RE: Psalm 27

There are few verses in all of poetry that move my heart so much as, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me” (27:10).  There were a great many times, particularly in high school, when I could not bring myself to believe that God was working things out for my good as he’d promised to do (Rom 8:28).  At those times this chapter has been reinforcement for God’s many other promises.  On any given day God may not be obviously in control, on any given day we may find ourselves poor, sick, or crippled with anxiety.  On these days Psalm 27 takes up the cry of our breaking hearts: begging God to show his goodness (17:9), and refusing to despair until he does (27:13-14).


Photo Credit: "In A Lonely Place" by PCT

Dancing In The Mourning - 2nd Thursday Of Lent

Today's thoughts are brought to you by Beth:

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

Have you ever had a reason to mourn? Maybe you lost a grandparent, a mentor, or a close friend. Maybe you had a parent or guardian or even a pet die unexpectedly. Perhaps the kind of mourning you’ve been through hasn’t been the loss of life, but loss of an opportunity. A college rejection, a dream lost, a relationship broken.

It seems like mourning touches every human life. It’s part of the world we live in while we’re apart from our home with God. Even in mourning times, maybe especially in them, God is near. Much like with wealth and poverty, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day claimed that happy people were blessed, and those who mourned were cursed. Jesus’ crazy, amazing Grace overthrows that reasoning. Even back in the psalms, God reminds us that He is “near to the brokenhearted.” When we have nothing left, we offer up our tears, our empty hands to a God who loves endlessly, who is Love, and He fills us. He offers comfort that can’t dry up. Every time I have lost someone I love, I find myself falling unexpectedly in the arms of Grace. I close my eyes and see how much God loves me, and how no matter how long it’s been since I looked or asked for His comfort, He’s never left, and He’s still offering it.
Jesus opened a door from death to life, and from mourning to joy. Those who mourn are blessed, because they can see how very deep into the darkness God’s love can reach, and that love will teach their feet to dance again, with more gladness that one who has never felt the need to mourn.

Challenge:
Think of something you have mourned over, or are mourning over. Take some time today to pour out your heart to God over it, and let yourself take the comfort He is offering you for it.