blessed are they that mourn
“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
“Blessed are those who mourn,” said Jesus. Happy are the sad! How could one possibly be happy through sadness? This is a paradox and such a mystery. The bible speaks of many paradoxes–“healing through His stripes” “peace through chastisement” “life through death” “greatness through servitude” “first, by becoming the last” and the list goes on.
Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance… Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” 2Cor 7:10
Paul wasn’t happy because they were made sorrowful, but because, he knew what godly sorrow is capable of yielding in a person’s life–divine comfort through repentance.
There are many, who are unable to attain this happiness, because they have not yet learnt to be sad. Even if we are sad, we are sad for wrong reason. True comfort and happiness eludes us, for we are yet to learn to be sad for things that are worth being sad for. We can ask the Lord; Holy Spirit can bring the revelation of our sinful heart.
“A great number of people followed Him, including women who kept mourning and wailing for Him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”
Misplaced sorrow? Jesus encouraged them to put their sadness in the right place and cry for reason worth crying for; that would yield the right fruit. We haven’t learnt to resist sin until we are bleeding, nor have we learnt to mourn for our sins, our rebellion and the depravity of our souls and those around us. A man who has learnt the secret to divine happiness, knows, that it comes through the discomfort and travail of our soul, through agony, with vehement cries and tears. God has designed it to be that way; this is the way of the Lord. Can we receive it with humility, the Word implanted in our heart, that is able to breathe life in us?
We must go through the valley of tears—to paradise! This sacred sorrow is the pathway to spiritual blessedness. The darkness and depth of depravity of our soul in Adam must be grasped before we can experience the blessing of God’s comfort brought about by the bestowal of the righteousness of Christ as birthed in our soul by the Spirit of Christ.
“A right knowledge of the way to heaven is to feel that we are on the way to hell…To be sensible of our corruption and hate our own sins is the first symptom of spiritual health…We must know the depth and malignancy of our disease in order to appreciate the Great Physician.” –J C Ryle