“God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4 NLT)
For most of us, this past year has included quite a bit of mourning. We’ve mourned the loss of normalcy that came with the entrance of COVID‑19. We’ve mourned the number of hugs not given and hands not clasped, as well as the diminished physical closeness with those outside our immediate household. We’ve mourned the closing of our favorite local businesses, or even the loss of our own jobs. Above all, we’ve mourned the lives of those who have passed away or who continue to suffer under the physical toll of lingering illness.
It’s difficult to see how there is blessing in the midst of all this mourning, yet that’s exactly what Jesus proclaims. It is not the initial loss or the mourning itself that causes us to be blessed; it is the comfort that comes from others while we are still in the midst of mourning.
If we are to be a people who live out Galatians 3:8–9 and serve as a blessing to all nations – not just through spreading the Gospel but through our very words and deeds as we live out the Gospel in our own lives – then may we have the eyes to see those who are mourning and seek to comfort them. It may be that we are still in some period of mourning ourselves, but it just might be, through some grace of God, that we find the comfort we yearn for in comforting others.