When Loss Becomes Gain

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

AS WE BEGIN

Philosopher and theologian Nicholas Wolterstorff, grieving the death of a loved one, describes the universal scope of suffering in his book, Lament for a Son: “Suffering keeps its face hid from each while making itself known to all... We are one in suffering. Some are wealthy, some are bright; some athletic, some admired. But we all suffer. For we all prize and love; and in this present existence of ours, prizing and loving yield suffering.”

The ubiquity of suffering opens the door to God’s unimaginable comfort for each of us.

DEVOTIONAL INSIGHT

When we face loss, we can do so either with bitterness, a detached stoicism, or faith. When we choose to respond in faith, we begin the process of mourning and open ourselves up to God’s comfort.

OBSERVATIONS

Over the centuries, Christians have encouraged one another to recognize and embrace suffering as part of life. “Memento mori,” they said. Remember death. But such recognition is increasingly rare. “Few of us,” noted J.I. Packer, “live daily on the edge of eternity… and we lose out as a result.” This acknowledgment of one’s mortality sought to endow human experience with meaning and urgency.

Tragically, too often, we seek to deny this reality, secluding ourselves from others so that we will not see their pain and they will not see ours. But isolation, it turns out, also separates us from faith, hope, and love—to say nothing of joy. Try as we may to deny our emotions and deaden our pain, our hearts remain vulnerable to sorrow so long as we have breath.

There is no getting around it. As long as we traverse the gritty, nail-strewn pathways of this broken world, we will suffer and mourn. But instead of fleeing in despair, let us approach the One who wept with us, who identified with us to the point of a wretched death, who intercedes for us through our darkest nights of the soul. In a way we can only dimly understand, God suffers with us even now. May that thought provide comfort to all who mourn—including us.

APPLICATION

Often, it is merely the fearful thought of catastrophe that consumes us: the fear of illness, concern for our children, loneliness, financial misfortune, anxiety about old age, or unpleasant memories. In short, we suffer from a persistent current of fear that captivates our attention to the extent that Christ and His eternal purposes fade from our view.

But we don’t suffer alone. Christ abides with us. Other helpers fail and comforts flee, but the Lord remains. His divine presence, which now resides in our hearts, will soon fill the universe, a radiance that will vanquish every diabolical shadow forever. On that day, “the sun of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings” (see Malachi 4:2), and all will be made new. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things [will] have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Yes, “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).