Those Who Mourn

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they shall be comforted. [NKJV]

How happy are those who know what sorrow means,

for they will be given courage and comfort. [Phillips]

You are blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you.

Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. [Message]

Matthew 5:4

When my youngest daughter announced that she wanted a tattoo (one older sister had ink, the other a piercing), I told her my house rules (as in, if you are living in my house, you will…):  1) Your mother goes with you; and 2) you put the ink somewhere that you can cover it up (many employers seem to frown on tattoos).  She wanted to design it herself – her thoughts being influenced by a recent breakup with a longtime boyfriend – around the theme that love could be painful. The artist put a little heart in the center, with the word “love” above it, and the word “pain” below it.  A few days later she called me from school.  "MOTHER," she intoned, "do you know what this tatoo says???"  Love pain?  Oh...as in, Niki loves pain?  She was mortified.  I couldn’t stop laughing.

The pain that comes from loving and losing is no laughing matter, however.  In recent years, families in the congregation where I work have experienced SIDS, heart attacks, strokes, and a never-ending list of cancer. Recently the deaths have been mostly  long-term spouses – husbands or wives of 30-40-50+ years. The grief of the one left behind is overwhelming.  Several times over the last few weeks the question has been raised, “How in the world do people survive who don’t have God to turn to or the hope of the resurrection?”

This beatitude is not saying, “You’ll be happy if you hurt.”  On the contrary, pain and suffering are an unfortunate and dreaded part of everyday life.  The rain falls on the good and the bad, the poor and the rich, the believer and non-believer alike.  The happiness comes in the sure knowledge that you have Someone to turn to – your Creator God who has promised you comfort and courage.   In the midst of pain and loss, He is right beside you – pouring out His love and compassion.