Week 37: Mournful
Weekly Chapters:
Ezekiel 43 - Daniel 12
Passage of the Week:
Daniel 10:12
Adjective
1. Feeling or expressing sorrow
2. Causing grief or lament
3. Gloomy, somber
Thesaurus:
Anguished
Forlorn
Sad
Bereft
Cheerless
Depressed
Father God,
Thank You for Your many blessings. The blessings of life and love overwhelm me. As we go into this week, guide our thoughts so that we can understand You more. Help me overcome the obstacles I put in front of me.
Amen
Authentic vulnerability:
I have mourned for loss, mourned for a planned future that will never come to be. My hopes and dreams—dashed in a day.
When my husband suffered his stroke, I felt hopeless, then hopeful again, determined that our life would return to me what it was. That was my plan.
God’s plan was not the same.
I became angry.
I was angry when the doctor told my husband that his disability would likely be permanent because much of his brain died due to the stroke.
I was angry at my husband for not “getting better,” or my perception of doing the work needed to “get better”.
And angry with anyone who did anything for him that he needed to for himself.
I was angry at anyone who emasculated him by offering unsolicited help.
Anger is my mask to mourning. Anger is my coping mechanism to avoid mourning. The mourning of my dreams never to come to be.
What is your Authentic Truth?
Study:
Daniel experiences mourning, mourning over failed dreams: the failed dreams of his people. Daniel mourned for the Israelites, who just could not get their act together enough to get back to what God wanted for them.
In Ezekiel, we see God sharing the plans for the new temple. Ezekiel 40-48, God shares his detailed plans that create a vision for the future, so complex that his words can be taken straight to blueprint. There is excitement in the project and a place for everything – even Gentiles living in the community among them. Everything in the plan was so precise, down to the 1/3 of a foot.
The planning process of any dream for the future is always exciting. As we build a future in our heads—a new house, our future children, our retirement, we build it up so exquisitely. In our minds, there is so much promise. When it doesn’t happen – our dream house, our impeccable children, our perfect future – we go into deep mourning.
In his dream in Ezekiel Chapter 9, Daniel understood the Israelites would not enter back into the kingdom in 70 years, but rather in 62 years times 7 plus 7, or 441 years. Additionally, there would be turmoil and suffering. Daniel understood why there would be turmoil and suffering; the Israelites had not turned their lives back to God. Back to God’s plan for their lives.
In Daniel 10:2, we see Daniel mourning over his people for three weeks. Daniel did not find joy in rich foods or wine; he kept himself from the fineries of fragrant lotions. Daniel was mourning for unreached dreams and the continued self-imposed slavery of the Israelites due to their disobedient choices.
On the other side of mourning is hope. In Daniel’s dreams (Chapter 10), God sends his angel, Gabriel, once again to Daniel. In Verse 19, Gabriel tells Daniel that he is very precious to God, to be encouraged and be strong.
We, too, are very precious to God. Our plans and our dreams may not be God’s plans and dreams. Proverbs 3:5 tells us to trust in God’s plan and not in our plans. God never promised we would not see troubles in the road, only that he will be with us and he would make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:6).
Father God,
Thank You for designing a life for me that always shows me the brilliance of all facets of life. You never promised an easy life, but in You, I have a life filled with promises of things to come. Thank You for loving me even when I am unlovable or a scrambled mess.
Amen.
Homework:
We will face times of mourning. If you are mourning today, turn your mourning over to God through journaling or drawing a picture of your feelings.
Give yourself space to do something with your hands to express your mourning.
If your mourning is taking over your life, seek professional help.
