Enviably happy. Pleasingly happy. Happy and mournful. Do those go
together? Jesus thought so. A thought that Matthew Henry conveyed in his
commentary is that those mourning were righteously mourning. Graciously
mourning for the lost, compassionately mourning for the sins of others, or
repentantly mourning for our own sins; it is a godly sorrow. To be blessed during
sorrow is a gracious gift from God. It is comforting—to know God cares—to know
that others care. The ultimate comfort will be the promises that God has given
us in Isaiah and Revelation concerning the end of the age…and heaven. No tears
and thus no mourning. That will be a blessed time. Eternity without tears.
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He will swallow up death for all
time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove
the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. Isaiah 25:8.
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And I heard a loud voice from the
throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will
dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among
them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer
be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the
first things have passed away." Revelation 21:3-4
Morning Glory - Give God the Glory |
Sorrow is better than laughter, for
when a face is sad a heart may be happy. Ecclesiastes 7:3
Let us rejoice and be glad for God cares for us. May our mourning be
turned into joy—and our joy be evident even during our mourning. Jesus must
have had times of mourning—besides what we have recorded at Lazarus’ death when
He wept. His heart was probably broken over the loss of family and other
friends—but probably more so over complete strangers who rejected Him—and thus
rejected our Heavenly Father, too. How would you respond to seeing Jesus
mourning over lost souls...over sin…over you?
Prayer ~ Jesus, it will be a joy in
Heaven to have tears wiped away—no pain, no sorrow. What a wonderful plan and
promise. It brings joy to my heart even now to know that You, our Heavenly
Father, and the Holy Spirit care enough about me, my family and my friends to
comfort us—to care about us eternally. And it is equally encouraging to know
that You care about the lost and those who are mourning—just like You care for
us and all those who You seek. And we thought that we were seeking You—but all
along You were seeking us. Thank you for not giving up on us. Thank you for
blessing us while we were mourning.
Please comfort
our family and friends as they deal with life and death and other mournful
situations. Draw them close to You—and give them Your deep abiding peace.
Recycled from August 20, 2014
Daily
Bible Reading: Habakkuk
©
2017 Text and photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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