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

Well, this one seems pretty straight-forward. When you mourn, God will comfort you. As I was pondering this earlier today, I thought, ‘What else can I say about this? Is there a point in meditating upon this one?’ And Abba has showed me just how important this one is this week. I’ve been going through some things the past couple months that are very painful — friendships don’t always last forever or turn out the way we think they will. People do not always act or react in ways that are wise or God-honoring — in fact, we often don’t because we are fallen human beings! I have been feeling particularly lonely lately, not just because of losing friendships, I’m coming to realize, but because Abba wants to teach me truths about Himself. He wants to teach me to rest in Him. He wants to teach me that He is the ultimate Friend; He is the ultimate Lover; He is the ultimate Source of relationship and support that anyone can have. Every human being will fail me at some point or another, but God NEVER will. He is ALWAYS here with me and for me, whether I can feel Him or not. This is part of what He means by comforting those who mourn.

Mourning — losing friendships, losing loved ones to death or distance, wishing we had back a past circumstance or opportunity, letting our dreams die in order to follow Abba wholly — these are all ways we mourn because we are human beings. We even mourn our own selves because of loss of youth or memory or abilities to do things we used to be good at or failure. There are many things in this world that we can (and often should) mourn. Jesus does NOT say “Do not mourn.” In fact, He asserts the opposite! He says, “Blessed ARE you when you mourn.” He encourages us to mourn, for in our mourning He will bring healing. He will bring comfort. He will bring about redemption. He will bring His joy. He will be our strength. We only have to bring Him ourselves and lay at His feet the pain, longings, hurt, and sorrow that reside in the deepest part of our hearts. When we accept the pain as real and do not try to reject it or ignore it, it is then that God can work through it to bring us healing. His healing doesn’t mean that the pain will necessarily go away; in fact, sometimes He increases the sorrow we feel to breed compassion in our hearts for others. I encourage you, just as Abba is whispering in my soul, to not seek the life without pain. That life will not come in this world, broken and fallen as it is. However I DO encourage you to seek the Good Life, the joyful life. The Good Life may be filled with much pain. It may be excruciating. People may think us crazy for seeking God’s Good Life rather than the pleasure-filled life of the world. Don’t be deceived. Though the road of the blessed is difficult and narrow, God assures us that He will walk it with us and He will comfort us in those deepest, darkest moments of pain and sorrow. He promises us LIFE to come that will be so much greater and more beautiful than anything we have now that this pain will seem like the blink of an eye, a fleeting shadow. Don’t pass up Eternal Joy with our King for the temporary pleasures this world offers. Stay with the pain and offer it to Jesus, moment by moment. And don’t give up! He will bless you for persevering.