Saturday, March 21
Blessed to Be a Blessing
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4
At face value this saying of Jesus is a conundrum. You are blessed when you mourn? Here is my short interpretation of Jesus’ words:
You experience peace and you know my presence when you acknowledge that you are grieving the loss of something in your life.
If we do not acknowledge our sense of loss, we do not open ourselves to God’s healing touch. The present universal example is that we all are experiencing the loss of our normal lives. We all are going through a time of trial. We all are mourning because we do not have the life we had a few weeks ago. We can’t join in community, attend school, go out to eat, cheer on our favorite sports team, travel at our leisure, etc. It is a very long list of loss.
The words from Jesus are helpful for us in these days. We are blessed when we mourn. We are blessed when we admit what we are missing. It is not only okay to express this to God; it is what God wants us to do. When we admit our loss to God, when we stop denying that which we mourn, then we can receive his comfort. When you tell God about the hurt, then you open your ear to receive his presence, his peace, his love.
Prayer:
Lord, here is how my life has changed in the past few weeks…(tell him about your losses). Thank you that you don’t expect me to handle this grief on my own. Thank you that you are present to bring me comfort. I need you with me. I cannot journey through this trial on my own. Amen.
