Mat 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Often when I look at the condition of the world I am grieved over the rampant sin and blatant rebellion against God. From time to time I pray for the “world” and ask the Lord to be merciful and just and deliver His people from the struggles they are going through.

Each one of us have our own personal battles as well. Whether it be a health issue, a financial trouble we are facing, or an emotional or relational struggle, we all have reason to mourn. Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount that those who mourn are blessed. This word means happy or “supremely” blessed. It is a paradox to me really. How can I be happy when I am mourning over the challenges I am facing? How can I be blessed when I am grieved over a lost son or daughter?

One writer puts it this way. “But Christ does not merely affirm that mourners are not unhappy. He shows, that their very mourning contributes to a happy life, by preparing them to receive eternal joy, and by furnishing them with excitements to seek true comfort in God alone. Accordingly, Paul says, ‘We glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation produces patience, and patience experience, and experience hope: and hope maketh not ashamed,’ Rom 5:3”

Our mourning over our sin and our struggles and our lost family members produces for us hope and comfort. That is where our blessedness lies. Not in the struggle or mourning, but in the assurance that the Lord is and will comfort us. For some situations the comfort may come quickly. For others it may last until we see our Savior face to face. Never-the-less, we will be comforted and the pain of this life will end. Then we will have joy eternal as we walk in intimate relationship with our Savior.

Digging Deeper:

2Corinth 1:4-7; Revelation 21:4; Psalm 40:3

Apply It:

What are you mourning over today? Are you taking it to the Lord and seeking comfort and hope in Him? How can you use the comfort the Lord is giving you to comfort others?

Prayer:

Lord, I cry out to you today and ask you to comfort me in my distress. Help me to seek you and experience the comfort Jesus is saying those who mourn will receive. Amen