Matthew 5.4

"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5.4

What a paradox! We think of grief and happiness as being mutually exclusive. In fact, even in Christian circles, we are often taught that the Christian always has a smile on his face and a song in his heart. We are told that to be sad is sinful, that grief represents a lack of faith, and that pain comes from sinful living. Yet, this teaching is directly contrary to what Jesus is saying here.

Let's look for a moment at the word "mourn." In the Greek it means to grieve a loss. This may be the loss of a loved one, but it may be other losses as well: loss of health, loss of security, loss of a relationship, loss of a dream, loss of a job, etc. Too often when a Child of God mentions a loss to another Christian she is met with rebuke for her lack of faith or told she is "having a pity party." It's doubtful she was having a pity party. To have a party you need guests and, usually, there is no one around to show pity on the Christian in sorrow.

Sometimes the person is alone in their sorrow, not because of lack of concern among the Christian community, but because no one knows about the pain. Many people get up in the morning under a burden of circumstances, filled with pain, but they put on their smile along with their Sunday clothes and go to church. They never let anyone know what they are going through. Sometimes this is because they don't want to appear weak. Sometimes it's because what is causing the pain might seem trivial to others. Sometimes it's because the pain is caused by something no one else would understand. So, even the person sitting next to them, even their spouse, child or best friend doesn't know that something is wrong.

But, Praise God, Jesus is telling us that he knows our heart. He knows when we mourn in silence. He knows that what is trivial to others may be overwhelming to us. And he says, "Child, I know what you are going through. I felt your pain in my body on the cross. And I will heal that pain."

So, when we mourn, when we face hard times, when we are sad, when our hearts break and the pain mounts up inside so badly that we feel we can't stand it any longer, we are Blessed. We are Happy. Why? Because at those times we really know how much we need him. We become "poor in spirit." We feel his presence. And when he does the work (He will do the work), then we will come out on the other side of the loss with a stronger testimony and a greater endurance for what is yet to come.

It is only against the darkness of night that the brightness of the stars be seen. The jeweler displays his most precious diamonds on his darkest cloth. God shows his glory against the backdrop of grief. So, blessed are those who mourn, for we shall be comforted.

Lord, wrap your arms around me in my grief and give me the strength only you have. And let me pass that strength along to others. Amen and Amen.