Victory in Mourning

“We were promised sufferings. They were part of the program. We were even told, ‘Blessed are they that mourn,’ and I accept it. I’ve got nothing that I hadn’t bargained for. Of course it is different when the thing happens to oneself, not to others, and in reality, not imagination.”

– C.S. Lewis from “A Grief Observed”

Brokenness. Death. Loss. Fear. Terror. These things are hard for us to cope with, and often times hard for us to comprehend. They can leave us stumbling around wondering where we can hold on and just rest, even for a moment. Everyone finds themselves here at some point. Whether it be through the loss of a relationship, the death of a loved one, the brokenness in a marriage, the fear of where your life is headed, we all find ourselves warped into this vicious cycle somehow.

Last year I lost my new puppy (Lucy), on Christmas Eve I lost a close family member, and I lost my first best friend, my dog Spikey. This all happened within 8 months.

Loss sucks. Death sucks. Fear sucks. That year sucked for me. It was really hard and I cried so much. I genuinely didn’t think I could cry any more. My heart constantly ached. Mourning is inevitable and it isn’t easy.

Through each of those situations, I found myself reading the same story about Jesus.

In Matthew 14, we read about the death of John the Baptist, who was the cousin of Jesus. His death was tragic and it was extremely difficult for Jesus. In fact, when the disciples told Jesus, he fled by boat to a desolate place so he could mourn.

The story doesn’t stop there. Though for us in the face of our loss and mourning we escape to that desolate place and we can often get stuck. We lie dormant and make no progress in advancing forward in our lives. Thankfully, we don’t follow a God who stands still.

As Jesus is in the boat, these crowds hear about him and travel on foot to find him. Instead of Jesus, showing anger, he shows them compassion. He stopped fleeing and came and healed their sick. He showed them love, despite the heartache he was feeling. When the disciples tried to give Jesus some time to mourn, by trying to send away the people and telling them to get food, Jesus asked why they weren’t feeding them. Jesus performs one of his greatest miracles here and feeds the 5,000 (not including women and children), with 5 loaves and 2 fish.

In the face of loss, Jesus shows love.

In the face of death, Jesus shows compassion.

In the face of hurt, Jesus brings healing.

We live in a very, very broken world. It is really hard sometimes to think about the devastation people face everyday. It’s easy to become consumed with it all. To get angry that terror keeps happening and horrible death is still occurring. This world is full of sin. It has been falling apart since that first day sin stepped foot on the ground.

Our God has defeated all of this. He has already won. When Jesus took to the cross, He defeated all of this. For those that believe in Him, death isn’t the end. It’s the start of an eternity with Him. We already have victory in Him.

Terrible events should break our hearts. They should make us cry and hurt. But they should also lead us to show love. Love that knows no bounds, that sees no difference in people. An unconditional love. We should share that love and show grace and mercy and forgiveness every day. Terrible things happen because sin is real. God defeated sin, and so we now live our lives out of victory.

It is not easy. But I encourage you to live your life, filled with love, kindness, goodness, and all of the fruits of the spirit. Live in the victory that has already been won for you and share that victory with others!

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