He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces." Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. Genesis 37:3-4 NIV

Jacob assumed that his son Joseph was dead. We know how the story ends and that Joseph turns out okay and is later reconciled to his father, but as Jacob is received this news with everything in his heart he knew he had lost his favored son. Jacob, in the expected tradition of his people, began to mourn for many days. Jacob had already “wrestled” with God, so He was right with God. Mourning was an honest expression of the love he had for his son.

Some of you reading this know what it is like to lose a child. Just yesterday I heard from someone who was still struggling six years after her sons death. Others know the pain of losing a spouse, a parent, a grandparent, or any other relative or friend. I have talked with people who have experienced tremendous pain from the loss of a pet. Grieving is natural at the loss of someone we love. Have we, however, lost the art of mourning?

In Biblical days mourning was expected, actually required. It was understood that there would be a natural grieving process and so the time was set aside and taken to go through the stages of mourning. Today, while we may take a few days off from work, we are often immediately thrown back into the routines of life and everyone around us expects us to act “normal”. The fact may be that we have never properly mourned!

When someone loses a loved one it is comforting if we know that person was a Christian, because we know they are gone to a much better place. If they are not, or we are not certain of their salvation, we deal with anxiety of them facing the justice of God. Either way, however, mourning is a proper response. We have to deal with missing their physical presence here on earth. A part of our lives seems incomplete without them. It is completely appropriate to mourn our loss; even recommended!

If you have lost someone close to you, take time to properly mourn. We’ll talk more specifically about this process, but allow yourself time to heal. You are only human, but praise God, you have a Counselor, the promised Holy Spirit, who can help you through this time of mourning.

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