Blessed are Those Who Mourn

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

I remember once sitting with a friend whose wife had just died – at his place, watching TV – when a program about death came on. He instantly reached for the remote and changed channels.

Well, of course he would. But that’s the thing. When you’re mourning a great loss – the world around you just goes merrily on. Which makes the pain even worse. You’re hurting, but for every one else, it’s just another day. How can they not feel your pain? Why are they so fortunate not to be mourning a loss while you’re aching with every fibre of your being.

The loss of a love one, the loss of a job, the loss of a hope or a dream, hey, the loss of a pet – the loss of anything dear to you, has a way of tearing your heart apart like nothing else on this earth. It immobilises you. Nothing else seems to matter, as you mourn your loss.

That grieving process is entirely normal. It’s entirely human.

But then, Jesus comes along in His famous sermon on the mount and says, “blessed are those who mourn”. I’m so glad that I wasn’t grieving the first time I read that – I think I would have been totally offended. But it’s the second bit of what He said that’s had a huge impact in my life.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

When you’re grieving, nothing that anybody else can say or do seems to be able to make much of a difference. I remember a couple of decades ago, mourning a great loss in my life, and it felt as though I was down in an impenetrable black hole.

People said well-meaning things. They did well-meaning things and I still, to this day, appreciate those. But nothing they could say or do was capable of comforting my grieving heart.

The only Person who seems to have that knack, is Jesus. He comes along side and binds up your broken heart. He comes along side and comforts the grieving heart. He shines His warm, gentle, soft light in that impenetrable blackness.

When I look back on that terrible time of mourning in my life, and it went on for the best part of a year actually, the worst of it, I have this sense that I wouldn’t wish that suffering on my worst enemy, and yet, I wouldn’t swap it for the world.

Because it was down in that dark hole that I experienced the love, the very real love, the powerful love of Jesus, in such an incredibly special way.

So, if and when you find yourself in that dark place, mourning a great loss, remember:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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