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Refreshment in Refuge

    by Gina Burgess

Those who mourn are happy?
Date Posted: February 15, 2015

They that mourn are happy. What a conundrum. I was wondering how mourning and happiness being in the same person at the same time. I thought of all the weeping passages (well probably not all of them). There are so many different things that people in the Bible mourned over. Abraham mourned and wept when Sarah died. Joseph wept when his brothers came to him in Egypt. Jephthah made a foolish vow to God to sacrifice the first thing that came out of his door if He would vanquish his enemies for him. The first thing out the door was his beautiful daughter. It became a custom to mourn the daughter’s virginity. Hannah mourned her barrenness. David mourned and wept over his sickly son while his son lived, then quickly gave up mourning after the son died. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. Martha and Mary mourned over their dead brother. Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

God spoke through Zechariah to the people of Jerusalem, and I think this describes that kind of mourning that Jesus was talking about. In Chapter 12, God says He is about to make Jerusalem a “cup of staggering” to all the surrounding peoples. And on that day:

I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. (Zechariah 12:10)

This is a penitential mourning over sins. It is a godly sorrow, sorrow for sin, with an understanding of what our sin did to Christ. Those whose hearts are pierced, understand how Jesus suffered, and know that it is because of our transgressions He suffered.

Jesus was called the Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3). Believers are like Jesus, and we have the mind of Christ because we have been changed into a new creature by the Holy Spirit. Just as He sympathized with Martha and Mary, just as He wept over Jerusalem because the people He came to save would have nothing to do with Him, we are to be acutely aware of the hardships and pain of others. Not just aware, but also to say or do something about it.

The Bible never recorded any instance about Jesus laughing. The only record of God laughing is a derisive laugh at those He holds in contempt:

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. Psalm 2:4

But You, O LORD, shall laugh at them; You shall have all the nations in derision. Psalm 59:8

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, Proverbs 1:26

I don’t know if the above is the right interpretation of the blessed and happy mourners, but Luke records Jesus saying, “Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.” (Luke 6:21) Then in Luke 6:25, Jesus twists it back, “Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.”

This leads me to understand that the mourning is merely temporary. What joy comes in the morning will change all the weeping to laughter. Our blessings and joy that passes all understanding we receive in Heaven. What we suffer here is merely pin pricks that will mean nothing when we get to Heaven.

To have a wonderful relationship with God means that we do see the sin of this world clearly, and we see what sin does to our loved ones and siblings in Christ. This makes believers mourn because of the pain and suffering we see all around. Even a life lived to bring God glory bears much fruit, but it does not protect us from pain. Only in Heaven will all tears be wiped away never to reappear. There will we be eternally happy.

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Biography Information:

Gina Burgess has taught Sunday School and Discipleship Training for almost three decades. (Don't tell her that makes her old.) She earned her Master's in Communication in 2013.

She is the author of several books including: When Christians Hurt Christians, The Crowns of the Believers and others available in online bookstores. She authors several columns, using her God-given talent to shine a light in a dark world. You can browse her blog at Refreshment In Refuge.

If you'd like to take a look at some Christian fiction and Christian non-fiction book reviews check out Gina's book reviews at Upon

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