Comforted

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4, NKJV).

Most of the Bible is impossible to grasp without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. This Beatitude is a perfect example of that truth. Without His help, we might look at it, and laugh. “What?” we might exclaim, “Are you telling me that receiving some measly comfort in the face of horrific loss is supposed to make that loss worth the suffering it represents?”

Good question! What, exactly, did Jesus mean by these words?

I am inexpressibly grateful for Holy Spirit’s guidance in understanding the Scriptures. Here’s how He unpacked this verse for me. Blessed in our sorrow? The blessedness of those of us who mourn is about the long-term fruit born in our souls as we hold onto God in the midst of our pain. It’s about the beauty that comes forth as He takes what is broken and slowly shapes it into something breathtakingly glorious.

There are sections of this life that consist of long treks through the Valley of Weeping. If we will run to Him in the thick of our anguish, the supernatural comfort with which He will envelope our souls will far transcend anything we could have imagined. He is going to be exquisitely close. His manifest presence in the midst of our grieving will take our breath away. This is what Jesus meant by calling mourners blessed. We who mourn in God’s arms get to experience Him in ways we never would have, had we not been plunged into the searing pain of loss.

Blessed are we who mourn. In truth, we are more blessed than those who haven’t needed to mourn, so extraordinarily lavish is the revelation of Himself that He will pour into our spirits.

I know this to be true from my own life’s pilgrimage. At the culmination of my most difficult passage through the Valley of Weeping, Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. He explained to me that I had acquired “suffering credits” as a result of all that I had gone through. He then invited me to turn them in for more of His glory! My friend, I cannot even begin to describe for you what this has meant for me. All I can say is that the affections of His heart that He has caused to flood through my being have made every step of the way surpassingly worth it all.

The God of All Comfort invites us to journey through the Valley of Weeping wrapped up intimately in His embrace. He takes responsibility for our suffering; He is incapable of denying His own name. His very nature ensures that He will make it up to us, exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we have endured. He will reward us with unimaginable depths of Himself.

Blessed are we!

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18, NIV).

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Have you experienced God’s comfort in great loss?