Blessed Weeping - Luke 6:21b

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.” Luke 6: 21b

This verse really caused me to think today. We don’t really feel like weeping is a blessed thing. Our culture runs as fast as we can away from those things that would cause us to weep. We hate feeling sorrowful, sad, full of remorse, pain, or suffering.

As I thought about this verse this morning…I wondered how it can be blessed to weep. In a culture that tries to insulate ourselves from every pain, suffering, and sadness…do we truly understand and embrace this verse? Do we truly see the blessing in weeping…or do we find ways to flee from its presence in our lives?

Jesus wept. That could be the most famous and most quoted verses in the Bible. But, it’s true. He DID weep. He wept over the rebellion of Jerusalem and His people. He wept over Lazarus and his sisters in their grief. He wept in prayer the night he was arrested. Jesus understood that it was blessed to weep…for one day we shall laugh in joy!

Jesus was not immune from sorrow. His life was filled with hurt and suffering and rejection and denial. Many times in our own daily life we try so very hard to keep ourselves from such things. We don’t want to suffering along with Jesus’ example.

If we do not see the blessing in weeping, then we do not experience the joy in Christ to the fullest! In weeping with others in their times of mourning and pain, we follow Christ’s own example of weeping with Mary and Martha after their brother Lazarus died. Jesus knew he would raise him from the dead…but he wept because he fellowshipped in their pain. He loved them deeply…and when they mourned he did also. He wept because He loved.

In weeping over sin in our lives, we will experience the joy of the Cross fully. We will realize that each moment we rely on a Savior. Jesus wept over the sin and rebellion of His people as He gazed over Jerusalem. In our Christian culture our desire to be happy all the time has insulated from the godly sorrow that leads to repentance. We are truly blessed when we weep over sin because in that godly sorrow we see the worth of Jesus Christ moment by moment in our daily lives.

Weeping is truly blessed in God’s eyes…but this verse also gives us a hope of laughter! Perhaps you will not experience laughter in this earthly life in your particular situation…but you are promised a day when you will have complete joy in the presence of Jesus Christ! His Word is true…His promises answered YES in Christ.

Weeping lasts only for the night…joy comes in the morning. May we fellowship in weeping for it shows that we love like Christ loved, we grieve over sin as He grieved, and that we surrender to the will of our loving Father. Let’s not run from weeping…may we see it as blessed when it enters our lives…knowing that our sweet Savior was very familiar with weeping and He promises laughter one day!