What Are Tears of Joy?
What are tears of joy when you have the awesome privilege of holding your newly born granddaughter? I thought for the first time that my tears of joy might be out of place. 
I have been so thankful for the Lord’s amazing blessings in my life, seeing Him move on my behalf, and on behalf of others. I realized how often that my response was crying with those so-called happy tears, or tears of joy.
It really wasn’t till the early morning hours of the birth of my newest granddaughter, that I began asking myself what are tears of joy.
I was headed to this wonderful event, being filled with joy and tears, or was it joy with some leftover pain mixed in?
Was this a clever masquerade of joy that I was feeling? Was this not the real thing, like wanting to drink a Coke and settling for a Pepsi?
The enemy had ravaged our son, trying to steal his joy over and over again. We had seen the Lord’s kindness restore everything the enemy had stolen from him. He was now getting blessed with the great gift of his very own baby girl.
My son’s words when he discovered his wife was expecting were, “God must really love me to give me a child.” What a liar the enemy is, and what a Kinsmen Redeemer our God is!
What Are Tears of Joy
Life Experience
As I was driving, and crying, I heard the Lord’s still quiet voice saying, “Charleen, no need to cry, laugh, and be full of joy!” I thought I was full of joy.
As I looked up, I saw the moon smiling at me with a double wide grin. My Father in heaven was giving me a picture of what He wanted on my face. Not tears, but a huge smile, happy, joyous, and illuminating!
What are tears of joy? I couldn’t bring myself to cry after that, but I could only laugh out loud all the way to the hospital.
The Bible does tell us that “those who sow in tears will reap in joy”. I had certainly done more than my share of sowing in tears.
The word for joy in Hebrew is “rinnah”, meaning gladness, joy, proclamation, rejoicing, shouting, singing, or triumph.
It struck me that this meaning was so far removed from anything like weeping, which is the way I have shown my joy most of the time.
What Are Tears of Joy Meaning
What are tears of joy? I began wondering where the expression “tears of joy” came from. I could not find any agreed upon source for this expression. What I do know is that it is not in the Bible.
I am not saying that we can never cry when we are happy. I am saying we might need to look a little closer at our feelings connected to any tears of joy.
I did this on the miraculous morning of my granddaughter’s birth, and I discovered the Lord had more joy for me than I was capable of experiencing!
I decided to do a word search on the Biblical words for joy and found 27 words meaning joy. What are tears of joy? Not one of them referred to weeping or crying. In fact, all of them described a jubilant and obvious expression of joy.
It seemed to be like the kind of response you might have when your favorite football team has just won a game. Expressions with leaping, loud shouts, singing, and dancing are more the picture of what pure joy is.
Why don’t you try my theory out next time the Lord does something amazing in your life. Instead of tears, try jumping up and down, dancing, singing, leaping, or shouting.
I really believe your joy will be multiplied, and you will begin to experience the fullness of the joy that Christ paid for us to enjoy!
Charleen
P.S. WHAT ARE TEARS OF JOY? They no longer have a place in my life. For more ideas on how to truly celebrate God’s blessings in your life, join us at the link above.