Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

I have never cried so hard as I did on December 8, 2017.  That was they day my wife delivered our daughter at only 15 weeks.  As I held her tiny body in my hand I saw every possible moment in her life that she would never have a chance to experience.  And even now I would give anything just to hold her once more.  She never got to breath a breath this side of heaven, and I can't wait to hold her again in heaven.  What follows in this post and the next couple to come are going to be my journey through grief and how God has and continues to bring me through.

But first, like the proud daddy I am, I have to share a picture of my beautiful little girl Miracle Faith Farris.  My 5 year old daughter, Sophia, said she is doing the pledge of allegiance and looks like a jelly bean.  So that is our nickname for her.  She is our little jelly bean.

With that stated, in the hospital the Holy Spirit truly illuminated the understanding of a verse I always had glossed over and thought was just stating the obvious.  The verse is from the sermon on the mount and states,

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

It seems obvious that those who mourn would find comfort in Christ.  However, God reminded me that not all those who mourn look to God for comfort.  But even bigger...the Spirit showed me that to often we have a tendency to run from grief and pain, so if we do that we don't allow ourselves to properly mourn, and if we don't mourn properly...how can we be comforted?

So I let it all out.  I didn't hold back the pain or the heartache that I was feeling.  I fell to the ground on my knees rocking my sweet child and I let the Holy Spirit communicate with God through my bitter tears and sobs.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."  Romans 8:26-27

So I want to encourage you, if you are going through a hard time, please don't run from the pain and sorrow.  Instead, run full speed into it with God at your side.  Because even though there will be days that you don't want to get up in the morning because of sadness and pain Christ and His church will be there with you.  They will bring comfort to you and walk with you through this valley of pain.  Don't ignore it because it won't go away until you face it head on.  Don't let grief destroy you...instead allow God to use it to make you stronger and more effective in His Kingdom.

I'll have at least 2 more posts on this subject coming...until then I want to leave you with a song that has brought comfort to me and expresses quite well the emotions I have been feeling.  Thanks to Tracy Lessard for sharing it with me.