Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matt 11:28-30
In today’s culture, people tend to move past sadness and pain rather quickly. We often don’t anticipate feeling joyful nor do we perceive that joy will accompany our mourning. The end result becomes the objective we pursue, and we overlook the process it took to get there; giving our flesh lordship instead of our spirit.
We know life is filled with mourning and that loss and grief are inevitable. From my own experiences, I recognized that there can be a tendency to move past grieving primarily because we fear the emotions, stillness, and reflection. But scripture reminds us that Jesus desires His children to come to Him.
We see in Matthew chapter 11 that Jesus calls us to be still; to enter into a state of rest when we experience weariness and heaviness. Pushing past our past grievances hastily can lead to a compound of unprocessed emotions that create internal and external stressors that will in turn break us. These pressures can burden our bodies, spirit, and soul. However, His gentleness brings rest from our burdens, an ease from our weariness, and joyfulness from our mourning.
You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!
Psalms 30:11-12 NLT
When we give God full lordship, or infinite access to rule in our lives, we can have confidence in His healing process no matter how long it takes. Mourning doesn’t have an expiration date. Like forgiveness, it’s a process that must be placed in the hands of the Father.
He will turn our mourning into joyful dancing, but we must trust that there can be joy in our mourning; a rest and a peace, when we trust in God.
Reflection Questions:
Where is the Lord desiring to place joy in your mourning (circumstance, relationship, loss)?
Take some time to reflect on the question above, then ask the Lord how He desires to heal those places for you?
Prayer
Lord, we thank you because you are a safe place of refuge in the time of tragedy, tribulation, and mourning. You are the only source of all things good and perfect and I pray that we would come to you and trust you. I pray that we wouldn’t wrestle with fear and all other things that prevent us from leaning into how you desire to heal. Help us to find your joy in the mourning and have patience in the process, no matter how long it takes.
Written by: Tabatha Parrott
