|
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
(Matthew 5:4)
I received an email from a friend last week. He thanked me for the devotionals I am currently writing on the Beatitudes of Jesus, and he made this interesting comment: "I'm long overdue going through it again." I feel the same way. I think it is good and most spiritually edifying that we periodically do a deep dive in the Beatitudes of Jesus. These are key, foundational teachings of our Lord. If we find ourselves going backwards in our walk with God and need a retooling or spiritual recalibration, then it would be a good idea to go back through these Blessed statements of Jesus. Our Lord said we are blessed when we are poor in spirit, mourn, are meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, are merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and persecuted.
Living a life of openness, humility, transparency, and vulnerability is a liberating and blessed way to live life here on earth. To live the opposite way, where we are closed, proud, and never deal with our hang-ups, habits, and hurts, is a tough and stifling way to live. The healing begins when we confess to God and others that we don't have our act together. As the Christian band Tenth Avenue North puts it, "This is where the healing begins; this is where the healing starts; when you come to where you're broken within, the light meets the dark."
Mourning is a good thing. Mourning can look differently depending on what is going on in our lives. We can and should mourn over sins we commit, sins committed against us, and the pain of others. Mourning, while I know it does not sound all that encouraging and uplifting, is a very powerful and needed reaction in the life of the follower of Jesus. Every day I receive quite a bit of bad news. Many people reach out to me, or I read on social media that friends are hurting and suffering on a very deep level. I count it a joy to be able to mourn with them and pray for them that God would be near and bring healing to their hurts.
Mourning for others is a healthy response, and so is mourning personally over hurts and offenses. Mourning sure beats bottling everything up inside. Mourning is cathartic and leads to peace; whereas, suppressing our hurts and emotions will eventually lead to suffering and emotional eruptions. Jesus' way is always the better way!
This second beatitude of Jesus is a beautiful and complex one indeed: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." One author I read said this about the second beatitude: "All the Beatitudes are something to live by, and something to live for. This beautiful Beatitude, also rendered as 'Blessed are the sorrowing,' is perhaps the most difficult and most mysterious." (Eileen and Kathleen Egan, Blessed Are You—Mother Teresa and the Beatitudes, p. 46)
I agree that initially it is difficult and mysterious, but once you start investigating it, the mist of difficulty dissipates, and the radiant light of revelation appears.
Join in with us this week in further study of this blessed statement of Jesus. If you are in mourning now, whether for yourself or for someone else, please know that you are not alone. God sees you and He cares. May He bring hope and healing to your heart.
|
Apple
Spotify
Stitcher
YouTube
