“When the days of mourning had passed… “
Jacob died and the mourning began, because loss almost always has mourning to keep it company. And we all have loss.
Loss of loved ones. Loss of love. Loss of what we thought our life would be. Loss of time and chances, both frittered away before we knew they were there.
Mourning comes to us all because loss comes to us all.
And then the days of mourning pass, and we must let them.
But before they pass, God will keep His promise – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)
“And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt… Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.”
Joseph did not mourn the loss of Jacob alone. Nor are we ever intended to mourn alone. No matter what kind of loss we are experiencing, we are part of the family of God, and He teaches us to be with one another, including in our places of loss and mourning. We can experience the comfort of God when we are alone with Him, but we experience it in a very tangible and extended way when we allow His people into our mourning.
If you are mourning a loss of some kind today, let people in. Let the comfort of God blanket you through the comfort of His children.
And when the time of mourning has passed, let it pass. God has life for you on the other side of loss.
This concludes our time in the book of Genesis. Oh, not that there isn’t so much more we could talk about from this amazing beginning! We will run out of time before we could exhaust the riches of this book. But for now, I’m going to move on to the book of Exodus and see what God might speak to me there. Whatever it is, I will surely share it with you, because I just can’t help myself.
Karla Jo Wasion 