"How God blesses those who mourn, because it is they who will be comforted!"
That's my rendering of Jesus' second beatitude in Matthew 5. The paradoxes continue. In the first beatitude we find destitute people who nevertheless rule in the kingdom of Heaven. Now we have people who are mourning being comforted. Most commentators I've read point out that the beatitudes reflect a progression in logic. Some believers may think that living in the kingdom is all joy and laughter. The truth is that we shed "streams of tears" (Psalm 119:136). We groan, we weep, we mourn, we bewail. Jesus isn't necessarily talking about the loss of a loved one (though I'm sure that's included). He's referring to the sorrow of repentance. Writes Stott: "It is one thing to be spiritually poor and acknowledge it; it is another to grieve and mourn over it." Listen to the words of Augustine:
"I flung myself down, how I do not know, under a certain fig tree, and gave free rein to my tears. The floods burst upon my eyes, an acceptable sacrifice to you. I felt that I was held by my sins and I gasped forth these mournful words, 'How long, how long? Tomorrow and tomorrow? Why not now? Why not in this very hour put an end to my uncleanness?'"
When Augustine died 1,594 years ago, he died praying the penitential prayers of David. Such mourners, says Jesus, will be comforted.
If you're anything like me, you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the sin all around you and even in your own life. Being a Christian is a struggle. It's the hardest thing you'll ever do. It means waging hand-to-hand combat with sin. Favorite sins and bad habits nag at our souls. The struggle is ruthless and relentless. I'm growing weary of making excuses when I'm insensitive to other people or when I place my own desires before God's. I'm tired of Satan's assaults. Most of all, I'm tired of asking forgiveness from the One I love the most. On my own I'm trapped. Only Jesus can help me get off the merry-go-round of failure.
When I get discouraged in my walk with God and feel I've fallen short of his expectations, I take a few minutes to talk it over with him. What I can't do, he can do. He'll go with me, help me, teach me, if for no other reason than to keep me trusting him and not myself.