The Heart of God

“I will turn their mourning into joy, ​I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.” Jeremiah 31:13

I read about this lady named Hu Xinglian. She is a professional mourner, a "kusangren", who is hired to ensure that a Chinese funeral is noisy with cries and wailing. She even comes with her own sound system, six members of her band and multi colored spotlights. After all the impassioned sobbing, there is a lot of festivities. I do not think this is what God had in mind when He pronounced through the prophet Jeremiah that, “I will turn their mourning into joy…”

I think if we can see deep into the heart of God, there is a lot of grief. Grief over the many sins and failures of man. And so, if we want to connect with our Father, we should grieve and mourn for that which He grieves and mourns over. Our personal sins. The sins of our leaders. The aggression in Ukraine, the plight of the refugees pouring into Poland, the hunger in Haiti, etc. The number of lives lost to abortion, cancer, people destroyed by drug addiction, broken marriages…

After all these, God promises comfort, consolation, yes even joy. In Revelation 21:4, the promise is, "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 have passed away." Do we take this promise for ourselves, for us personally? 

We can take the words in Ezekiel 37, our first reading for today, and allow God to break into our life and speak to us: “I will deliver you from all your sins, and cleanse you so that you may be my people and I may be your God….I will make with you a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with you, …and I will put my sanctuary among you forever. My dwelling shall be with you, I will be your God, and you shall be my people.” 

Yes Lord, even as we grieve for these "former things", we look forward to the day that there will be no more pain. Thank You for Your promises, and Your mercy, grace, and truth we can depend on.