Be Mournful

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

According to the dictionary mourn means:  be sad over loss; to feel or express sorrow or grief over misfortune, loss or anything regretted; deplore; to utter in a sorrowful manner.

What first comes to your mind when you hear or read the word, mourn?  For me my first thought is death or loss of life.  We mourn when a parent, friend, sibling or relative dies.  We also mourn when a pet dies.  We mourned 9 years ago during the events of 9/11.  We mourn when a relationship has ended.   We even mourn when we, a relative, or a friend is diagnosed with a terminal disease or a chronic condition.  When we mourn we may sob, weep, cry, or scream.  We may even experience a feeling of helplessness and sometimes hopelessness.  We may even feel angry and mad at God for taking something so precious away from us . We are devastated and aren’t sure if we can continue.  We’re angry because our lives or the life of someone else isn’t going to be the same.

But do you mourn when you have hurt someone with your words or actions. Do you mourn when you are disobedient to God?  Do you mourn when you have been sinful and have not followed God’s word?  What about when you lie, cheat or fib.   Do you have the same feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, feeling of being angry or mad?  Hopefully the answer is yes.

Mourning indicates the pain and the grief and the anxieties of the soul over some loss, often the death of a loved one.  But it could be over the loss of a valued life.  Or it could be over the loss of possessions, or status, or health.  People mourn over any disaster or tribulation.  And in times of mourning they look for hope. 

We should be mournful for being disobedient to God.  “Those who mourn”  speaks of those who express deep sorrow over sin, or those who repent from their sins.  The freedom found in the forgiveness of sins and the joy of eternal salvation is the “comfort” of those who repent.

This verse and all the beatitudes tells us what our attitude should be and should be which is used to guide us in our daily lives.  Each one starts with the word blessed.  One of the meanings of blessed is happy or joyful.  Each of the “blessed” statements describes a person who puts God and other’s interest above his or her own interests.  We can not be blessed if we live selfishly.

If we are humble and appreciate that all of our gifts and blessings come from God, we grow in love and gratitude for Jesus Christ our Savior.  But this can only produce mourning and regret over our own sins and the sins of this world, for we have hurt the one who has been so good to us.  One also mourns for the suffering of others.  But we are comforted in knowing that God forgives and we will have eternal life with him.

Dear Lord, I humble myself before you and I ask to be lifted up.  Comfort and forgive me.  Amen