By: Juliet Constantine

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

I still remembered; even though twenty-two years had gone by. It is still fresh in my mind. It’s the second time I cried – no, bawled - like that. It was final. The box was placed in the tomb. He wasn’t getting up. He just laid there and he wasn’t coming out of the box! I shouted his name! “Get up! The game is over! They’re going to lock you in!”

I screamed for them to stop! Instead, they held me and continued, amid my earnest pleas. And then it hit me. He wasn’t coming back! I cried as I’ve never done before. Nothing or no one could comfort me.

I was a miserable mess. I forgot all that I was taught about the “State of the Dead”. In refusing to accept the reality, it was a bitter pill to swallow at the burial. Mourning the death of a loved one is hard. I spend many days just visiting the graveside and sat there crying. I didn’t know I could stop crying. But God had other plans for my life. In time, He dried my tears. I no longer cry for my departed because now I am comforted.

“Blessed are those who mourn,” He taught. Looking back, how could I be considered wealthy or happy when I mourned?! That was not just ordinary crying. It was bawling with a deeper intensity from the gut, not from the chest. Some persons bawl while others will groan. But in the midst of your sorrow, Jesus brings comfort and assurance.

In Jesus’ time, people had much to mourn about – not just the death of their loved ones. They longed to see the backs of the Romans and some might even have longed to see the death of some church leaders due to the oppression they were experiencing. Whatever it was they were in mourning for, Jesus comforted them by assuring that their mourning was temporary.

Mourning is a voluntary expression of sorrow over certain circumstances. The elderly folks would often express shock and sadness when someone is murdered, especially close to home. The lack of respect for life, abuse and ill treatment of women, children, and some men, now seems so commonplace—we no longer mourn at these atrocities in our society. But let’s take it closer home. What about our sinful tendencies – the sin that will not let us go? Is it that we have become so comfortable with the way things are that our spirits no longer groan at the state of affairs around us and in our own lives? Or is there a settled faith that God will help us somehow to overcome.

To those who mourn the loss of a loved one, be encouraged. Go on and cry if you must. But do not cry as those who have no hope. Then dry your tears because joy will come in the morning. In that great getting up morning when the dead in Christ shall rise, you will be happy if your loved one was faithful. In the Earth made new, Jesus promised that He will personally wipe your tears away.

Our Heavenly Father, I believe all Heaven cried when Jesus died. You are keenly aware of our joys and our sorrows. Please comfort those who are mourning the loss of their loved ones. Bring them peace and comfort in knowing that You will dry their tears, as you did mine. Thank You Father. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Copyrighted by Juliet Constantine 2014 (for “Alone With God – Finding Jesus In The Scriptures” Daily Devotional)