Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. – Matthew 5:4 (ESV)

There is no sorrow so deep as mourning. It is pain so deep that, in 1969, psychologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross identified five basic stages that grieving people generally experience: denial / isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Clearly, grief is a complex, difficult, agonizing process.

There are many things we can mourn: the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job, moving away from home… Anyone who has faced an unfaceable situation; wished the world would just leave them alone; dealt with anger at their pain or the people around them or even God; wanted to make a deal to get passed the pain; felt like your world was crumbling around you (and maybe even gave up the urge to care)… you know how painful it is to mourn. Sometimes it feels like grief might press the breath right out of you.

Whatever your sorrow, whatever your pain, whatever you are mourning or grieving, know this: you are blessed in Christ. It most likely doesn’t feel like it. Indeed, you may feel a God has abandoned you.

You are blessed because, while mourning and grief and all the junk that go along with them are part and parcel of living in this fallen, sinful world, your pain will not last forever. For those who trust in Jesus Christ, there is always hope. God will see you through.

Trust in The Lord, for He is good. Don’t trust your feelings. Don’t bank on your emotions. Don’t believe the temptation to think God has abandoned you, or is mad at you, or is out to get you, or doesn’t exist or is anything less than the loving Father He says He is.

Does it mean your pain will completely go away? That you’ll never experience loss of this magnitude again? Maybe. Maybe not. What you can rest in is the love of God. He will pull you out, or He will lead you through. Either way, you are blessed, for you will find great comfort in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He loves you. He will never leave you or abandon you. Even when you can’t sense His presence, He is there. Rest in that.