I am not a crying man. The only emotion that people typically see from me is anger. But today, I am reminded of a time when I was brought to tears. The year was 2006 and at the time I was working for a church in youth ministry but was living in secret sin. I was relaxing on the couch flipping through the channels when I stumbled upon an old Billy Graham Crusade that was being re-run. What happened next, I couldn’t have predicted.
Nothing Mr. Graham said was revolutionary to me, in as much as I had heard it all before. But as I watched Billy Graham preach the gospel, I welled up with tears because I was reminded of the truth in which I said I believed, even though my life was not reflecting that truth. I said to myself and then to my wife, “that’s what I believe.” The tears flowed, no doubt from grief, due to the hard truths I had heard that led me to the painful realization that I was living a lie. But I also believe that there were tears of joy because I was reminded that God loved me and His grace was sufficient for me in Jesus. If I only confessed my shortcomings and received the gift of salvation.
There have been many days since then where I wish my life was a better reflection of what I believe, but I am comforted that people have the courage to speak the truth and live their life according to truth, even if it is no longer popular or socially and politically acceptable. I imagine that those who knew Billy Graham are crying tears of grief today, but also tears mingled with joy. They grieve over the loss of a loved one, but they take comfort in knowing that he is in the presence of the God he loved so much.
Our society does not want to hear anything that may be painful or offensive, but men of courage must stand up and speak truth like Billy Graham, because society needs most what it wants least.
Truth is painful and may bring tears, but those willing to hear and yield to the truth will discover that there is no greater joy than to walk in the truth.
