Those Who Mourn

There is something interesting about this passage. “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”  The word “blessed” means “happy.” To “mourn” means to be sad. So it’s similar to saying “Happy are those who are sad!”  How does this make sense?

Jesus tried to convey the notion of deep, personal agony that is not necessarily expressed by outward weeping or wailing. He is talking about mourning that is also godly sorrow.

It’s recognizing that our sin is so grave that it offends God and we mourn over it.  

The problem with the world we live in today – it tends to undermine the effects of sin in a person’s life. The world tells us to be happy while offering temporary solutions

A good picture to paint is probably of a husband who committed a serious offence against his wife. When the husband realized the gravity of his sin, he mourns over it… he grieves… he asks for forgiveness and he repents, vowing not to commit the same mistake again and started doing things to make up for it

When was the last time you agonized over a sin that you have committed and you felt its full weight and gravity?  When was the last time you mourned and recognized that when you sin, you offend God?

This is a promise of God’s special presence in our lives in the midst of our grief and sorrow. The word “comfort” in Matthew 5:4 comes from the Greek word “parakaleo” which means “to console, to encourage, to comfort.”  It’s the same Greek word used to identify the Holy Spirit, “parakletos” the Comforter. Through the Holy Spirit, the Lord himself draws near to us in times of great suffering. We sense His presence in a way that goes beyond what is ordinary. 
Suffering turns us to the Lord as nothing else can. We pray more often when we grieve, we read the Bible and try our best to listen to what He has to say during our mourning. 

C.S. Lewis said “God whispers to us in our pleasure, speaks to us in our problems but shouts in our pain.  It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

If we are in great pain or grief, God draws us closer to Him.

How can we grow faster during hard times?

This passage in Romans 5:3-5 tells us that God uses suffering to develop godly character in our lives. Even in the most challenging moments, God’s people can rejoice because we know He is at work in us and  “hope does not disappoint,”  Why doesn’t hope disappoint?  “because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  

What starts with suffering ends with the love of God. This is a wonderful progression.

There are people in this church who are highly qualified to minister and reach out to others. They are the ones who are poor in spirit and mourn over their sins. They are the ones who have suffered and have been deeply hurt by the troubles of life and through it all, they have experienced God’s comfort and discovered that God is faithful.

We can’t be effective comforters of other people if we ourselves have not received a similar kind of comfort from the Lord.  

We have seen people receiving Jesus in their lives during their darkest, most depressing moments.

I have mentioned earlier that…

The thing you are experiencing now, if you get out of it victorious, God will certainly use it to bless others.

Most of our questions will never be answered in this life. Some people can’t live with that truth, so they devise human answers to explain suffering and death. Those answers almost never work and sometimes they hurt more than they help.  

Godly sorrows lead to godly happiness because God is good and we know that he has our best interests at heart. 

God’s goodness doesn’t depend on our own happiness. People say, “God was good when He healed my loved one.” True, but the same God would have been just as good even if your loved one had passed.

The most productive Christians are those who have been through suffering and come through it with their faith in God intact. The beauty of Christ is in their eyes and their voices testify to God’s amazing grace.

Are you grief-stricken today?  Are you suffering at this very moment? If you are mourning over your sins, asking forgiveness from the Lord, vowing not to commit the same sin again, promising not to offend God anymore, realizing that you are weak and your strength is in the Lord and humbling yourself before His footstool, accepting the fact that you are poor in spirit…

Take heart… because Jesus said…

Happy are the sad!    

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Saviour and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.    Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC Richmond during its service on  Sunday, March 13, 2016

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors. I also apologize if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any.  as it is purely unintentional.

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