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Be-Attitudes: Mourning

 




Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 5:4


As an educator, nothing was more painful than losing students. Their little faces are forever etched in my mind, reminding me that no one entirely escapes loss. Sadly, mourning is a part of life. Jesus was no stranger to such pain either. He met with opposition, ridicule, and even rejection during His time on earth. Even on His last night on earth, while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane for people who betrayed him, the heart of Jesus was heavy. One might say that even though He grieved for the world's sins, He was willing to bear in His body the only way acceptable to the Father. This was the sacrifice of his life through his death on the cross. That very night in the garden, this is what awaited him, and this is what He yielded to. 


 You can identify with your own sufferings. I've had more than my fair share of shake-ups in life, some inflicted upon me and others due to my foolish decisions, but all have failed in comparison to the sufferings of Jesus on my behalf as He endured the cross, at no fault of His own, but rather because of my sinfulness and need for redemption. 


Indeed, grief and sadness produce mourning in our lives, and sometimes, we are not relieved of the pain, but God understands. He understands our mourning over disappointment and setbacks and never negates them. God sends His spirit to us as the great Comforter, but He is much more concerned for our spiritual condition. As flawed human beings, it is hard to move past our real disappointments and clearly see the importance He places on the state of our hearts - the eternal condition rather than the temporal.


In Matthew 5:4, Jesus spoke to His disciples as He prepared them for ministry, saying that the condition of the heart was of utmost importance.  I am blessed when I care more about the spiritual condition of my heart than the disappointing temporal matters of life that seek to control me.


This is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life.

Psalm 119:50




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