READ: Job 2:11-13
Ever seen the Disney movie Inside Out? If not, drop everything and go watch it. Seriously. I’ll wait. Just bookmark this page so you remember to read the devotional when you’re done.
Welcome back. Great movie, right? And now you understand that sometimes people just have to be sad. In fact, Matthew 5:4 says sadness is a blessing: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Not comforted by joy, but by the blessing of those willing to mourn with them. That is what Job’s friends do when they tear their robes, sprinkle dust on their heads, and sit with him in wordless silence. And that is what Paul instructs us to do: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (Romans 12:15)
Mourning is good. It’s purposeful. We glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)
Hope, not joy. For hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? (Romans 8:24)
But what great hope we have in the Lord!
The Lord with surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
He will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing. (Isaiah 51:3)
Now that hope is a comfort worth sharing!
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