What a lovely promise:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Mt 5:4 NIV
To mourn is simply to feel or express sorrow or grief over someone who has passed away. It means we will miss their presence here on earth. There is a part of us that is no longer complete when we lose someone we love dearly, and so we mourn. There is nothing shameful about deeply crying over our heart’s agony, after all listen to this most powerful verse, from the Gospel of John 11:35,
“Jesus wept.”
This is, of course, from the story of Jesus at the tomb of His dear friend, Lazarus. And please note the word used. This doesn’t say He shed a tear, or cried a little bit. It says “wept”…that’s like full on moaning and groaning and pouring out emotions of heartache and anguish over the death. And why did Jesus weep? After all, spoiler alert for those of you who don’t know the story, but Jesus knew He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead.
So why did Jesus weep? Why experience such deep torment? Because death is real and it really causes all sort of torment for us humans. You see, death was never a part of God’s original plan for life. Jesus not only sympathizes with the mourning, He empathizes as He weeps right along our side. Death was never part of God’s original Plan, but we humans made it part of His Redemption Plan. Praise God, He is not done yet.
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17; 17- Ro 8:28
18- 1Co 13:13
19- Php 2:12
20- Mt 5:4
<>< Peace, Diane
