Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

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

Mourning is the natural human reaction to loss, particularly to the permanent loss caused by death.  The human spirit cannot help but feel the physical loss when someone is no longer there.  We need time to adjust to the absence of that physical presence.  As Christians, we also have a great comfort in the Holy Spirit who sweeps in to fill some of those gaps.  We have hope in knowing that our spirits are immortal and part of something ever so much greater than what we know of this Earth.  We have peace in that God will never place on us a burden bigger than we can carry.  We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that no matter how difficult, how sad, or how challenging a circumstance, God will use all things for good.  His grand design, His purpose, is greater than any one person, yet He cares intimately for each and every person.  Our individual journeys are as important as the whole. And we can take great comfort in trusting God to be in control.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, praise God as your comforter. Consider all those who are suffering loss around you, from those in your own church families to those in Baltimore, to those in Nepal.  Our fellow man endures great suffering, yet God is providing great comfort to all those who mourn. Pray that the Holy Spirit would make His presence known and that he would envelop the mourning in His loving grace.