Bride-Atude Two: The Passionate Mourners

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

God is irrepressibly drawn to brokeness in the human heart. Jesus was acquainted with grief, meaning He knew sorrow by experience (Is.53:3). One of the most beautiful phrases in the New Testament is “Jesus wept”. When Jesus wept at Bethany it wasn’t because his friend Lazarus had died; it was because all his friends die. Jesus was weeping over the human condition caused by sin and death. His Bride mourns over fallen humanity alongside Him. She identifies with those who suffer without judging them.

The Bride is not made up of people who have got it all together. She knows by experience what sorrow and grief are about; her tears are always at hand. This is the Bride you will find seeking out the hurting and the alienated, binding their wounds, bringing them hot soup, listening to their pain, offering hope without condemnation.

But the Bride is not left to endure her sorrows alone. She is consoled in her mourning by the love of the Father and the Son through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Father of mercies and God of all comfort has promised to wipe away all tears from our eyes…..forever (Rev. 21:4)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Cor. 3:1-4

Out of this identificational sorrow that the Bride willingly embraces comes the fruit of longsuffering. This old-fashioned English word “longsuffering” is a word most of us would prefer to avoid, and is not often heard these days. But this word has a secret ingredient. It’s a combination of two Greek words meaning ‘long’ and ‘passion’ (or ‘heat’), the implication being that it is a suffering driven by passion! Well who would have guessed the Bride’s longsuffering is fuelled by her enduring passion for Christ?

More Bride-Atudes coming soon!

©Cheryl McGrath, Bread for the Bride, 2012