A Brief History of the Book
As for how Tears from a Lonely God came to be - it has
been several years in the making, on and off. In the year 2000, I kept
feeling that God was nudging me to write a book someday. This thought
persisted through many of my morning devotions, and whenever I would
read certain passages of Scripture I would feel as though God was trying
to tell me something.
Finally, sometime during 2000 or 2001, (I can't remember the precise
time), I had a dream. As I was asleep, I heard a voice of a man speaking
to me, who said "Revelations 1:11." Just after I had
heard this voice, I awoke, and, being intensely curious as to what the
verse said, I immediately opened my Bible and flipped to the verse and
read it:
"Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and
the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the
seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and
unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto
Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." -Revelation 1:11
And so, at that very instant, I knew something special
had begun. All of my wondering and suspicions had been answered, and I
knew that it was God's will for me to write...
What exactly I was to write would not become apparent
for years.
Finally in the summer of 2004, (several years after my
initial calling), during one of the absolute lowest and loneliest times
in my life, I woke up with a name for a book. "Tears from a
Lonely God would make a good title for a book," I thought.
And so on that day in July, I felt as though the preparations of several
years' worth of God's shaping had all been brought to the surface.
I prayed about starting this work, not wanting to force
anything, and God gently made it clear to me that it was the right time.
Soon, the thoughts of the first chapter weighed heavily on my heart, and
I released them to paper with relief. Over the following three months,
writing on and off in spurts, the entire book was written and proofread.
By October of 2004 I had a rough draft to show to people.
I should add that the content of the book is unique in
that it is written from God's perspective rather than man's. As for the
actual inspiration, I tried to explain as best I could in the Prologue
of the book, but will reiterate it here: I believe that the underlying
inspiration for this book is of God. However, it is still written in my
own words, and I'm sure its not perfect. It was the best job that I
could do to communicate the thoughts that I believe God had stirred in
me. In no way am I suggesting that this book is to be used in place of,
or in addition to, Holy Scripture.
What I think the book does well is take passages from
the Bible, and things taught in the Bible about God's character and
nature, and present them in a fresh and unique way that wouldn't have
been seen otherwise. For example, it says in the book of Isaiah:
"Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed:
neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou
shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach
of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the
LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The
God of the whole earth shall he be called." -Isaiah 54:4-5
Here the idea of God being a husband to His people is
presented. Yet what a wealth of parallels can be drawn from that one
idea! - an idea that is not commonly explored, especially from God's
perspective. These are the unique perspectives that I have tried to
capture with this book, and in turn to use them to encourage and uplift
God's people.
Finally in April of 2006, I got the idea of putting the
book online for other Christians to read; this was the founding of the
current site, www.tfalg.org. I feel so blessed to be able to encourage
and exhort my brothers and sisters in Christ! I can hardly describe it.
A Continuing Work
At present, this work is still not done. You may have
noticed two little words in the Prologue that are without fulfillment.
Here is the sentence and the words I'm talking about:
"What follows on these pages is what I believe to
be the best representation, in words and images, to what I
have seen and felt." (from the Prologue of Tears from a Lonely God)
The two words in the sentence above: "and
images," is what I believe God has next for this work, and I
believe He will be faithful in completing it in His good timing. You
see, I originally had intended for this work to be illustrated! I
even keep a list of all the simple black and white pencil sketchings
that I would like to insert into the body of the text within the book.
However, I can only describe the pictures - drawing is definitely
not my forte! (Please do not send me an email asking if you can do the
illustrations - see the next paragraph below.)
So, if you have been blessed by this website, and if God
ever puts this ministry on your heart - all I ask for is prayer.
Oh do I ever need prayer! Please be in prayer that God would send the
right person my way to do the illustrations - and complete this work. I
have a general idea of who this person will be - I will know them face
to face - and I am waiting on God's timing once again to fulfill His
promise to me.
That is where God has brought this project to date. There is so much
more I could write here, but I'll simply let the book speak for itself.
I hope that it is a blessing to you this day!
In Christ Jesus,

Eric Meier
Below is a reading list for those that are
considering using each chapter as a daily devotion over the period of
one month:
As you can see by the number of chapters, it would
work wonderfully for February, even during a leap year. =)