We are living in a world where everyone is pursuing happiness, and there’s nothing wrong with being happy.  People generally say that I’m a happy person, and I am.  I like being happy.  But there is something wrong about being happy in a situation that should be breaking our hearts. 

When we happily walk past someone who is sleeping on the streets in the middle of winter and hasn’t eaten in days.  When we happily listen to gossip about someone else and joyfully throw in our two cents.  When we happily spend so much time on our smartphones that it has had a negative impact on our family relationships.  These are all examples of situations where our happiness should be tempered with sadness and heartache. 

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

In this verse Jesus was not talking about people who were mourning in general, but more specifically about people who were heart broken over the consequences of sin both within them, and around them in the world.  Like when we mourn over the large numbers of foster children and orphans in Australia who are in need of a loving home.   Or when we are grief-stricken over the lonely students at school who have no friends. 

When we mourn over the brokenness of this world, we are actually mourning over the things that God mourns over.  And because of this, we can be comforted by the fact that if something breaks the heart of God, then He will be working to make things right.

After healing a man who had been sick for 38 years, Jesus was persecuted by the Jewish leaders for doing this on the Sabbath.  Jesus’ response to them in John 5:17 was, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”  Jesus makes it clear that God is always working to heal the brokenness of this world.

If you are experiencing the unfortunate consequences of this sinful and broken world, be encouraged by the truth that God is working for you, and with you.  

God bless, 

Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai