"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted"
Jesus states something we have a hard time accepting -- that knowing how to process grief is a very good thing. Most of us have become convinced that we should be stoic against the wounds, pain, and difficulties of life. Jesus says the opposite. The way to a blessed life goes down the grief road. It is not possible to live in a sinful, dysfunctional world without the ability to grieve the losses, pain, and difficulty. We will suffer loss and feel pain. It is what we do with the pain of this imperfect world that makes the difference. Do we fold up our selfish point of view, whine, and tell God it is not fair?
We must learn to process our pain and find new perspectives about it. There is great blessing and health in embracing what Jesus says here.
Admit your own guilt. Process your pain, wounds, and loss. Allow God and others to comfort you in your sin, pain, wounds, and loss. Jesus came to give us a way out of these maladies. But we must face them. One does not receive the forgiveness of Christ without admitting you are a sinner and that Jesus is your only hope. One does not move past victimization and wounds without processing them with safe people and God.
Some Christians believe that when they do this once, they never have to live out this beatitude again. But we must be prepared every time we sin to run to our Savior. We must continually make time to mourn the losses and pain that will surely be a part of our life.
Sometimes all we have lost is our expectation of what was the better future -- what we wanted. God may block our expectations and desires because He has something better. What if God knows that in order for you to reach your true maximal potential in life He has to block you from getting what you really think is your dream job? Then He must keep you from doing what you want and learning a series of seemingly random tasks so that you will be ready for your full potential role twelve years later. He will lovingly block you, knowing you will not understand for twelve years, and will be angry with Him. He wants you to reach your true potential. All the while this is happening, He wants you to trust Him and know that He has your best interest at heart.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz