LifeLink Devotions for Monday, March 9, 2026

The more I study the teachings of Jesus, especially the Beatitudes, I see the contrast and conflict between my efforts to appear well-adjusted and strong on the outside versus the integrity of the inside produced by life of Christ in me. I especially see it in today’s teaching from Jesus in Matthew 5:4.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

When tragedy strikes we tend to cover the emotional distress with an appearance of courage and strength. When hardships come into our lives our fleshly nature tells us to cover it up and be okay. We even lie to people when they ask us how we are.

But Jesus turns all of that upside down when He says, “You will experience the fullness of my life in you if you will just be honest about how you are feeling because in your transparency I will comfort you.”

Recently I have had to face that exact character growth opportunity. There are multiple people in my life right now who are facing life-ending possibilities. It hurts. Facing the reality of losing them and mourning them is painful, and I want to avoid such pain. So I start turning to things of my own invention that I think will help me deal with the pain. One of my go-to techniques is to stay busy with planning other things and working towards their accomplishment. If I can just keep my mind busy with other stuff I won’t have to think about what might happen that will cause me to feel grief and loss.

But it goes deeper than that. It’s not just about avoiding grief or loss of people; it carries into most forms of loss. Loss of friendships. Loss of employment. Loss of resources. Loss of energy and skill due to old age. We avoid most forms of loss. We don’t take the time to mourn.

But Jesus promised if we will be honest with our feelings and deal with them that He will become our comfort. My inventions of pain relief will never work long-term, but my open and honest relationship with Jesus will bring me the fullness of His life in me. And I have discovered that being emotionally honest with other emotionally honest people will bring a similar result. They won’t reject us. They will comfort us with the same comfort that they have received from Jesus, and we will be able to do the same for them.

The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

It all starts with being honest about our feelings. Don’t try to bury what you consider to be bad feelings. Emotions are neither good or bad. God has them all. Jesus has experienced them all. They are not evil. Embrace your emotions and deal with them by confiding in Jesus about them. Then watch His comfort flood your soul.

Pastor John