Blessed are Those Who Mourn

 Now, I have personal experience with this verse. I can say without a doubt that it is the truth. I have mourned, and I have been comforted. I am blessed in my mourning. God has taught me things, and He has shown me how much He loves me and cares for me. I have found His comfort to be more than enough. God knows we will all mourn at various times, but when we do, He is committed to bringing us His comfort. What a blessing!

I don't like the New Living Translation of this verse, even though that is what I am using this year, (Matthew 5:4) "God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted." This way of translating it may be true, but it is not what the Greek words say. "Blessed" is an adjective in the text, not a verb as the NLT translates it. It is meant to convey the fact that a person who mourns is well off in God's eyes, because God sees the mourning, and He will provide the comfort. Our part is to mourn. God provides the comfort because of His love and mercy.

After all, we mourn because we have loved someone who is now gone, or we have lost something that was very important to us. God is love, so He has mourned, too. He watched His Only-Begotten Son, Jesus, die a terrible death on the cross. He loves everyone, and He has mourned over those who reject Him and end up in Hell. God sees our mourning out of love, and He rewards us with comfort. He knows what was important to us and why, so He steps in to fill that void and to meet the need in His way.

Not many people know the derivation of the word "comfort." It comes from two Latin words, com means with and fort means strength. To comfort someone is to go to them with strength to help them through their situation. It is not just feeling sorry for someone. No, it is coming alongside them to help them keep going. That is what God has done for me, and it is what He will still doing. I can assure all of us that whenever we mourn for the right reason, God will help us or even carry us, so we will be well off and doing well. That is what He has done for me and many others.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Matthew 6-8.