"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). It is hard to understand how we can be blessed while going through great sorrow and pain.

Sometimes things come crashing into our lives that cause us great sadness, mourning and throws us out of sink. No one wants to go through sorrow. Life is pretty much as a Robert Browning poem states:

I walked a mile with Pleasure;

She chattered all the way,

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow

And ne'er a word said she;

But oh, the things I learned from her

When Sorrow walked with me.

-- Along the Road, Robert Browning Hamilton

Life is simply not filled with laughter and joy all the time and believe it or not as Browing's poem states, it is not good for us to be in that state of Joy all the time.

I have some friends who are going through some great grief right now. Two of which lost their mates too cancer and one lost her daughter to cancer as well.  These were all unexpected and untimely deaths.  Sometimes you just want to take their pain away.  And many times you feel there are no words adequate enough to encourage them.

Grief comes many times during our lives...death of our loved one, death of a pet, loss of a job, loss of advancement, divorce, loss of a friend, move from one community to another, loss of a dream (goal), loss of muscle tone, the aging process, children leave home, children go to school, marriage of a child, marriage itself, financial difficulties, illness of a friend, a friend moving and many more. Christ even felt grief when He was on this earth in the flesh.

In John 11:35, Christ wept for Lazarus! Lazarus was Mary's brother. (The same Mary who anointed Christ's feet with perfume and oil and with her tears.) Mary sent word to Christ that Lazarus was ill. Jesus loved Lazarus! You have heard the expression that, "boy's don't cry or men" well Christ wept, and expressed great emotion over Lazarus.

Those who are able to feel the pain of the loss of a loved one are better off than those whose feelings are numb. Psychologists now confirm that hearts that never feel sorrow can never feel joy. It is literally truth that the happy people are those who can experience the depths as well as the heights of human emotion.

It is much like coming through a cold, bitter, winter, or a horrible storm, when the sun comes out, then and only then can we truly appreciate the sunshine.  If there was always sunshine all the time in our lives how then can we truly appreciate it? There is an old proverb that says, "Sunshine all the time makes desserts."  Nothing grows in the dessert that is filled with sunshine!  It is the rain that brings forth the greatest growth. Ecclesiastes 7:4 says, "The heart of the wise [is] in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools [is] in the house of mirth." So why is it good to mourn?

What I have learned about Sorrow?

• Going through sorrow causes us to stop and take stock in our life. 

• To ponder the "why(s)" has this happened? 

• It gives us an opportunity to draw close to God.

• It gives God and others the opportunity to reach out too love us and comfort us.

• It helps us to learn how to comfort others.

• It gives us understanding of others sorrow and grief.

Though sorrow we grow strong as we let God into our hearts through the broken places. L. B. Bridgers discovered this the day he lost his wife and family in a tragic fire where they burned to death in their residence, in Harrodsburg, Ky., March 26, 1911. His response was to write the familiar song: "He Keeps Me Singing"

"There's within my heart a melody.

Jesus whispers sweet and low,

"Fear not, I am with thee. Peace, be still,"

In all of life's ebb and flow.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know.

Fills my every longing. Keeps me singing as I go."

Let us all be kind and patient with each other in times of sorrow.  It is a necessary part of growth. Be there for one another.  Encourage one another.  And remember there is hope and sunshine after the rain that will produce growth in you and in others.

Going through sorrow is certainly a challenge, but there is a promise that God holds out for all of mankind.  Revelation 21:4 says, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Yes, blessed are all of us who go through periods of mourning, for we shall be comforted, the sun will come out, and then spiritual growth will emerge!