your sinful nature, for sin in the world, and for our attitude in repenting.
  • We easily become self-satisfied when we repent of our sin.
  • There are four kinds of comfort God gives: the comfort of the Savior, comfort of Scripture, comfort of the Holy Spirit, and the comfort of the saints.
  • Comfort is meant to bring us strength, not sympathy.

Are you a comforter? Or do you add to others’ burdens?

The Holy Spirit enables us to comfort other people by putting us through difficulty.

One day we will see the whole view of God’s providence in our lives.

If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, one day there will be eternal tears and sorrow with no comfort.