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

Why would Jesus want people to mourn? Or provide a special blessing for those who are mourning?

As I contemplated these questions, I quickly came to the conclusion that everyone in this life is in mourning. From the moment I was born I was mourning my loss, loudly. I lost my warm, quiet comfortable space that was everything I’d known to that point. I was thrust into a bright, cold, loud chaos where I was poked and prodded and flopped around. Suddenly I knew pain, confusion, and loss. Mourning.

Fortunately good things were added soon — a warm blanket, a mother’s smile, food — and I have known many joys and blessings since then. But I have also experienced countless more losses, some more heartbreaking than others. And I am not at all unique in that.

So if everyone is mourning something, why would Jesus make a point to call it out and declare a blessing over those who mourn?

The answer lies in what I do with my mourning. Do I let it lead me into hopelessness and despair? Or something else…?

Jesus was telling the crowds of mostly sick and poverty-stricken people listening to Him — outcasts who were mourning more than most — that their pain could actually bring them closer to God. Their pain didn’t have to isolate them anymore. He wanted them to know that comfort was available and readily given. If they turned to God in their mourning, He would comfort them in a way only the Creator of the universe and a Being of pure love can.

Dear God,

Thank you so much for your promise of comfort. Teach me to turn over my mourning — big and small — to you. Forgive me for the times when I allow it to lead me away from you. Draw me close to you instead where I can find the only lasting comfort.